AZURE CLOUD ARCHITECT (SME SUPPORT)

VSolvit•CA-REMOTE, US, CA

7d•$175,000 - $190,000•Remote

About The Position

The Azure Cloud Architect serves as a specialized Subject Matter Expert (SME), providing high-level strategic leadership, technical guidance, and hands-on engineering direction for complex cloud projects. This role is responsible for validating architectural designs, engineering Mission Landing Zones (MLZ), guiding the implementation of Zero Trust Architectures (ZTA), and overseeing the evolution of Cloud Native Security Stacks (CNSS). You will act as a bridge between high-level strategy and technical execution, ensuring that cloud environments are secure, automated, resilient, and aligned with Department of Defense (DoD) requirements.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field.
2–4 years of cloud engineering experience with a deep background in Azure administration and cloud architecture.
Specific expertise in the strategic maintenance and sustainment of DoD SCCA functional requirements.
Hands-on experience writing Infrastructure as Code using Azure Bicep or ARM templates.
Strong proficiency with CI/CD platforms, DevSecOps toolchains, and git-based workflows.
Security+ certification.
U.S. Citizenship and the ability to obtain a DoD Top Secret clearance.

Nice To Haves

Active DoD Top Secret clearance.
Advanced Cloud certification (e.g., Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert or AWS Solutions Architect Associate).
Proven experience deploying and maintaining Azure Mission Landing Zone (MLZ) repositories
Proven experience implementing DISA STIG configurations and hardening automated deployments.
Experience supporting compliance for DoD SRG and NIST SP 800-53 security controls.
Certification: Active Security+ certification.

Responsibilities

Validate technical Engineering Assessments in close coordination with Cloud Engineers to ensure proposed solutions are viable and scalable.
Lead the engineering, deployment, and customization of Azure Mission Landing Zones (MLZ) using automated Infrastructure as Code (IaC) workflows.
Deliver specialized design recommendations across critical pillars: data storage, identity management, governance, and monitoring solutions.
Provide expert guidance on Mission Owner (MO) cloud transition strategies and collaborate with Program Managers to oversee the implementation of proposed architectures.
Advise on F5 configuration activities and evaluate the potential operational impacts of migrating from legacy appliances to a cloud-native security stack.
Provide strategic recommendations for the maintenance and sustainment of the DoD Secure Cloud Computing Architecture (SCCA) Functional Requirements Document (FRD) within Azure Government.
Lead the implementation and long-term sustainment of the future Cloud Native Security Stack and potential Shared Services.
Deliver hands-on expertise and strategic configurations for Azure Firewall Premium (AFW-P) with IDPS, User-Defined Routing (UDR), and advanced hub-and-spoke network topologies.
Author, enforce, and maintain custom Azure Policies to ensure continuous compliance with DoD landing zone standards.
Guide the transition toward Zero Trust Architectures to meet modern federal security mandates.
Build, optimize, and maintain secure CI/CD pipelines (GitLab, Azure DevOps) to automate the deployment of cloud infrastructure.
Coordinate with Cloud Operations Engineers to design and ensure high availability and failover capabilities across both Azure Government and Commercial environments.
Ensure all architectural designs support the rigorous requirements of Azure Government and applicable commercial cloud services.