Lead Microservices and AI Technical Architect for Federal Government Agency

Senior roles in cloud, delivery, engineering, and change. Placed properly.

Key requirements

• You must be an Australian Citizen eligible to attain a Baseline security clearance - no exceptions for this federal gig.
• You need deep, hands-on experience architecting cloud-native, microservices and event-driven platforms at enterprise scale - not just advisory, but delivery.
• Demonstrated AI engineering chops - from model deployment and semantic search through to responsible AI governance in a real enterprise context.

The gig

If you live and breathe cloud-native architecture, get genuinely excited about AI-enabled delivery, and love leaving engineering teams better than you found them - this is the gig you've been waiting for.

Picture this: You're the technical authority on a complex, high-impact platform modernisation programme inside a major federal department. You're shaping the architecture of microservices and AI-enabled platforms, setting the engineering standards that the whole team rallies around, and making sure capability actually sticks - not just while you're there, but long after. The role is hybrid out of Canberra though Victoria and New South Wales may be considered, with flexibility for the right candidate, and runs for an initial 12 months with up to two 12-month extensions. That's potentially three years of meaningful, career-defining work.

You'll be driving the full stack of modern engineering excellence - DevSecOps, CI/CD, observability, platform engineering, containerisation - while also embedding AI across the software delivery lifecycle in a way that's responsible, scalable and genuinely transformative. You'll lead multidisciplinary teams, influence senior executives, and translate gnarly business problems into elegant technology outcomes.

We know because we do. The Cloud Delivered crew has been in the contractor trenches ourselves. We know what a Lead-level architect actually looks like in a federal context, and we know how to match the right talent to the right opportunity. We won't waste your time, and we'll back you every step of the way.

This is an EL2-equivalent engagement - so we're looking for someone who can command a room, govern an architecture, and still roll up their sleeves when it counts.

• Extensive experience designing, implementing and governing cloud native, microservices and event driven architectures within complex enterprise environments, delivering scalable, resilient and secure business critical platforms.
• Demonstrated expertise in AI engineering and AI enabled solution delivery, including the development, deployment and operationalisation of enterprise AI capabilities, semantic search, machine learning solutions and responsible AI practices.
• Strong software engineering and platform engineering capability, including modern development frameworks, DevSecOps, CI/CD, automated testing, observability, security by design and operational excellence.
• Proven ability to lead enterprise technology modernisation and transformation initiatives, providing technical direction, influencing architecture decisions and delivering measurable improvements in platform reliability, security, scalability and engineering maturity.
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement, communication and leadership skills, with demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary teams, delivery partners and senior executives and translating complex business requirements into practical technology outcomes.
• Experience designing, implementing and operating container platforms using technologies such as Kubernetes, OpenShift, AKS, EKS or GKE, including platform automation, governance and workload management.
• Experience with cloud platform modernisation, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), platform engineering, observability tooling and enterprise scale automation practices.
• Experience leading delivery within Agile environments, including coaching geographically dispersed teams, driving capability uplift and fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation and continuous improvement.

Screening Questions YOU WILL BE ASKED:

Seriously, don't bother if you don't think you'll pass these questions.

Are you an Australian Citizen?

• Are you an Australian Citizen?

What Australian Government Security Vetting Agency (AGSVA) clearance do you currently hold (Active or Dormant)?

• What Australian Government Security Vetting Agency (AGSVA) clearance do you currently hold (Active or Dormant)?

Can you attend onsite at any office (ACT, VIC, NSW)?

• Can you attend onsite at any office (ACT, VIC, NSW)?

Do you live in VIC, NSW, or are you willing to relocate to one of those states?

• Do you live in VIC, NSW, or are you willing to relocate to one of those states?

Are you an Australian Citizen eligible to attain a Baseline security clearance?

• Are you an Australian Citizen eligible to attain a Baseline security clearance?

Are you eligible to attain a Baseline security clearance?

• Are you eligible to attain a Baseline security clearance?

How many years of total experience do you have working in federal government ICT delivery?

• How many years of total experience do you have working in federal government ICT delivery?

How many years of experience do you have designing, implementing and governing cloud-native, microservices and event-driven architectures within complex enterprise environments?

• How many years of experience do you have designing, implementing and governing cloud-native, microservices and event-driven architectures within complex enterprise environments?

How many years of experience do you have in AI engineering and AI-enabled solution delivery, including deployment and operationalisation of enterprise AI capabilities?

• How many years of experience do you have in AI engineering and AI-enabled solution delivery, including deployment and operationalisation of enterprise AI capabilities?

How many years of hands-on experience do you have with DevSecOps, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing and platform engineering practices?

• How many years of hands-on experience do you have with DevSecOps, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing and platform engineering practices?

How many years of experience do you have leading enterprise technology modernisation and transformation initiatives at a technical authority or principal architect level?

• How many years of experience do you have leading enterprise technology modernisation and transformation initiatives at a technical authority or principal architect level?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your ability to translate complex technical architecture decisions to senior executives and non-technical stakeholders?

• On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your ability to translate complex technical architecture decisions to senior executives and non-technical stakeholders?

How many years of experience do you have designing, implementing and operating container platforms (e.g. Kubernetes, OpenShift, AKS, EKS or GKE)?

• How many years of experience do you have designing, implementing and operating container platforms (e.g. Kubernetes, OpenShift, AKS, EKS or GKE)?

How many years of experience do you have with Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), observability tooling and enterprise-scale automation practices?

• How many years of experience do you have with Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), observability tooling and enterprise-scale automation practices?

How many years of experience do you have leading delivery within Agile environments, including coaching geographically dispersed teams?