Senior Azure Cloud Architect | Secret or Top-Secret Clearance

Position Title: Senior Azure Cloud Architect
Location: Washington, DC, 20230
Clearance: Secret or Top-Secret (TS) Clearance Required
Salary: $150K-180K / Based on Years of Experience

Position Overview
Provides technical leadership and hands-on engineering for Azure, Windows Server, Active Directory, cloud modernization, and mission-critical Federal infrastructure. This individual serves as the principal Azure subject matter expert, providing cloud architecture, engineering, cost governance, and security leadership for the Microsoft Azure environment. The Azure Cloud Architect works closely with leadership and the technical team to design secure, cost-effective, hybrid-cloud solutions that integrate Azure-native services with on-premises infrastructure, ensuring compliance with federal cloud security mandates throughout.

Core Responsibilities

• Serve as the Azure subject matter expert, evaluating and selecting Azure services (e.g., Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Functions, Azure Policy) to support enterprise workloads.
• Design secure Azure landing zones and implement governance models, including management groups, role-based access control (RBAC), and tagging strategies.
• Architect hybrid-cloud solutions that integrate Azure-native services with NTIA''s on-premises Windows Server environment.
• Provide architectural oversight for cloud migration and modernization initiatives, ensuring high availability and scalability.
• Analyze cloud spending, identify trends, and develop cost optimization and reduction strategies.
• Create and maintain Azure service budgets; forecast future costs based on usage trends and organizational growth.
• Monitor and optimize cloud spend using Azure Cost Management and Azure Advisor.
• Partner with the IT Division to align Azure architecture decisions with budget and mission requirements.
• Embed Zero Trust principles, identity governance, and threat protection into cloud designs in coordination with security operations.
• Ensure the Azure environment complies with FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, Executive Order 14028, and CNSSI 1253, as well as internal DOC/NTIA security policies.
• Conduct regular security reviews and compliance assessments within the Azure environment.
• Support annual Authorization and Accreditation (A&A) activities and provide input to system security documentation.
• Coordinate with DevOps, security, and infrastructure teams to maintain architectural consistency across the enterprise.
• Produce and maintain architecture documentation supporting the technical baseline.
• Mentor technical staff and drive automation and continuous improvement across cloud operations.
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for Government stakeholders on Azure-related initiatives.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor''s degree.
• 8+ years of cloud engineering experience.
• Azure certifications such as one of the following:
  • AZ-305 (Azure Solutions Architect Expert)
  • SC-100 (Cybersecurity Architect Expert)
  • AZ-400 (DevOps Engineer Expert)
  • AZ-104 (Azure Administrator Associate)
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing Azure governance frameworks (landing zones, management groups, RBAC, Azure Policy).
• Working knowledge of federal cloud compliance frameworks, including FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, and Zero Trust architecture principles.
• Experience supporting mission-critical infrastructure in a Federal environment.
• Active Secret Clearance required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting the Department of Commerce or other Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) cloud environments.
• Experience with hybrid-cloud integration, Azure VDI, Intune, BigFix, or Exchange migration.
• Familiarity with networking concepts (VLANs, firewalls) as they relate to cloud architecture.
• Experience leading or mentoring distributed technical teams.