Azure Cloud Architect

Bayforce; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Bayforce in Richardson, TX is seeking a Senior Azure Cloud Engineer/Architect to design, build, secure, and operate a global Azure infrastructure. This senior, hands-on role requires broad expertise across networking, compute, IAM, security, and cost optimization.

You will lead Landing Zones, multi-region deployments, and governance, implement IaC, automate deployments, and collaborate with global teams to improve resiliency, security, and performance of enterprise cloud environments.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of enterprise infrastructure experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on Microsoft Azure experience in enterprise environments.
• Advanced knowledge of Azure networking, VNets, peering and ExpressRoute.
• Advanced knowledge of Azure VMs, storage, availability and performance optimization.
• Strong knowledge of Entra ID, IAM, RBAC, PIM and Conditional Access.
• Experience with landing zones, governance and enterprise cloud standards.
• Experience with Azure Backup, Site Recovery, Monitor and Log Analytics.

Responsibilities

• Design multi-region Azure architecture, Landing Zones, subscriptions and governance.
• Build and support Windows/Linux compute, storage, backup, and disaster recovery.
• Implement and troubleshoot Azure networking, including hub-and-spoke, VPNs and ExpressRoute.
• Administer Entra ID, RBAC, PIM, CA and Zero Trust controls.
• Establish Azure Policy, security baselines, monitoring and guardrails.
• Drive Infrastructure as Code, automation and standardized deployments.
• Improve resiliency, security, performance and cost efficiency across the Azure environment.

Skills

Azure

Cloud Architecture

Networking

Security

IAM

RBAC

Zero Trust

IaC

Terraform

Azure Monitor

Tools

Terraform

Azure DevOps

Key Vault

Job description

Employment Type: Contract

Duration: Up to 12 months, potential to extend or convert

Preferred Location: Richardson, TX area for hybrid onsite

Role Description

We are seeking a highly experienced Senior Azure Cloud Engineer / Architect to design, build, secure, operate, and continuously improve Microsoft Azure infrastructure supporting a global, multi-site organization.

This is a senior-level, hands-on technical role requiring broad expertise across the entire Azure cloud stack, including networking, compute, identity and access management, security, storage, backup and disaster recovery, monitoring, governance, automation, and cost optimization.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and manage multi-region Azure architecture, Landing Zones, subscriptions, governance, and deployment standards.
• Build and support Windows/Linux compute, storage, backup, and disaster recovery solutions.
• Implement and troubleshoot Azure networking, including hub-and-spoke, Virtual WAN, firewalls, private endpoints, ExpressRoute, VPNs, DNS, and hybrid connectivity.
• Administer Entra ID, RBAC, PIM, Conditional Access, managed identities, and Zero Trust security controls.
• Establish Azure Policy, security baselines, monitoring, alerting, and operational guardrails.
• Drive Infrastructure as Code, automation, documentation, and standardized deployment practices.
• Improve resiliency, security, performance, compliance, and cost efficiency across the Azure environment.

Requirements

Top 3 requirements

• Hybrid Global Infrastructure &* Cloud Operations

Additional

• 8+ years of enterprise infrastructure, cloud engineering, systems engineering, or related experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on Microsoft Azure experience supporting enterprise environments.
• Advanced knowledge of Azure networking, including VNets, peering, routing, firewalls, load balancing, private endpoints, VPNs, DNS, and ExpressRoute.
• Advanced knowledge of Azure Virtual Machines, compute, storage, availability, and performance optimization.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID, IAM, RBAC, PIM, Conditional Access, Managed Identities, and Service Principals.
• Strong understanding of Azure security architecture, including Defender for Cloud, Azure Firewall, WAF, Key Vault, Azure Policy, and Zero Trust principles.
• Experience with Azure Landing Zones, management groups, subscriptions, resource groups, governance, and enterprise cloud standards.
• Experience with Azure Backup, Site Recovery, Azure Monitor, and Log Analytics.
• Strong understanding of enterprise networking technologies, including TCP/IP, routing, DNS, DHCP, firewalls, VPNs, and load balancing.
• Strong Windows Server knowledge and working knowledge of Linux.
• Demonstrated experience troubleshooting complex, business-critical production environments.
• Strong communication skills and experience working with globally distributed technical teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate
• Terraform Associate or equivalent Infrastructure as Code experience
• Experience with Azure DevOps, Azure SQL, Azure Virtual Desktop, and CI/CD.
• Experience supporting large multinational organizations, manufacturing environments, global data centers, and hybrid cloud architectures.