Lead Cloud Architect

Seeking a Cloud Engineering Lead who will own the company’s Azure and OCI infrastructure portfolio, while championing enterprise monitoring and automation solutions. You will manage key vendor relationships (Microsoft and Oracle) and ensure the platform delivers strong availability, strong security, and predictable costs. This position blends strategic planning and governance with a very hands-on focus. You will regularly work directly in the environment using tools like PowerShell, APIs, and Infrastructure as Code to deliver solutions. You will also drive the use of generative AI across the engineering team to automate tasks, improve operational efficiency, and innovate in day-to-day workflows. ACCOUNTABILITIES AND ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Define multi-year cloud roadmaps in partnership with the Enterprise Architect, and approve reference architectures, IaC patterns, and hardening baselines.
• Own availability, capacity, and performance management for all cloud workloads. Maintain and test technical disaster recovery plans, document RTO/RPO evidence, and lead quarterly fail-over exercises.
• Deploy and tune the enterprise monitoring platform. Embed AIOps correlation to reduce MTTR and publish monthly reliability scorecards.
• Develop no-code automations and Infrastructure as Code templates. Leverage PowerShell and APIs extensively to deliver automation at scale.
• Champion AI and innovation company-wide. Build automation workflows using large language models and other generative AI tools.
• Serve as the primary contact for Microsoft, Oracle, and Accenture cloud MSP. Negotiate contracts, manage renewals, handle escalations, and track vendor SLAs. Conduct cost optimization reviews and deliver charge-back or show-back reports.
• Govern OS and platform lifecycles including patching, image hardening, and EOL migrations.
• Manage and mentor team members and act as L3 for critical incidents while chairing post-incident reviews.
• Approve design and execution of new environments, mergers, or big-bang cutovers. Coordinate change windows with the Service Management Lead and CAB.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTSMinimum education required of the position

• Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Engineering, or similar.
• In lieu of a degree, candidates must have at least 4 additional years of experience in enterprise architecture, in addition to the 8 years of experience required below.

Minimum experience required of the position

• 8+ yrs in cloud engineering; 3+ years leading teams or large programs; proven record managing vendor contracts and cloud FinOps.

Minimum knowledge, skills and abilities preferred of the position

• Technical Depth: Azure and/or OCI architecture, IaC, CI/CD, Windows and Linux, networking, DR, performance tuning.
• Scripting: Strong knowledge of PowerShell, IaC, and API calls.
• Soft Skills: Contract negotiation, cost analytics, incident leadership, and executive communication.

Any certificates, licenses, etc. required for the position

• Preferred: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, OCI Architect Professional, ITIL v4.

Physical Requirements

• Able to operate a motor vehicle, including the ability to enter and exit vehicle unassisted.
• Able to perform on-site inspections.
• Able to operate a personal computer, either desktop or laptop.
• Able to sit for extended periods of time.
• Able to operate a copy machine, fax machine, calculator, telephone and other miscellaneous office equipment.
• Able to exert up to 50 Lbs. of force occasionally, and /or a minimal amount of force frequently to lift, carry, push or otherwise move objects.