Consulting Principal, Energy & Utilities Consulting Practice

Cognizant; Phoenix (AZ); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognizant seeks a senior/ chief cloud architect to guide enterprise cloud architecture for resilient performance, sustainable cost optimization, and secure scalability across global operations in a hybrid work model.

The role collaborates across teams to align cloud solutions with business strategy, promote cost-aware design, and drive environmentally responsible technology adoption.

Qualifications

• Senior cloud architect with responsibility for defining enterprise-scale architectures and cost optimization.
• Deep expertise in cloud platforms and services aligned to financial efficiency and business outcomes.
• Advance skills in cloud cost management tooling, reporting, and clear analytics for engineering and executives.
• Strong knowledge of infrastructure as code, automation, and configuration management for standardized provisioning.
• Proficient in performance tuning, capacity planning, and workload right sizing to reduce waste.
• Experience in security, governance, and risk management aligned with cost optimization.
• Excellent communication and collaboration in hybrid environments across tech, finance and business partners.
• Familiarity with microservices, containers and serverless patterns and their cost implications.

Responsibilities

• Design enterprise-scale cloud architecture blueprints emphasizing cost, resilience, and scalable security.
• Develop and maintain cloud cost optimization strategies across business units.
• Analyze pricing models to lower total ownership costs without compromising reliability.
• Embed cost-efficient design principles into solution architectures and references.
• Guide migration and modernization with patterns that reduce wasteful resources.
• Establish governance for cloud provisioning and tagging for transparent cost tracking.
• Create standards and guardrails for right-sized resource usage across clouds.
• Translate technical decisions into clear cost impacts for finance and executives.
• Review major cloud projects to ensure alignment with cost and security objectives.
• Provide dashboards and insights highlighting trends, anomalies, and savings opportunities.
• Mentor teams on cost-aware design and responsible cloud consumption.
• Coordinate with operations to tune configurations and capacity plans for reliability.
• Champion innovative cloud technologies to improve affordability and sustainability.

Skills

Senior cloud architect

Chief architect

Enterprise architectures

Cost optimization

Cloud platforms

Financial efficiency

Business outcomes

Cloud cost management

Tooling & reporting

Analytics

Executive stakeholders

Infrastructure as code

Automation

Configuration management

Performance tuning

Capacity planning

Right sizing

Security compliance

Governance

Risk standards

Communication skills

Collaboration

Hybrid models

Microservices

Containers

Serverless

Cost structures

Tools

Cloud cost management tooling

Job description

Job Summary

This role focuses on guiding enterprise cloud architecture to achieve resilient performance sustainable cost optimization and secure scalability for global operations in a hybrid work model. The chief architect collaborates across teams to align cloud solutions with business strategy driving efficient use of resources while improving customer outcomes and supporting environmentally responsible technology adoption.

Responsibilities

• Design and refine end to end cloud architecture blueprints that prioritize cost optimization operational resilience and secure scalability for complex enterprise ecosystems
• Develop and maintain cloud cost optimization strategies that balance performance needs with budget constraints while supporting predictable financial planning across business units
• Analyze cloud usage patterns and pricing models to identify optimization opportunities that lower total ownership costs without compromising reliability or regulatory compliance
• Collaborate with product and engineering teams to embed cost efficient design principles into solution architectures and reference implementations for business critical applications
• Guide migration and modernization initiatives by defining cloud patterns that reduce wasteful resource consumption and improve long term sustainability of technology investments
• Establish and continuously improve governance frameworks for cloud resource provisioning and tagging to enable transparent cost tracking and accountable spending decisions
• Create architectural standards and guardrails that encourage right sized resource allocation and effective use of managed services across multiple cloud providers
• Partner with finance and procurement stakeholders to translate technical resource decisions into clear cost impacts and support data driven investment choices
• Review major cloud projects and proposals to ensure alignment with cost optimization objectives while maintaining required levels of security and service quality
• Provide actionable insights and recommendations through regular cloud cost assessments and dashboards that highlight trends anomalies and potential savings
• Mentor architecture and engineering teams on cost aware design practices while promoting a culture of responsible and efficient cloud consumption
• Coordinate with operations and reliability teams to tune configurations and capacity plans so that cost controls support consistent user experience and service resilience
• Champion innovative use of cloud technologies that reduce environmental impact improve affordability of digital services and support the company mission to deliver inclusive and sustainable solutions

Qualifications

• Demonstrate extensive experience as a senior cloud architect or chief architect with responsibility for defining enterprise scale architectures and cost optimization frameworks
• Possess deep hands on expertise in cloud platforms and services with proven ability to align technical choices to financial efficiency and business outcomes
• Apply advanced skills in cloud cost management tooling usage and reporting to produce clear analytics and guidance for engineering and executive stakeholders
• Bring strong knowledge of infrastructure as code automation and configuration management practices that support standardized cost efficient resource provisioning
• Show proficiency in performance tuning capacity planning and workload right sizing techniques that minimize over provisioning and improve utilization
• Exhibit practical experience in security compliance and governance domains ensuring that cost optimization efforts remain consistent with organizational risk standards
• Utilize well developed communication and collaboration skills to work effectively in hybrid models across technical teams finance groups and business partners
• Display familiarity with modern application architectures such as microservices containers and serverless patterns and how they impact cloud cost structures