AWS Cloud Solution Architect (12+yrs Exp. Needed)

Position: AWS cloud solution architect(12+yrs exp. needed)

Location: Chicago, IL Hybrid

Rate: open

Type: long term contract

Position summary:

Mandatory

• 10+ years of exp in consultancy
• Stakeholder management
• Excellent Comms.

• Role Overview
• The AWS Cloud Architect will lead the design, planning, and execution of the Data Center Exit (DC Exit) program. This role focuses on migrating on-premises infrastructure, applications, and services to AWS Cloud while ensuring performance, scalability, cost efficiency, and compliance with enterprise standards. The architect will partner with cross-functional teams including application owners, infrastructure engineers, and security teams to define and deliver the end-state cloud architecture.
• Key Responsibilities
• Assessment & Planning:
• o Conduct Migration Portfolio Assessment (MPA) and Migration Readiness Assessment (CAF) across business, governance, security, and operations.
• o Define 7R application dispositions, build dependency maps, and create migration wave plans with TCO and risk analysis.
• Cloud Architecture & Design
• o Design scalable, secure, and resilient AWS cloud solutions to replace on-prem data center infrastructure.
• o Develop target-state architecture, migration blueprints, and reference architectures aligned with AWS best practices and the AWS Well-Architected Framework.
• o Select appropriate AWS services (e.g., EC2, ECS, EKS, RDS, S3, Lambda, CloudFront, CloudFormation, IAM) for various workloads.
• Migration & Execution
• o Lead migration assessments, application dependency mapping, and wave planning.
• o Collaborate with migration teams to execute lift-and-shift, re-platforming, or re-architecting strategies.
• o Oversee workload migration validation, performance tuning, and post-migration optimization.
• Governance & Security
• o Implement cloud governance, compliance, and cost-management practices.
• o Ensure security controls (IAM, KMS, VPC security, GuardDuty, etc.) meet enterprise and regulatory standards.
• o Define tagging standards, automation templates, and operational guardrails.
• Collaboration & Leadership
• o Partner with application teams, networking, and operations to ensure a seamless transition from on-prem to AWS.
• o Mentor teams on cloud-native practices, automation, and DevOps adoption.
• o Provide executive reporting on progress, risks, and mitigation strategies for the DC Exit initiative.

• Required Qualifications
• Bachelor s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 12+ years of experience in infrastructure, cloud, or enterprise architecture.
• 8+ years of hands-on AWS Cloud architecture experience, including VPC design, IAM, EC2, RDS, S3, CloudFormation/Terraform, and monitoring tools (CloudWatch, Config).
• Proven experience leading large-scale data center migration or exit programs.
• Strong understanding of networking, security, automation (CI/CD, IaC), and hybrid cloud connectivity.
• Experience with migration tools (CloudEndure, AWS Migration Hub, Application Discovery Service).
• Strong knowledge of networking, security, and compliance frameworks.
• Preferred Qualifications
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional (preferred) or Associate.
• Familiarity with multi-account strategy and AWS Control Tower.
• Experience in cost optimization and FinOps practices.
• Exposure to modernization (containers, serverless, microservices) and DevOps practices.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.