Cloud Architect – Platforms Engineering

Xona Space Systems; Burlingame (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Xona Space Systems is seeking an experienced Cloud Architect to own and scale our AWS-based cloud infrastructure. You will bridge architecture and hands‑on operations, enabling rapid, secure deployments.

You will collaborate with SRE to improve observability, implement cost optimization, and empower product teams with self-service templates and capacity planning.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in IT with 4+ years in cloud architecture and infrastructure.
• Deep hands-on knowledge of AWS networking services and on-prem connectivity.
• IaC and CI/CD experience with Terraform, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI.

Responsibilities

• Own, evolve, and scale AWS multi-account cloud architecture for HA, DR, and cost optimization.
• Design and manage enterprise networking topologies (VPC, Transit Gateway, Direct Connect, VPNs).
• Drive standardization and automation of provisioning with Terraform and AWS CDK.
• Collaborate with SRE to implement observability using OpenTelemetry or CloudWatch.
• Provide self-service templates, reviews, and capacity planning for engineering teams.

Skills

Cloud architecture

Cloud platforms

IaC

CI/CD

Containerization

Networking

Security & Zero Trust

Programming

Education

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional

Tools

Terraform

AWS CDK

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Kubernetes

Job description

Xona is the navigational intelligence company bringing real-time, centimeter-level certainty to any device, anywhere on Earth.

With Pulsar – the world’s most advanced PNT satellite infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit – Xona will offer a future-proof, backwards-compatible global positioning system optimized for absolute precision, superior power, and robust protection.

Overview

We are seeking an experienced Cloud Architect to join our growing Platform Engineering team. In this role, you will be the technical owner of our core cloud infrastructure and network topology on AWS. You will iterate, build, and scale the foundational systems that empower our software engineering teams to deploy applications rapidly, securely, and reliably.

While the position is titled Cloud Architect , the scope combines high-level architectural strategy with deep platform ownership, bridging the gap between traditional architecture and hands‑on operational excellence (CloudOps).

Key Responsibilities

• Infrastructure Ownership: Own, evolve, and scale our AWS multi-account cloud architecture, ensuring high availability, disaster recovery, and cost optimization.

• Network Topology Design: Architect and manage complex enterprise networking topologies (VPC design, Transit Gateways, Direct Connect, VPNs, and routing policies) ensuring secure segmentation and low-latency connectivity.

• Platform & Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Drive the standardization and automation of infrastructure provisioning using tools like Terraform and AWS CDK.

• Reliability & Observability: Collaborate with Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) to implement robust monitoring, logging, and tracing across all cloud environments using frameworks like OpenTelemetry or AWS CloudWatch.

• Developer Enablement: Act as an internal consultant for product engineering teams, providing self‑service infrastructure templates, launch reviews, and capacity planning.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Experience: 7+ years of experience in IT, with at least 4+ years specializing in cloud architecture and infrastructure engineering within AWS, GCP, or Azure.

• Networking Expertise: Deep hands‑on knowledge of AWS or equivalent networking services (VPC, Transit Gateway, Route 53, Direct Connect) and on‑prem connectivity.

• Automation Mindset: Extensive experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and some knowledge of CI/CD pipelines (Terraform, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI).

• Containerization & Orchestration: Solid understanding of container technologies and orchestration platforms, specifically Amazon ECS and Amazon EKS.

• Security Acumen: Demonstrated experience designing secure cloud environments adhering to the Principle of Least Privilege and Zero Trust principles.

• Certifications: AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional (or equivalent hands‑on enterprise experience) is strongly preferred.

• Software Development Background: Proficiency in at least one modern programming language (Python, Bash, etc.) for automation and tooling.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced Certifications: Additional industry certifications like AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty or Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA).

• FinOps Knowledge: Experience implementing cloud cost-management frameworks, reserved instance/savings plan strategies, and granular resource tagging policies.

• Software Experience working on software engineering deliverables & languages at different levels of the stack.

For U.S. Roles:

To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e. Green Card holder), or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).

For U.K. Roles:

To comply with U.K. regulations, this role requires Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks, and successful candidates must be eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC).

For Canada Roles:

Successful candidates must obtain and hold a security clearance at the reliability status level, and pass security assessment for the Canadian Controlled Goods Program (CGP) and ITAR.

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.