Certified Azure Cloud Architect

Need locals or someone who can relocate to Chicago from day one

Role: Cloud Architect Azure Platform

Experience: 12+ Years of experience (Hands on)

Location: Chicago (Mandatory: Work from Clients office 4 days a week)

Required Skills & Experience

• CloudNative Architecture: Design and operate resilient, scalable Azure cloudnative platforms aligned to enterprise standards and RUN SLAs
• DevSecOps & GitOps: Implement secure CI/CD and GitOps pipelines with builtin security, policy enforcement, and automated controls
• Cloud Landing Zone & Policy Management: Operate and govern Azure Landing Zones using Azure Policy, RBAC, guardrails, and compliance automation
• Platform & COE Tooling: Build and support reusable COE accelerators, golden paths, templates, and automation frameworks
• AIOps & Observability: Enable proactive monitoring, logging, alerting, and AIOpsdriven insights for platform reliability and incident reduction
• FinOps: Embed cost governance, tagging, budgets, and optimization practices into platform operations
• Cloud Architecture (RUNfocused): Translate clientapproved architectures into operable, supportable, and compliant Azure platforms
• Containers & Kubernetes: Design, deploy, and operate container platforms using Kubernetes, AKS, Docker, and Helm
• Infrastructure as Code: Provision and manage Azure infrastructure using Terraform and automated pipelines
• API & Integration Platforms: Design and support secure APIs and integrations using Azure API Management (APIM)
• Event & Streaming Platforms: Support cloudnative messaging and streaming solutions using Kafka and managed services
• Scripting & Automation: Develop operational automation using Python and platform SDKs
• Agile & ITSM Alignment: Operate within Agile delivery models while supporting ITSM, incident, change, and problem management processes

Certifications:

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ305) - Required
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ104) Required
• AZ400 (DevOps Engineer Expert)
• AZ500 (Azure Security Engineer Associate)
• ITIL 4 Foundation
• Terraform Associate

Responsibilities:

Azure Platform RUN Ownership

• Act as L3/L4 escalation point for Azure platform incidents across IaaS, PaaS, landing zones, and Terraformbased deployments.
• Lead rootcause analysis (RCA) for P1/P2 incidents and drive permanent fixes through automation and design improvements.
• Ensure platform services meet availability, reliability, and performance SLAs.

Landing Zone & Governance Operations

• Operate and govern Azure Landing Zones, including RBAC models, Azure Policy, network/security baselines, and compliance monitoring.
• Detect and remediate configuration drift using policyascode and IaC controls.
• Maintain operational RACI alignment across Platform, Security, FinOps, and Network teams.

InfrastructureasCode & Automation

• Design, maintain, and review Terraform modules, CI/CD pipelines, and reusable golden paths used in RUN operations.
• Ensure provisioning, changes, and decommissioning follow approved automated pipelines.
• Perform seniorlevel IaC and pipeline conformance reviews.

Service Requests & Change Governance

• Provide architectural oversight for service requests, enhancements, and onboarding of new Azure services.
• Support cloud change governance processes and validate LowLevel Designs (LLDs) for operational readiness.
• Ensure changes are safe, auditable, and compliant within the managed services model.

Security & Compliance Support

• Implement and operate Azure security controls (Azure Policy, RBAC, Conditional Access, Key Vault).
• Support security incidents, audit evidence requests, and remediation of compliance findings in coordination with Security teams.

FinOps & Continuous Improvement

• Partner with FinOps teams to enforce cost guardrails, tagging standards, and optimization actions.
• Drive continuous service improvement through automation, reliability engineering, and cost efficiency initiatives.

Contineous Service Improvement

• AutomationLed Optimization: Continuously reduce manual operational effort by automating Azure platform tasks using Python, Azure SDKs, and REST APIs
• SelfHealing Operations: Implement Agentic AI driven remediation workflows to autodetect, diagnose, and resolve recurring platform issues
• Proactive Incident Reduction: Leverage AIOps and AIassisted analytics to identify patterns, predict failures, and prevent incidents before impact
• IaC Drift & Compliance Improvement: Use automation to detect and remediate Terraform drift, configuration noncompliance, and policy violations
• Operational Observability Enhancement: Improve platform reliability through continuous tuning of logging, metrics, alerts, and telemetry across Azure services
• Agentic Runbook Automation: Convert manual runbooks into agentdriven workflows for repeatable, zerotouch execution of common operational tasks
• Cost & Performance Optimization: Drive CSI through FinOps automation, including rightsizing, scheduling, and cost anomaly detection
• APIFirst Improvements: Enhance service responsiveness by integrating Azure services using SDKbased and eventdriven automation
• Intelligent Change Execution: Apply AIassisted impact analysis and guardrails to reduce changerelated incidents and improve change success rates
• Continuous Feedback Loop: Use operational data, AI insights, and platform KPIs to prioritize CSI backlog and deliver measurable improvements sprintoversprint