Senior Azure Cloud Architect

Innosoft Corporation•Washington, DC

1d•$155,000 - $160,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Innosoft Corporation is hiring a Senior Azure Cloud Architect to support a federal agency’s technology office and its Microsoft Azure modernization program. The architect will own the design, governance, security posture, and migration of workloads across Azure compute, storage, networking, identity, data, and integration services. The role combines hands-on Azure engineering with architecture-level design and requires producing implementation-ready reference architectures, diagrams, and architecture decision records; setting infrastructure-as-code standards; and presenting design decisions and tradeoffs to senior leadership. The position leads enterprise-scale landing zone design and governance aligned with the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework and Azure Well-Architected Framework. It includes workload migration and datacenter exit planning, operating production AKS clusters, establishing secure and automated delivery practices, and managing reliability, operations, and cost optimization. The architect leads engineers, architecture review boards, and design authority meetings, and works with federal staff, contractors, and business and technical stakeholders. This is a full-time W2 position with an initial two-year contract term and possible extension. It is hybrid, with one mandatory on-site day each week in Washington, DC and the remainder of the week remote. Applicants must already live in the Washington, DC metropolitan area (DC, Maryland, or Northern Virginia); relocation and fully remote candidates are not considered. The start date is immediate. Salary is $155,000–$160,000 annually, with actual compensation determined by experience, qualifications, skills, location, and internal equity.

Requirements

Must currently live in the Washington, DC metropolitan area (DC, Maryland, or Northern Virginia) and be able to work on-site in Washington, DC one day per week.
9 to 15 years of total IT experience, including at least 5 to 7 years of hands-on Azure engineering and at least 2 to 4 years at an architecture or technical leadership level.
Career progression from hands-on engineering into architecture; the role requires both skill sets.
Advanced hands-on expertise across Azure compute services, including Virtual Machines, VM Scale Sets, App Services, Azure Functions, Container Apps, AKS, and Azure Batch.
Full lifecycle knowledge of Blob Storage, Azure Files, Managed Disks, and storage lifecycle management policies.
Advanced enterprise Azure networking experience, including hub-and-spoke design and DNS strategy.
Microsoft Entra ID administration and architecture expertise, including Conditional Access, Privileged Identity Management, B2B and B2C, federation, managed identities, and RBAC design.
Data platform experience across Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL Flexible Server, Synapse Analytics, Microsoft Fabric, and Data Lake Storage, from administration and solution design perspectives.
Knowledge of integration services including API Management, Service Bus, Event Grid, Event Hubs, and Logic Apps.
Deep mastery of the Azure Well-Architected Framework and fluency with the Cloud Adoption Framework.
Expert hands-on proficiency in Bicep or Terraform, including module design, state management, and reusable patterns.
Working knowledge of ARM templates for legacy or complex deployments.
Strong PowerShell, Bash, and Python scripting skills for automation and validation.
Production experience operating AKS, including upgrades, node pool management, and networking through Azure CNI or Calico.
Hands-on experience with Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Sentinel, and Key Vault, including secret rotation practices.
Governance design using Azure Policy, Management Groups, and Blueprints.
Advanced configuration of Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and Application Insights, with strong KQL query-writing skills.
Practical experience with Azure Cost Management, reserved instances, savings plans, and rightsizing.
Clear written and verbal communication, polished design documentation, stakeholder management, negotiation, and the ability to influence without direct authority.
Degree in Computer Science or a related field.
Required certifications: AZ-305, Azure Solutions Architect Expert; AZ-104, Azure Administrator Associate; and AZ-500, Azure Security Engineer Associate.

Nice To Haves

Background in Windows Server, Linux administration, or virtualization platforms such as VMware.
Exposure to a regulated industry such as financial services, healthcare, or government.
Hybrid architecture experience using Azure Arc, Azure Stack HCI, and Azure Stack Edge.
Application modernization expertise, including microservices, event-driven architectures, serverless patterns, and strangler fig migrations.
Familiarity with frameworks such as the CIS Azure Benchmark, NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, HIPAA, or PCI DSS.
Working knowledge of service mesh concepts through Istio or Open Service Mesh.
Understanding of Enterprise Agreement, Microsoft Customer Agreement, and bring-your-own-license structures.
Experience in Agile/Scrum development environments.
Experience working with cross-functional teams in a federal or regulated environment.
An ownership mentality and comfort operating with ambiguity.
Preferred certifications: AZ-700, Azure Network Engineer Associate; SC-100, Cybersecurity Architect Expert; and CKA, Certified Kubernetes Administrator.

Responsibilities

Design enterprise-scale Azure solutions across Virtual Machines, VM Scale Sets, App Services, Azure Functions, Container Apps, AKS, and Azure Batch, selecting services appropriate to each workload.
Architect Azure networking, including hub-and-spoke topologies, enterprise DNS, private endpoints, routing, firewalls, gateways, and connectivity.
Design Microsoft Entra ID identity architecture, including Conditional Access, Privileged Identity Management, B2B and B2C, federation, managed identities, and RBAC.
Apply the Azure Well-Architected Framework to reliability, security, cost optimization, operational excellence, and performance efficiency.
Design multi-region, highly available, and disaster-resilient solutions with defined recovery time and recovery point objectives.
Produce reference architectures, diagrams, and architecture decision records that engineering teams can implement.
Implement Cloud Adoption Framework practices, including enterprise-scale landing zone design and governance blueprints.
Lead workload assessments using Azure Migrate and map applications to rehost, refactor, rearchitect, rebuild, or replace strategies.
Plan migration waves for large-scale datacenter exits, including dependency mapping and cutover planning.
Define infrastructure-as-code standards and repository structure; review and validate Bicep or Terraform code.
Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions, including artifact management, secret scanning, and pipeline security hardening.
Implement blue-green, canary, and ring-based release strategies.
Operate production AKS clusters, including upgrades, node pool management, networking through Azure CNI or Calico, Helm chart authoring, and GitOps workflows using Flux or ArgoCD.
Implement security, compliance, and governance using Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Sentinel, Key Vault and secret rotation, Azure Policy, Management Groups, and Blueprints, applying Zero Trust principles.
Configure Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and Application Insights; write KQL queries for diagnostics, alerting, and dashboards.
Provide incident command, conduct root cause analysis, and perform capacity planning at scale.
Drive FinOps practices using Azure Cost Management, reserved instances, savings plans, and rightsizing; build total cost of ownership and return on investment models for executive stakeholders.
Lead and assign work to engineers, conduct design reviews, and provide clear, constructive feedback.
Lead architecture review boards and design authority meetings and facilitate discovery workshops with business and technical stakeholders.
Mentor engineers and architects on design patterns and troubleshooting techniques.
Work with federal and contractor personnel to execute project tasks and collaborate with agency staff to refine and elaborate requirements.
Present solution designs and tradeoffs to CIOs, CTOs, and senior leadership.