Title: Platform Architect

Location: Phoenix, AZ (Hybrid)

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Platform Architect to design, implement, and evolve enterprise platform capabilities across cloud, Kubernetes, middleware, DevOps, observability, and security. The Platform Architect will define platform standards, drive cloud modernization initiatives, and build scalable, secure, and highly available platforms that enable application teams to deliver software efficiently.

The ideal candidate has deep expertise in AWS, Kubernetes/OpenShift, platform engineering, CI/CD, middleware technologies, observability, and enterprise architecture.

Key Responsibilities

Platform Architecture

· Design enterprise platform architecture for cloud-native and hybrid environments.

· Define platform standards, reference architectures, and technology roadmaps.

· Build reusable platform services for application teams.

· Develop scalable, resilient, and secure platform solutions.

· Drive platform modernization initiatives.

Cloud Architecture

· Design and implement AWS-based platform solutions.

· Architect multi-account AWS environments using AWS Organizations and Control Tower.

· Define networking architecture including VPCs, Transit Gateway, PrivateLink, VPNs, and Direct Connect.

· Design disaster recovery and multi-region architectures.

· Optimize cloud costs and resource utilization.

Container Platform

· Design and manage Kubernetes/OpenShift platforms.

· Implement container orchestration and workload management.

· Define namespace strategies, resource quotas, and autoscaling.

· Design service discovery and ingress architectures.

· Implement service mesh where appropriate.

DevOps & Platform Engineering

· Design CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Azure DevOps.

· Implement Infrastructure as Code using Terraform or CloudFormation.

· Standardize deployment automation.

· Improve developer experience through self-service platform capabilities.

· Establish GitOps practices using tools such as Argo CD or Flux.

Middleware & Integration

· Architect enterprise messaging solutions.

· Design API gateway architecture.

· Define integration standards for microservices.

· Support messaging technologies such as IBM MQ, Kafka, RabbitMQ, or ActiveMQ.

· Guide modernization of legacy middleware platforms.

Observability

· Define enterprise monitoring standards.

· Design dashboards using Prometheus and Grafana.

· Integrate with tools such as Datadog, Splunk, or CloudWatch.

· Implement centralized logging, distributed tracing, and alerting.

· Define platform SLOs, SLIs, and operational dashboards.

Security

· Define Zero Trust architecture principles.

· Implement IAM, RBAC, and least-privilege access.

· Integrate secrets management solutions.

· Design API security using OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JWT, and mTLS.

· Ensure compliance with enterprise security standards.

Reliability & Performance

· Design for high availability and fault tolerance.

· Implement autoscaling and load balancing.

· Define backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity strategies.

· Conduct capacity planning and performance tuning.

· Drive reliability improvements using SRE practices.

Governance

· Establish platform governance and best practices.

· Standardize cloud deployment patterns.

· Define architecture review processes.

· Create reusable platform templates and documentation.

· Mentor engineering teams on platform adoption.

Required Technical Skills

Cloud Platforms

· AWS (required)

· Azure or Google Cloud Platform (preferred)

Container Technologies

· Kubernetes

· OpenShift

· Docker

· Helm

Infrastructure as Code

· Terraform

· AWS CloudFormation

· Ansible (preferred)

CI/CD

· Jenkins

· GitHub Actions

· GitLab CI/CD

· Argo CD or Flux (GitOps)

Programming & Scripting

· Python

· Bash

· PowerShell

· Java or Go (preferred)

Middleware

· IBM MQ

· Apache Kafka

· RabbitMQ

· WebSphere

· WebLogic

· Apache Tomcat

API Technologies

· REST

· GraphQL

· gRPC

· Kong

· Apigee

· AWS API Gateway

Observability

· Prometheus

· Grafana

· Datadog

· Splunk

· CloudWatch

· OpenTelemetry

Security

· IAM

· OAuth 2.0

· OpenID Connect

· JWT

· mTLS

· HashiCorp Vault or AWS Secrets Manager

Databases

· PostgreSQL

· MySQL

· Oracle

· MongoDB

· Redis

Required Experience

· 12–18+ years in infrastructure, cloud, middleware, or platform engineering.

· 5+ years designing enterprise cloud platforms.

· Experience with large-scale Kubernetes/OpenShift environments.

· Experience building enterprise CI/CD and Infrastructure as Code solutions.

· Strong knowledge of messaging systems and API management.

· Experience with enterprise observability and SRE practices.

· Experience leading cloud transformation and platform modernization initiatives.