AI and Azure Lead ( Onsite)

Cognizant; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 80,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid holidays

401(k) plan

Disability insurance

Parental leave

Employee stock purchase plan

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking a senior software architect and enterprise architect to drive AI and cloud initiatives in Washington, DC. You will lead market assessments, design end-to-end Azure architectures, and mentor cross-functional teams to deliver scalable solutions.

The role requires a decade of software and architecture experience, with strong Azure and API skills, and the ability to work across time zones. Expect production-grade delivery and governance responsibilities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in computer science, software engineering, or related field.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in software engineering and solution architecture.
• Minimum 5 years of experience designing enterprise solutions on Microsoft Azure.
• Proven track record of delivering proofs-of-concept and scaling to production.
• Experience leading enterprise architecture and cloud transformation initiatives.
• Strong production engineering concepts: error handling, observability, and fault tolerance.
• Experience building APIs using FastAPI or similar frameworks.
• Proficiency with CI/CD pipelines and Git-based workflows.
• Ability to work autonomously in ambiguous spaces and collaborate across time zones.

Responsibilities

• Conduct market research on emerging AI platforms, foundation models, AI agents, orchestration frameworks, developer tools, and enterprise AI products.
• Analyze vendor offerings, market trends, product maturity, security considerations, and implementation models.
• Assess solutions against IFC requirements, enterprise architecture standards, and regulatory needs.
• Design end-to-end solution architectures leveraging Microsoft Azure services.
• Define architecture patterns for AI, cloud-native apps, integrations, APIs, data platforms, and automation.
• Ensure alignment with enterprise architecture, security, governance, and operations standards.
• Develop architecture artifacts, design documents, and implementation roadmaps.
• Integrate GenAI agents into existing back-end code, APIs, and data pipelines.
• Ensure production readiness with error handling, retries, idempotency, logging, and monitoring.
• Participate in the full software development lifecycle and production support.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to refine requirements and solution vision.
• Support project teams through architecture reviews, assessments, and planning.
• Participate in architecture governance forums and design reviews.
• Mentor development teams on modern cloud and AI architecture practices.
• Participate in code reviews and contribute to engineering standards.
• Actively participate in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives.

Skills

Enterprise architecture

Azure cloud

API design

CI/CD

Agile

Leadership

Cross-functional teamwork

Problem-solving

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in CS/SE

Tools

Microsoft Azure

FastAPI

CI/CD pipelines

Git

Job description

SCOPE OF WORK

• Conduct market research on emerging AI platforms, foundation models, AI agents, orchestration frameworks, developer tools, and enterprise AI products.
• Analyze vendor offerings, market trends, product maturity, security considerations, and implementation models.
• Assess solutions against IFC business requirements, enterprise architecture standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Design end-to-end solution architectures leveraging Microsoft Azure services.
• Define architecture patterns for AI, cloud-native applications, integrations, APIs, data platforms, and automation solutions.
• Ensure alignment with enterprise architecture, security, governance, and operational standards.
• Develop architecture artifacts, design documents, and implementation roadmaps.
• Integrate GenAI agents into the existing back-end codebase, APIs, and data pipelines.
• Ensure production readiness by addressing error handling, retries, idempotency, logging, and monitoring.
• Participate in the full software development lifecycle, from design and implementation to testing, deployment, and production support.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to refine requirements and solution vision.
• Support project teams through architecture reviews, technical assessments, and implementation planning.
• Participate in architecture governance forums and design reviews.
• Mentor development teams on modern cloud and AI architecture practices.
• Participate in code reviews and contribute to shared engineering standards and best practices.
• Actively participate in Agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives.

SKILLS / EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Bachelor’s degree or Masters degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in software engineering and solution architecture.
• Minimum 5 years of experience designing enterprise solutions on Microsoft Azure.
• Demonstrated experience evaluating emerging technologies and conducting technical market assessments.
• Proven track record of delivering proof-of-concepts and scaling them into production environments.
• Experience leading enterprise architecture and cloud transformation initiatives.
• Experience working in complex enterprise organizations and cross-functional teams.
• Strong grasp of production engineering concepts such as error handling, retry, idempotency, observability, and fault tolerance.
• Proficiency in building APIs using FastAPI or similar frameworks.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and Git-based version control workflows.
• Ability to work autonomously in ambiguous problem spaces and make sound engineering trade-offs.
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills with the ability to work in multi-cultural teams across different time zones.

Salary and Other Compensation:

Applications will be accepted until Nov 15, 2026.

The annual salary for this position is between $80,000 - $170,000 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits: Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
• Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
• 401(k) plan and contributions
• Long-term/Short-term Disability
• Paid Parental Leave
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Disclaimer: The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.