Principal Solution Architect (AWS-to-Google Cloud Platform Migration)
Location: Must be located in, or able to go to, the NY office on Mon, Tues, Wed, and Thurs
Duration: Long-Term Contract
Position Overview:
We are seeking a Senior Principal Solution Architect to provide end-to-end technical leadership for the migration of an Application Development Framework from AWS to Google Cloud Platform (Google Cloud Platform).
This is a highly visible architecture and delivery leadership role responsible for defining the Google Cloud Platform target architecture, establishing the foundational cloud infrastructure required to host and develop applications, translating business and technical requirements into executable solutions, and directing distributed engineering teams through implementation.
The architect will work closely with key business and technology stakeholders in New York and Chicago, engineering and infrastructure teams, offshore delivery teams in India, and the Program Management Office (PMO). The individual will be expected to operate across architecture, infrastructure, application development, security, DevOps, and program planning.
A critical aspect of this role is establishing the Google Cloud Platform landing zone and platform foundation required to support the Application Development Framework, including networking, identity and access management, security, environments, compute, containerization, CI/CD, observability, secrets management, infrastructure-as-code, connectivity, and operational governance.
The ideal candidate is a hands-on enterprise cloud architect and technical leader who can define the architecture, establish the infrastructure foundation, guide engineering teams, resolve complex technical issues, and help turn the overall migration strategy into an executable delivery plan.
Key Responsibilities:
1. AWS-to-Google Cloud Platform Migration Architecture:
Own the end-to-end solution architecture for migrating the Application Development Framework from AWS to Google Cloud Platform.
Assess the existing AWS application framework, infrastructure, services, integrations, security architecture, deployment processes, and operational model.
Define the Google Cloud Platform target-state architecture and migration strategy.
Develop AWS-to-Google Cloud Platform service mappings and determine where services should be:
- Rehosted
- Replatformed
- Refactored
- Re-engineered
- Replaced with native Google Cloud Platform capabilities
2. Google Cloud Platform Infrastructure Foundation and Landing Zone:
A major responsibility of this role will be to design and establish the Google Cloud Platform infrastructure foundation required to support enterprise-scale application development and deployment.
The architect will define the infrastructure architecture required before and alongside migration of the Application Development Framework.
3. Application Platform Architecture:
Define the Google Cloud Platform platform services required to provide a scalable and reusable foundation for application development.
4. DevOps, CI/CD and Infrastructure-as-Code:
Define the engineering platform required to enable repeatable, automated deployment of the Application Development Framework and its applications.
5. Observability and Operational Readiness:
Design the operational architecture required to run the Application Development Framework reliably in Google Cloud Platform.
6. Application Environment Strategy:
Define how application development environments will be structured and managed across Google Cloud Platform.
7. Requirements Analysis and Solution Definition:
Work directly with stakeholders in New York and Chicago to understand business objectives, technical requirements, constraints, and priorities.
Lead requirements-gathering and discovery sessions.
Translate business requirements into technical and architectural requirements.
Define functional and non-functional requirements.
Identify ambiguities and gaps and drive stakeholders toward resolution.
Develop solution alternatives and clearly communicate architecture trade-offs.
Maintain traceability between requirements, architecture decisions, technical deliverables, and implementation outcomes.
8. Technical Leadership of Offshore Delivery:
Provide technical leadership and direction to offshore engineering and infrastructure teams in India.
Translate architecture into actionable technical work packages.
Establish implementation standards, acceptance criteria, architectural guardrails, and engineering patterns.
Review technical designs and implementation approaches produced by offshore teams.
Conduct regular architecture and technical working sessions.
Resolve technical questions and architectural blockers.
Ensure offshore teams have sufficient documentation and context to execute effectively.
Coordinate work across application, infrastructure, DevOps, security, networking, and data engineering teams.
Establish clear ownership and accountability for technical deliverables.
9. Program Planning and PMO Partnership:
The architect will work closely with the Program Management Office to translate the technical strategy into an executable migration program.
10. Stakeholder Management:
Serve as the senior technical architecture liaison across New York, Chicago, India, and other participating teams.
Build relationships with business leaders, product owners, application leaders, infrastructure teams, security teams, DevOps teams, engineering managers, and PMO leadership.
Facilitate architecture and decision-making forums.
Resolve conflicting priorities and drive stakeholder alignment.
Communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and executive audiences.
Present architecture options, risks, recommendations, and decisions to senior leadership.
Required Qualifications:
15+ years of experience in solution architecture, enterprise architecture, cloud architecture, or related technology leadership roles.
Significant experience leading large-scale cloud migration and modernization programs.
Strong expertise in both AWS and Google Cloud Platform, with demonstrated ability to design enterprise-scale cloud architectures.
Proven experience migrating applications or platforms from AWS to Google Cloud Platform.
Experience establishing enterprise Google Cloud Platform landing zones and cloud foundations.
Experience designing infrastructure platforms that support multiple application development teams.
Strong requirements analysis and technical documentation skills.
Experience leading distributed teams across the US and India.
Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills.
Experience working closely with PMOs on complex technology programs.
Preferred Qualifications:
Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect certification or equivalent expertise.
AWS Solutions Architect certification or equivalent expertise.
Strong Terraform experience.
Experience with GKE, Cloud Run, Cloud Load Balancing, Cloud Storage, Cloud SQL, Pub/Sub, Secret Manager, Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, and related Google Cloud Platform services.
Experience with Kubernetes and container orchestration.
Experience with enterprise API management and microservices.
Experience with DevSecOps and automated infrastructure provisioning.
Experience with cloud financial management and cost optimization.
Experience in regulated or large enterprise environments.
Experience establishing reusable internal developer platforms or Platform Engineering capabilities.
Overall Role Mandate
The Senior Principal Solution Architect will own the technical vision and execution direction for the Application Development Framework's transition to Google Cloud Platform.
The role goes beyond application migration. The architect will establish the Google Cloud Platform cloud foundation, infrastructure, security, networking, DevOps, platform services, and operational capabilities necessary to make Google Cloud Platform the strategic home for the Application Development Framework and the applications built upon it.
The successful candidate will therefore need to be equally comfortable defining an enterprise architecture, designing a Google Cloud Platform landing zone, whiteboarding an application platform, reviewing Terraform and CI/CD designs, leading technical workshops, directing offshore engineering teams, resolving stakeholder conflicts, and helping the PMO turn the technical strategy into a detailed execution plan.
