AWS Cloud Architect

Cognizant; Nashville (TN); Remote; USD 114,000 - 128,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance

Paid holidays + PTO

401(k) plan and contributions

Long-term/Short-term Disability

Paid Parental Leave

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking a Cloud Lead- AWS DevSecOps to design, implement, and optimize secure, scalable cloud infrastructure and CI/CD pipelines across multi-account AWS environments.

You will lead DevSecOps practices, container platforms, IaC with Terraform and AWS CDK, and ensure compliance and observability, while collaborating with enterprise teams in a remote US setting.

Qualifications

• Extensive AWS/Cloud architecture experience, with focus on DevSecOps.
• Hands-on Terraform and AWS CDK implementation expertise.
• Proficient in GitLab CI/CD and pipeline automation.
• Strong container platform experience (ECS/EKS, Kubernetes).
• Security automation and compliance in CI/CD workflows.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement robust GitLab CI/CD pipelines with multi-stage YAML for builds, tests, security scans, and multi-environment deployments.
• Configure and manage GitLab Runners (EC2/EKS-based autoscaling) focusing on scalability and security.
• Optimize pipeline performance via parallelism, caching, and artifact reuse.
• Implement automated release management including tagging, semantic versioning, rollback strategies, and audit traceability.
• Develop IaC using Terraform and AWS CDK with modular reusable designs.
• Automate provisioning of AWS services (VPC, IAM, EC2, ECS/EKS, Lambda, RDS, S3).
• Build multi-account and multi-region AWS environments using CDK pipelines and GitLab integration.
• Apply scalable deployment strategies (blue/green, canary, rolling).
• Automate container deployment to ECS/EKS with image builds and runtime config.
• Manage Kubernetes with Helm and standardize deployments.
• Integrate security controls (SAST, DAST, dependency scanning, secrets detection).
• Enforce least-privilege IAM roles/policies and cross-account access controls.
• Manage secrets with AWS Secrets Manager and SSM Parameter Store; CI/CD variables.
• Enable PCI DSS, SOC 2, GDPR, CIS alignment reporting.

Skills

Cloud leadership

DevSecOps

CI/CD design

AWS expertise

Security automation

Tools

GitLab CI/CD

Terraform

AWS CDK

ECS/EKS

Kubernetes

Observability tools

Job description

Job Title: Cloud Lead- AWS DevSecOps

Job Location: Remote- USA

**** Please note, this role is not able to offer visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future****

We are seeking a highly skilled Cloud Architect / Cloud Lead with deep expertise in AWS, DevOps, and DevSecOps practices. This role will be responsible for designing, implementing, and optimizing scalable cloud infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and secure deployment frameworks. The ideal candidate will bring strong experience in GitLab, Terraform, AWS CDK, and container platforms, along with a solid understanding of security, compliance, and observability in enterprise environments.

Salary and Other Compensation:

The annual salary for this position is between $114,000 to $128,000 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.

In this role, you will

CI/CD & DevOps Engineering

• Design and implement robust GitLab CI/CD pipelines using multi-stage YAML for build, testing, security scanning, and multi-environment deployments.

• Configure and manage GitLab Runners (EC2/EKS-based autoscaling) with focus on scalability, performance, and security.

• Optimize pipeline performance through parallel execution, caching, artifact reuse, and conditional workflows.

• Implement automated release management including tagging, semantic versioning, rollback strategies, and audit traceability.

Cloud Infrastructure & Automation

• Develop Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform and AWS CDK (TypeScript/Python) with modular and reusable design patterns.

• Automate provisioning of AWS services such as VPC, IAM, EC2, ECS/EKS, Lambda, RDS, and S3 using parameterized templates.

• Build and manage multi-account and multi-region AWS environments using CDK pipelines and GitLab integration.

• Implement scalable and resilient deployment strategies including blue/green, canary, and rolling deployments.

Containerization & Platform Engineering

• Automate deployment of applications to container platforms (ECS/EKS), including image build pipelines and runtime configuration.

• Manage Kubernetes deployments using Helm charts and establish repeatable deployment standards.

• Implement container lifecycle management and registry governance using GitLab Registry and Amazon ECR.

DevSecOps & Compliance

• Integrate security controls within CI/CD pipelines including SAST, DAST, dependency scanning, container scanning, and secrets detection.

• Enforce least-privilege access by designing IAM roles, policies, and cross-account access controls.

• Implement secure configuration and secrets management using AWS Secrets Manager, SSM Parameter Store, and CI/CD variables.

• Enable compliance reporting aligned to PCI DSS, SOC 2, GDPR, and CIS benchmarks.

Monitoring, Logging & Observability

• Design and implement end-to-end observability frameworks using AWS CloudWatch (logs, metrics, alarms).

• Integrate third-party monitoring tools such as Datadog, Dynatrace, Splunk, or Grafana.

• Build centralized logging architecture with CloudWatch, CloudTrail, and S3 archival and retention policies.

• Develop custom CloudWatch dashboards with dynamic filtering and service correlation views.

• Configure advanced alerting mechanisms including composite alarms, anomaly detection, and threshold tuning.

• Enable cross-account observability using AWS Organizations and centralized monitoring accounts.

Operational Excellence & Troubleshooting

• Troubleshoot and resolve issues across CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure, networking, IAM, and runtime environments.

• Perform drift detection and remediation in infrastructure and deployments.

• Ensure high availability, scalability, and reliability of cloud environments through proactive monitoring and optimization.

What you’ll need to succeed (required skills)

• Extensive experience with AWS Cloud services (10+ years preferred)

• Strong hands-on expertise in Terraform and AWS CDK

• Experience with GitLab CI/CD and pipeline automation

• Solid experience with container platforms (ECS/EKS, Kubernetes)

• Proficiency in DevSecOps tools and security integration

Preferred Skills

• Experience with multi-account AWS architecture and governance

• Exposure to financial services regulatory environments

• Strong scripting skills in Python or TypeScript

• Experience with observability platforms (Datadog, Splunk, Dynatrace, Grafana)

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

Work model:

At Cognizant, we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible, and we are here to support a healthy work-life balance though our various wellbeing programs. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a remote role in US.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

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.

“Cognizant is an equal opportunity employer. Your application and candidacy will not be considered based on race, color, sex, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Cognizant is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.