Principal Architect, Cloud & Identity Infrastructure

Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd.; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 140,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd. in Toronto seeks a Principal Architect, Cloud & Identity Infrastructure to own the Cloud & Identity domain within the Infrastructure & Cloud Engineering organization.

This role focuses on Azure, AWS, Entra ID, AD, and Microsoft 365, balancing architecture, security, and practical delivery. You will define target architectures and guardrails, communicate strategy to business and technical teams, and drive scalable, cost‑efficient platforms with hands‑on

Qualifications

• Senior‑level experience (typically 10+ years) across enterprise infrastructure and cloud platforms.
• Strong background in hybrid environments (on‑premises and public cloud integration).
• Deep knowledge of modern identity (Entra ID, Conditional Access, MFA, SSO, federation, identity governance, PIM/JIT), Microsoft 365 services (Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive).
• Practical experience with Azure and AWS.
• Understanding of automation and infrastructure‑as‑code (Terraform, ARM, Bicep, CI/CD).
• Platform‑owner mindset focused on long‑term outcomes and business impact with strong decision‑making in complex environments
• Clear communicator across technical and business audiences.
• Pragmatic and outcome‑driven, comfortable with legacy and modern environment.

Responsibilities

• Own the Cloud & Identity platform domain and be accountable for its health, direction, and outcomes, including Azure and AWS platforms, Entra ID and Active Directory, and Microsoft 365 from an architecture and integration perspective.
• Define target architectures, standards, and guardrails to ensure scalability, security, cost efficiency, and consistency across the organization.
• Own the organization’s identity foundation, including authentication and authorization models, access patterns, and security controls across cloud and legacy environments.
• Communicate capabilities, constraints, and roadmaps to business and cross‑functional stakeholders; partner with other Platform Owners to ensure alignment.
• Be accountable for platform outcomes, including scalability, cost efficiency, access integrity, and reliability, evolving the platform based on business needs.
• Provide architectural guidance for Cloud & Identity Platforms (Azure/AWS) and MS 365, ensuring resilience and observability.
• Drive platform standards and reusable patterns with self‑service consumption where possible.

Skills

Senior-level exp

Hybrid environments

Identity platforms

Azure AWS

IaC automation

Communication

Outcome-driven

Tools

Terraform

ARM

Bicep

CI/CD

Job description

Principal Architect, Cloud & Identity Infrastructure

Interested in joining one of Canada’s top performing asset managers? We are seeking a Principal Architect, Cloud & Identity Infrastructure to own the Cloud & Identity domain within the Infrastructure & Cloud Engineering organization. This includes public cloud platforms (Azure, AWS), identity and access management (Entra ID, Active Directory, hybrid identity), and Microsoft 365 platform services. The focus is platform ownership: defining architecture, standards, and guardrails, and ensuring platforms are scalable, secure, and cost-efficient. At the same time, strong delivery experience and hands‑on technical depth are essential. You are expected to bring practical expertise, make sound technical decisions, and guide complex work with credibility while remaining accountable for direction and outcomes. You will act as the primary platform interface to business and application teams, translating needs into platform capabilities and clearly communicating strategy, constraints, and changes. You willoperateas a senior individual contributor, working closely with other Platform Owners, Security, and Operations. Engineering work is executed by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), but youremainclosely involvedin design decisions, complex problem‑solving, and key technical trade‑offs. You will treat platforms as products, enabling reusable patterns and low‑friction consumption so teams can move faster with minimal dependency on central teams. Our offices currently operate on a hybrid model with three days in office.

What You Will Do

• You will own the Cloud & Identity platform domain and be accountable for its health, direction, and outcomes. This includes Azure and AWS platforms,identityand access management across Entra ID and Active Directory, and Microsoft 365 from an architecture, security, and integration perspective.
• You will define target architectures, standards, and guardrails to ensure scalability, security, cost efficiency, and consistency across the organization. You will drive deliberate platform decisions and reduce fragmentation.
• You will own the organization’s identity foundation, including authentication and authorization models, access patterns, and security controls across cloud and legacy environments.
• Your ownership also includes how the platform is understood and consumed, ensuring clear communication of capabilities, constraints, and roadmap to business and cross‑functional stakeholders. You will partner with other Platform Owners to ensure clear boundaries and integration points, while SMEs execute implementation aligned to your standards.
• You are accountable for platform outcomes, including scalability, cost efficiency, access integrity, and reliability, and for evolving the platform proactively based on business needs.
• Cloud & Identity Platforms: Own and evolve cloud platforms across Azure and AWS, and define how services are consumed. Provide architectural guidance in partnership with other Platform Owners (compute, network, storage). Ensure platforms meet requirements for scalability, resilience, observability, and recovery
• Identity & Microsoft Platforms: Own identity and access management across Entra ID, Active Directory, and hybrid environments. Define authentication, authorization, and privileged access standards in partnership with Security. Own Microsoft 365 architecture, security configuration, and identity integration, partnering with Workplace Technology on end‑user experience and adoption
• Architecture, Standards & Governance: Define and enforce platform standards, guardrails, and reusable patterns. Drive consistent, low‑friction platform consumption models (self‑service where possible). Balance innovation with stability, security, and long‑term sustainability
• Business & Cross‑Functional Engagement: Act as the primary platform point of contact for business and application teams. Translate business needs into platform capabilities, standards, and roadmap priorities. Communicate platform strategy, changes, and constraints clearly to technical and non‑technical stakeholders. Work closely with Security, Operations, and Architecture to align priorities and resolve dependencies
• Cross‑Domain Collaboration: Work with other Platform Owners to define clear integration points and avoid overlap. Guide SMEs by setting direction, reviewing designs, and ensuring alignment with standards. Drive technical decisions and influence direction across teams and stakeholders
• Cost & Platform Health: Define and enforce cost management practices (tagging, allocation, optimization). Track and improve platform health across reliability, performance, cost, and adoption

What You Bring

• Senior‑level experience (typically10+ years) across enterprise infrastructure and cloud platforms
• Strong background in hybrid environments (on‑premises and public cloud integration)
• Deep knowledge of: Modern identity (Entra ID, Conditional Access, MFA, SSO, federation, identity governance, PIM/JIT), Microsoft 365 services (Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive), Core infrastructure (Windows Server, Exchange, virtualization, storage, networking)
• Practical experience with Azure and AWS
• Understanding of automation and infrastructure‑as‑code (Terraform, ARM, Bicep, CI/CD)
• Platform‑owner mindset focused on long‑term outcomes and business impact with srong decision‑making in complex environments
• Clear communicator across technical and business audiences
• Pragmatic and outcome‑driven, comfortable with legacy and modern environment

The salary range for this position is $140,000 - $150,000. The salary range provided reflects the base salary range for this position as required by legislation. In addition, there is an annual performance bonus which contributes to the total compensation of this position. Further questions may be directed to the HR team during the interview process.

For a closer look at how you can build your career with us, we invite you to explore cclgroup.com .

CC&L Financial Group is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or expression, disability, or age.

Your application will be reviewed by a member of the hiring team - AI is not used in the screening, assessment or selection of applications at this time.