Cloud Architect

Nexiva Inc; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Nexiva INC. is seeking an experienced Cloud Architect to lead Azure-based cloud build-out, including landing zones, policy, and security baselines.

You will design secure environments, manage Terraform modules, and guide migrations from on-prem to Azure while coordinating with agency partners and executive stakeholders. The role requires hands-on Terraform, Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions, strong documentation, and mentoring responsibilities for the Azure Cloud Engineer.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in infrastructure engineering with 5+ years in Azure.
• Hands-on Terraform production experience with modules and remote state.
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID and conditional access.
• Migrations of on-prem workloads to Azure; AWS knowledge is a plus.
• Experience mentoring engineers and performing code reviews.
• Clear architecture documentation and runbooks.

Responsibilities

• Lead cloud build-out focused on Azure with AWS GovCloud integration.
• Design secure environments and TB/API-ready Terraform modules.
• Define landing zones, RBAC, policy, and security baselines.
• Oversee hybrid connectivity and identity integration with Entra ID.
• Present options, costs, and tradeoffs to stakeholders at all levels.
• Mentor the Azure Cloud Engineer and ensure ownership and runbooks.
• Maintain architecture diagrams and runbooks; track work in Azure DevOps.

Skills

Cloud Architecture

Azure

Terraform

CI/CD

Documentation

Mentoring

Security Baselines

Cost Management

AWS Knowledge

Education

Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)

AWS Certification (nice to have)

Terraform Certification (nice to have)

Tools

Azure DevOps

GitHub Actions

Terraform

Nerdio Manager

Azure Policy

Job description

Job Description

Hello There,

Hope you are doing well.

My name is Himanshu, and I serve as the Recruitment Manager at Nexiva INC. I am reaching out to share an excellent career opportunity for the role of Cloud Architect with our esteemed client.

Position

Cloud Architect

Location

Washington, DC Onsite - DMV area only

Duration

Long term contract

Details

The client seeks a hands-on Azure Cloud Architect to lead its cloud build-out (Azure primary, AWS Comm & GovCloud). Design secure environments for Clinet and partner agencies, delivers Terraform-based infrastructure, leads cloud migrations, and supports AVD.

Responsibilities

• Demonstrates expertise in conveying technical and functional concepts for cloud architecture, translating agency business requirements into clear solution designs, and presenting options, costs, and tradeoffs to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Identifies improvements to project standards to achieve high quality services and products, including Infrastructure as Code practices, change management, and documentation standards for all cloud work.
• Identifies best practices and standards for the use of Microsoft Azure, including the Azure Cloud Adoption Framework and Well-Architected Framework, landing zone design, naming and tagging, Azure Policy, and role-based access control (RBAC).
• Delivers support and design for cloud technologies that require integration with on-premises systems and networks, including hybrid connectivity to data centers, hub-and-spoke networking, private endpoints, firewall integration, and identity integration with Microsoft Entra ID.
• Interacts with executive level business users and technical experts, including agency CIOs, leadership, security, and vendor partners, to scope requirements, communicate status, and support decision-making.
• Functions as the cloud architecture SME, providing authoritative guidance on Azure services, security baselines, cost management, and AWS operations.
• Leads large, complex cloud implementations, including assessment, design, and migration of on-premises virtualised workloads to Azure, from discovery and dependency mapping through target design, sizing, cost modelling, and migration waves.
• Designs, matures, and owns the Azure landing zone, including management groups, subscriptions, policy, RBAC, and security baselines using Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
• Ensures production changes are delivered through code and pull requests rather than manual portal changes.
• Provides architectural oversight of Azure Virtual Desktop environments, including the boundary between Terraform-managed infrastructure and the Nerdio management platform.
• Defines monitoring, backup, and disaster recovery standards for Azure workloads, and tracks and optimises cloud spend to support agency chargeback reporting.
• Supports existing AWS workloads at an operational level.
• Provides technical direction, code review, and mentoring to the Azure Cloud Engineer, and ensures every critical system has a primary and backup owner.
• Maintains current architecture diagrams, design decisions, and runbooks. Documentation is a reviewed deliverable.
• Tracks work in Azure DevOps boards and incidents and changes in ServiceNow.

Minimum Qualifications

• 8+ years in infrastructure engineering, with at least 5 years designing and building in Microsoft Azure.
• Demonstrated design and delivery of an enterprise Azure landing zone, including management groups, Azure Policy, RBAC, and hub-and-spoke networking.
• Hands-on Terraform experience in production, including reusable modules and remote state management.
• Experience building infrastructure CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps (or GitHub Actions with transferable skills).
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID, conditional access, and identity governance.
• Experience planning or leading migrations of on-premises virtualised workloads (VMware or similar) to Azure.
• Working knowledge of AWS, sufficient to operate and troubleshoot existing workloads (EC2, VPC, IAM, S3).
• Experience leading or mentoring engineers, including code review.
• Strong written communication, with a track record of clear architecture documentation and runbooks.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in state, local, or federal government IT environments.
• Hands-on experience with Azure Virtual Desktop and/or Nerdio Manager for Enterprise.
• Experience with Azure.
• Familiarity with compliance frameworks such as NIST 800-53, CJIS, or FedRAMP.
• Experience with Azure cost management, reservations, and chargeback models.
• Familiarity with ServiceNow for incident and change management.

Minimum Education/Certification Requirements

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305), or ability to obtain within 6 months of start.
• Preferred: AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate or higher; HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate.

The skills profile required is

Skill

Required / Desired

Amount

of Experience

8+ yrs. conveying technical and functional concepts for a specific technical specialty

Required

8

Years

8+ yrs. preparing complex technical documentation

Required

8

Months

8+ yrs in infrastructure engineering, with at least 5 years designing and building in Microsoft Azure.

Required

8

Years

5+ yrs of hands-on Terraform experience in production, including reusable modules and remote state management.

Required

5

Years

Experience building infrastructure CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps (or GitHub Actions with transferable skills).

Required

3

Years

Experience planning or leading migrations of on-premises virtualised workloads (VMware or similar) to Azure.

Required

3

Years

Experience leading or mentoring engineers, including code review.

Required

3

Years

Bachelor's degree in IT or related field or equivalent experience

Required

Experience supporting AWS workloads at an operational level

Nice to have

Hands-on experience with Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and/or Nerdio Manager for Enterprise.

Nice to have

Microsoft Certified Azure certification(s)

Nice to have

Candidate must meet the requirements for a Senior Level position.

Required

11

Years

Thanks & Regards

Himanshu Sharma

Recruitment Manager

Email: [e-mail]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/himanshustaffingexpert/