Azure Architect

Join a global cloud consulting firm as a DevOps Team Lead in a contract role overseeing deployment pipelines and production environments for Arizona's Department of Transportation infrastructure. Based in downtown Phoenix at Jefferson and 19th Ave, this position manages the team responsible for the core tool suite that all of Arizona's Transportation services and offices rely on daily. You'll oversee a direct team of 3 to 5 people while serving as a technical leader across an operations team of 10 to 15 people depending on project growth. This role combines hands-on technical leadership with stakeholder management, requiring you to communicate and triage issues with State Department stakeholders. The platform has performed so well in Arizona that other states including Wyoming and Virginia are adopting the solution, creating opportunities for future expansion to build new teams in additional states.
Why This Role Stands Out
This is an exceptional opportunity to lead a critical infrastructure modernization initiative that directly impacts millions of Arizona residents. Over the past 3 to 4 years, a new group has been modernizing applications and infrastructure platforms that have been in place since the mid-1990s, and you'll be at the forefront of this transformation. The role offers a unique blend of technical leadership and strategic impact, where you'll not only guide your direct reports but also advise across the broader operations team. You'll work on production systems that require maximum uptime, implementing automation and DevOps best practices while ensuring reliability for essential government services. The success of this platform is driving adoption across multiple states, positioning you to potentially expand your leadership role as new state teams are built. With competitive hourly compensation ranging from $60 to $70 per hour, this contract position offers significant technical challenge, leadership responsibility, and the satisfaction of modernizing critical public infrastructure that serves transportation departments across multiple states.
Required Skills & Experience

• Proven experience leading DevOps or infrastructure teams
• Strong background in production support and site reliability engineering
• Solid understanding of the OSI model for troubleshooting Layer 3 to Layer 7 issues
• Proficiency in automation and scripting using Python or PowerShell
• Strong hands-on experience with Azure DevOps Server and Services
• Experience managing and implementing Azure Pipeline deployments
• In-depth knowledge of Azure Boards, Repos, Pipelines (YAML preferred), and Artifacts
• Understanding and practice of agile methodologies
• Experience maintaining applications in production environments
• Ability to ensure maximum uptime and system reliability
• Strong communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences
• Experience communicating with stakeholders and government entities
• Ability to triage production issues and coordinate response efforts
• Comfortable with on-call support responsibilities
• Leadership experience with direct reports
• Must be local to Phoenix, AZ area for onsite work

Desired Skills & Experience

• Experience in government or public sector technology projects
• Transportation industry or DMV systems knowledge
• Multi-state project coordination experience
• Infrastructure as Code experience (Terraform, ARM templates)
• Containerization and orchestration knowledge (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Cloud architecture and migration experience
• Monitoring and observability platform experience
• Incident management and escalation procedures expertise
• ITIL or similar service management framework knowledge
• Budget management and resource planning experience
• Vendor management experience
• Disaster recovery and business continuity planning
• Security and compliance in government environments
• Team building and mentoring experience

What You Will Be Doing
Tech Breakdown

• 35% Team Leadership and Management (direct reports, operations team guidance, stakeholder communication)
• 30% Production Support and Reliability (uptime maintenance, troubleshooting, incident response)
• 20% Azure DevOps and Pipeline Management (deployment oversight, agile practices)
• 15% Automation and Process Improvement (scripting, efficiency initiatives)

Daily Responsibilities

• 40% Leadership and Coordination (managing team, advising operations group, stakeholder meetings)
• 35% Technical Oversight (production support, troubleshooting, deployment management)
• 25% Strategy and Planning (automation initiatives, process improvement, expansion planning)