Principal Azure Data & Cloud Solutions Architect

Job Details:

Client: Energy & Utilities Client

Job Title: Principal Azure Data & Cloud Solutions Architect

Location: Remote

Contract Length: 6 Months (Contract to Hire)

Work Mode: 100% Remote

Interview Mode: Video Interview

Years of experience: 12+ Years

Required Certifications: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure DevOps Engineer Expert, or FinOps Certified Practitioner. At least one valid Azure certification is mandatory for this role.

Job Description:

Client is seeking a highly experienced Principal Solutions Architect Data Platform & Cloud Engineering to lead the design, modernization, and optimization of its enterprise data ecosystem on Microsoft Azure. This is a senior, hands-on architecture leadership role responsible for delivering scalable, secure, high-performance cloud data solutions that enable data-driven decision-making across the organization.

This role sits at the intersection of Data Architecture, Cloud Engineering, DevOps/DevSecOps, and FinOps, requiring both deep technical expertise and strong business leadership. The ideal candidate will define enterprise data standards, drive automation through Infrastructure-as-Code and CI/CD, enforce security and governance, optimize cloud costs, and mentor high-performing engineering teams.

Key Responsibilities

Data Platform Architecture & Engineering

• Design and implement enterprise-scale Azure data architectures, including Data Lakes, Data Warehouses, and Data Integration platforms.
• Lead the development and optimization of data pipelines, ETL/ELT workflows, and business intelligence solutions.
• Architect solutions using Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Databricks, Azure Data Lake, and Azure SQL.
• Define and maintain conceptual, logical, and physical data models for both OLTP and OLAP systems.
• Enable modern data architectures including Data Mesh, Data Marts, Data Hubs, and Lakehouse frameworks.

DevOps, DevSecOps & Cloud Automation

• Design and implement CI/CD pipelines for data platforms.
• Lead Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) initiatives using Terraform, ARM Templates, GitHub Actions, and Azure DevOps.
• Embed DevSecOps practices, including:
• Identity & Access Management (IAM)
• Secure secrets management
• Encryption & policy enforcement
• Vulnerability scanning and secure deployments

Cloud Security, Governance & Compliance

• Establish and enforce enterprise data governance standards.
• Ensure compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and enterprise security policies.
• Implement data cataloging, lineage, metadata management, and Data Dictionary governance.
• Drive a culture of data stewardship and secure data usage across the organization.

FinOps & Cloud Cost Optimization

• Lead cloud cost governance and optimization strategies.
• Implement FinOps frameworks, including:
• Cost modeling & forecasting
• Usage analysis & budget enforcement
• Optimization of analytics and AI workloads
• Utilize tools such as Azure Cost Management, Cloudability, or similar platforms.

Leadership & Business Alignment

• Partner with business, IT, security, finance, and executive leadership to align data architecture with business goals.
• Translate business and regulatory requirements into scalable technical solutions.
• Mentor engineers, architects, and analysts.
• Communicate architecture strategies clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Contribute directly to the company s enterprise data and cloud transformation roadmap.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor s Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science, or related field.
• 10+ years of total IT experience, with 5+ years in Data Architecture, Data Engineering, or Cloud Architecture.
• Hands-on expertise with:
• Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse, Azure Databricks
• Azure Data Lake, Azure SQL/SQL Server
• Advanced experience in:
• Data Warehousing, Data Lakes, ETL/ELT
• Big Data technologies (Spark, Kafka, Hadoop)
• Relational & NoSQL databases (SQL Server, MongoDB)
• Strong proficiency in OLTP & OLAP data modeling.
• Experience with data formats such as Parquet and Avro.
• Hands-on experience with Erwin, PowerDesigner, or equivalent data modeling tools.
• Strong expertise in:
• Data Governance & Data Security
• Cybersecurity principles in cloud environments
• Proven experience leading:
• DevOps / DevSecOps initiatives
• CI/CD implementation for data platforms
• Terraform & IaC
• Demonstrated experience in:
• Azure FinOps / Cost Optimization
• Cloud cost monitoring and financial governance
• Deep understanding of Azure Cloud Architecture, including:
• Networking
• Monitoring & Logging
• High Availability & Disaster Recovery
• Strong leadership, consulting, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master s Degree.
• Azure Certifications:
• Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• Azure DevOps Engineer Expert
• FinOps Certified Practitioner
• Experience applying SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) principles within data platforms.
• Strong background in performance tuning and large-scale analytics optimization.