Lead Cloud Architect

Mizuho•New York City, NY

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

In this role, you will lead the architecture function within our Cloud Platform team and act as technical deputy to the Head of Cloud Platform. This is a position focused on technical leadership rather than people management: it carries broad technical authority and leads the cloud architecture function. You will report to the Head of Cloud Platform and will work with other cloud architects and engineers. You will own the target-state architecture for our Azure estate and the standards, patterns, and conformance framework that will get us there. The platform operates on an enablement model: guardrails enforced in code, self-serve patterns as the default path, and architecture review reserved for the exceptions. Your job is to make the paved road so good that teams choose it. This is a role for an architect who wants scope: cross-domain technical direction in a regulated financial environment, a seat in regulator- and audit-facing conversations, and a platform still young enough that the target state is yours to define.

Requirements

10+ years in cloud architecture or infrastructure engineering, including significant depth in Azure at enterprise scale
Proven experience in regulated financial services (banking, capital markets, or insurance), including direct exposure to audit and regulatory review
Track record of defining target-state architecture and standards that engineering teams adopted in practice, not just on paper
Expertise in Azure landing zone design, hybrid networking, private connectivity (ExpressRoute, Private Link), and identity (Entra ID) architecture
Strong command of Infrastructure-as-Code, CI/CD automation, and policy-as-code (Azure Policy)
Working knowledge of data protection and encryption key management (Key Vault, HSM-backed key management)
Familiarity with control frameworks (CIS, ISO 27001, NIST) and their translation into technical controls

Nice To Haves

Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification preferred
You have operated as the most senior technical voice in a domain and can show decisions you owned, including ones you got wrong and corrected
You treat a challenged standard as input, not insubordination, and know when to hold, amend, or escalate
You build a defensible picture of an environment before changing anything in it
You are as credible in front of an auditor as in front of an engineer

Responsibilities

Design and evolve secure, compliant Azure landing zone architecture aligned to regulatory and internal audit requirements
Publish standards as both clear documentation and consumable patterns: reference implementations, reusable blueprints, and Infrastructure-as-Code modules (Terraform) that make the standard the easiest path to follow
Establish and enforce guardrails through Azure Policy and landing zone controls based on Zero Trust principles
Partner with Security, Risk, and Compliance to integrate regulatory controls and evidence collection into technical designs
Lead modernization, migration, and optimization initiatives across business domains
Represent cloud architecture in audit, regulatory, and senior technology forums
Raise the technical bar across the team: design review, coaching, and pattern evangelism