Cloud Architect

Job Title: CLOUD ARCHITECT

Location: Raritan, NJ, 08869 - Onsite

Mode: Contract

Job Description:

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Enterprise Cloud Architecture: Guide the design and continuous evolution of enterprise cloud architecture across multiple cloud service providers (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and hybrid on-premises environments.
• Develop Reference Architectures: Create and maintain detailed reference architectures, patterns, and blueprints covering compute, storage, networking, security, identity, data, and analytics domains.
• Translate Business Needs: Convert business requirements into scalable, resilient, secure, and cost-effective cloud solutions aligned with organizational goals.
• Establish Standards and Governance: Define and enforce governance models, standards, and best practices for cloud adoption, including identity and access management (IAM), networking, cost controls, and compliance measures.
• Drive Cloud Migration and Modernization: Lead migration and modernization initiatives (rehosting, refactoring, rearchitecting, repurchase) with clear roadmaps, milestones, and comprehensive risk management strategies.
• Security and Compliance: Define and enforce security architectures, compliance controls, data protection policies, encryption standards, key management, and incident response plans.
• Optimize Cloud Spend: Implement cost governance practices, tagging strategies, right-sizing, automation, and lifecycle management to maximize cloud investment value.
• Architect Automation and CI/CD Pipelines: Design automation workflows, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions (Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM), and container orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker) to enable rapid and repeatable deployments.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with security, site reliability, data engineering, and application teams to ensure reliability, observability, and optimal system performance.
• Cloud Service Evaluation: Assess, select, and manage relationships with cloud service vendors, maintaining due diligence and managing associated risks.
• Technical Leadership and Mentoring: Provide guidance and mentorship to engineers, developers, and operations teams; communicate architecture decisions and rationale to stakeholders at all organizational levels.
• Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity: Develop robust architectures for disaster recovery, business continuity, and backup; design for high availability and fault tolerance.
• Performance and Monitoring: Establish and uphold performance benchmarks, monitoring, logging, and incident management practices, driving continuous improvement initiatives.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience with cloud technologies, including at least 4 years in an architecture or lead role.
• Proficiency in at least one major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud); experience with multiple platforms is advantageous.
• Strong knowledge of networking (VPC/VNet, subnets, routing, firewalls, VPNs/ExpressRoute/Direct Connect), security, IAM, storage, databases, and compute services.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM) and automation/scripting (Python, PowerShell, Bash).
• Understanding of containers and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) as well as serverless architectures.
• Experience with cloud-based data architecture, data pipelines, and analytics solutions.
• Ability to translate business requirements into architectural designs and deliverables.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a proven ability to influence and guide teams and stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Relevant certifications such as AWS Solutions Architect Professional, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect, CCSP/CISSP, or TOGAF.
• Familiarity with enterprise architecture frameworks and methodologies (e.g., TOGAF, Zachman).
• Experience with hybrid cloud, edge computing, or data governance initiatives.
• Knowledge of security frameworks and compliance standards (ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, as applicable) and risk assessment methodologies.
• Advanced degree or specialized training in cloud security, data architecture, or AI/ML infrastructure.

Skills & Competencies

• Technical: Cloud architecture design, cost optimization, security and compliance, IAM, networking, storage and databases, data governance, disaster recovery, performance optimization, and monitoring.
• Tools & Technologies: Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM), CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps), containerization (Kubernetes, Docker), cloud-native services, and scripting languages.
• Leadership & Collaboration: Stakeholder management, cross-functional team leadership, negotiation, project management, and effective written and verbal communication.
• Problem Solving: Analytical thinking, risk assessment, and the ability to decompose complex problems into actionable architectural designs.

Experience Level Variants

• Senior Cloud Architect: Requires 7+ years of practical experience with cloud technologies; responsible for broader scope, leading architecture reviews, and managing multi-cloud programs.
• Staff/Principal Cloud Architect: Requires 10+ years of experience; responsible for defining cloud strategy at the enterprise level and driving organization-wide transformation.