Cloud Architect (Cloud AWS + Azure)

Job Title: Senior Cloud Architect (Multi-Cloud AWS + Azure) Hands-On

Location: San Jose Onsite 5 days a week.

Employment Type: contract

About the Role

We are seeking a rare blend of deep technical expertise and executive-level communication: a battle-tested Senior Cloud Architect who is equally comfortable racking servers in a data center, writing production Terraform from scratch, and presenting multi-million-dollar cloud strategies to C-level executives and boards.

You will own the end-to-end technical vision while personally building and delivering production cloud infrastructure on both Azure and AWS, lead complex migrations from on-prem environments, and serve as the trusted technical advisor to senior leadership.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect, hands-on build, and operationalize greenfield cloud environments on Azure and AWS (IaaS, PaaS, containers, serverless).
• Lead large-scale on-premises to cloud migrations and hybrid/multi-cloud transformations.
• Design and implement enterprise landing zones, governance, security, networking, and cost-optimization frameworks.
• Personally author and maintain Infrastructure as Code (Terraform primary, Bicep/CloudFormation secondary).
• Translate complex technical solutions into clear, compelling presentations and recommendations for CTOs, CFOs, CEOs, and board members.
• Regularly present architecture roadmaps, migration plans, risk assessments, TCO/ROI analysis, and progress updates to senior leadership and stakeholders.
• Influence strategic decisions by articulating trade-offs, risks, and long-term implications of cloud and infrastructure choices.
• Build trust as the go-to technical authority both in the weeds with engineers and in the boardroom with executives.
• Mentor engineering teams while maintaining final accountability for solution quality and delivery.

Required Experience & Skills

• 8 12+ years in infrastructure engineering with strong on-premises data center roots (VMware, storage arrays, enterprise networking, physical deployments).
• Expert-level hands-on experience in both Azure and AWS (minimum 5 years public cloud).
• Proven ability to build production cloud environments from scratch not just manage inherited ones.
• Mastery of Terraform (mandatory) and enterprise networking in hybrid/multi-cloud scenarios.
• Demonstrated experience presenting to and influencing C-suite executives and boards:
• Confidently delivered technical strategy, migration plans, and financial justification decks
• Translated highly technical concepts into business outcomes and risk language
• Led architecture review boards and governance committees
• Certifications: At least two professional-level (e.g., AZ-305, AWS Solutions Architect Professional, etc.)
• Exceptional communication skills verbal, written, and visual (you can make a 50-slide deck feel like a 5-slide story).

Ideal Candidate Profile

• You still write Terraform modules yourself and abel to explain to senior leadership why and what reasons on landing zones.
• You default to building it yourself first, then teach others how to operate it.

Nice to Have

• Prior experience as a Solutions Architect or Principal Consultant at a major cloud provider or global SI
• Published blogs, conference talks, or internal lunch & learn sessions on cloud architecture
• Experience advising executives in regulated industries (FSI, healthcare, public sector)

Exceptional hands on and strategic mindset

If you can debug a Transit Gateway route table on a call and present a 10-year cloud roadmap to the board the next morning as an example.