Sr Cloud Solution Architecture-CTJ-Top Secret/SCI

Microsoft • Washington, DC

16h • $106,400 - $222,600

About The Position

Microsoft is seeking a highly experienced Senior Cloud Solution Architect to join its Federal organization. The role requires deep technical expertise across Azure workloads, including AI, data, applications, and infrastructure, and focuses on helping enterprise and government customers solve complex challenges and accelerate digital transformation. As a customer-facing trusted advisor to technical and executive stakeholders, the architect leads strategic technical engagements and technically program-manages complex, multi-workstream initiatives. The role partners with Customer Success leaders and account teams to shape and execute cloud strategies, and drives projects from strategy through implementation and operationalization. It requires orchestrating multiple technical teams, aligning architecture to business outcomes, and communicating complex technical concepts to senior decision-makers. The architect helps government customers modernize mission-critical systems, adopt AI responsibly, and build secure, scalable cloud platforms that support long-term innovation and mission impact.

The position delivers solutions in line with Microsoft methodologies and proven practices, supports customer adoption and operational readiness, and helps guide secure, resilient, well-architected, cost- and performance-optimized solutions. It also works with partners and sales teams to advance solution utilization, resolve technical blockers, support proofs of concept and implementations, and deliver technical enablement. The architect contributes customer insights and technical feedback to Microsoft teams, supports technical readiness and knowledge-sharing across the organization, and participates in internal and external technical communities.

The role requires an active U.S. Government Top Secret/SCI clearance, verification of U.S. citizenship, and passing the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter. Failure to maintain or obtain required clearance or screening may result in employment action, up to and including termination.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• At least 4 years of experience in cloud or infrastructure technologies, IT consulting or support, systems administration, network operations, software development or support, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting, or equivalent experience.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret/SCI Security Clearance.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements.
• Successful verification of the stated security clearance before an offer of employment.
• Ability to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.
• U.S. citizenship, subject to verification due to citizenship-based legal restrictions applicable to the supported government customers.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor’s degree in a listed or related field and at least 8 years of relevant experience, or a master’s degree in a listed or related field and at least 6 years of relevant experience, or equivalent experience.
• At least 4 years of experience in a customer-facing role, internal and/or external.
• At least 4 years of experience working on technical projects.
• Technical cloud certification, such as Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google, or a security certification.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic technical engagements as a trusted advisor to customer technical and executive stakeholders.
• Technically program-manage complex, multi-workstream initiatives and orchestrate across technical teams.
• Partner with Customer Success leaders and account teams to shape and execute cloud strategies and drive projects from strategy through implementation and operationalization.
• Align architecture to business outcomes and translate complex technical concepts into clear executive-level messaging.
• Operate according to required operational excellence and proven practice standards throughout sales stages and activities, including pipeline updates and time tracking.
• Collaborate across Microsoft, customer, and partner teams to deliver on-strategy work and achieve customer and partner objectives.
• Contribute to managing business and technical risks; apply governance principles and comply with industry and Microsoft guidelines and procedures.
• Prioritize competing demands, identify customer impact, and align work with business priorities and goals.
• Identify, escalate, and mitigate blockers to accelerate solution deployment, value realization, usage, and consumption.
• Deliver solutions using Microsoft methodologies and offerings, following proven practices and patterns to prepare customers for operational readiness and business outcomes.
• Support customer change management and long-term organizational adoption to improve satisfaction and drive solution usage.
• Guide customers and partners toward well-architected, secure, resilient, AI-enabled, cost- and performance-optimized solutions.
• Identify opportunities for consumption, usage, and Unified expansion, including Enhanced Solutions, based on customer value and Microsoft’s value proposition.
• Listen to and respectfully challenge customers and partners, advocating alternative architectures and approaches that enhance customer requirements.
• Gather customer, partner, and industry insights; map architectures and digital transformation solutions to customer business outcomes; and capture opportunities in relevant systems and processes.
• Focus on customer and partner experience, learn customer goals, contribute to defining success conditions, and help address dissatisfaction and improve value realization.
• Translate customer and partner problems into industry solutions aligned with Microsoft product and platform strategy, and explain their connection to customer outcomes and ROI.
• Support adoption of Microsoft-aligned cross-solution-area products and platforms, build relationships with technical decision makers, and bridge technical and business stakeholders.
• Support discussions with customer and partner stakeholders about security, compliance, operational, and risk requirements.
• Represent the voice of the customer and partner by sharing feedback, insights, success stories, and technical input with engineering, product, and internal communities.
• Identify patterns across customers, partners, territories, and industries; contribute strategic insights and, where appropriate, business cases to influence product roadmaps and decisions.
• Unblock technical issues in customer deals, support partners and sales teams with opportunity clarification, proof of concept, and technical pre-sales support.
• Guide partners in developing offerings, practices, products, and solutions; assist with initial customer implementations; and deliver technical enablement.
• Use market insights and demand signals to support technical upskilling and accreditation priorities; demonstrate technical readiness and may mentor colleagues.
• Identify delivery gaps and patterns and communicate them to stakeholders to help improve products, intellectual property, technologies, processes, and practices.
• Contribute to virtual technical teams and communities, share architecture and competitive insights, and support development of scalable, repeatable intellectual property and models.
• Contribute to technical presentations and engagements, participate in community events, and share learnings across internal teams.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior