Enterprise Chief Architect, AWS Platform

Cognizant; Jackson (MS); Remote; USD 165,000 - 192,000; 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 an Enterprise Chief Architect, AWS Platform, to shape cloud strategy and guide architecture decisions for large modernization programs. You will mentor a team of Cloud, Network, and Security architects, drive governance and standards, and stay hands‑on in critical design reviews.

You will engage with executive stakeholders, ARBs, and client leadership to balance security, scalability, and cost while delivering secure cloud solutions at enterprise scale.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of Infrastructure, Cloud, Networking and Enterprise Architecture experience.
• 8+ years of AWS architecture, cloud transformation, and technical leadership.
• Led teams of 10+ Architects in global delivery.
• Currently holding at least one AWS certification.

Responsibilities

• Serve as senior technical authority for AWS Infrastructure Delivery and Cloud Transformation.
• Lead and mentor 10–15 architects across onsite and offshore delivery teams.
• Define enterprise standards, governance, patterns, and AWS best practices.
• Architect multi‑account, multi‑region AWS environments and migrations.

Skills

Infrastructure

Cloud Transformation

Enterprise Architecture

Leadership

Executive presence

Security

Governance

Architecture strategy

Multi‑account AWS

Architecture reviews

Education

AWS Certification

Tools

Terraform

AWS CloudFormation

AWS CDK

Job description

About the role

As an Enterprise Chief Architect, AWS Platform, you'll make an impact by serving as the trusted advisor client executives and Architecture Review Boards rely on to shape cloud strategy, de-risk major technology investments, and establish the architecture standards that guide the organization forward. You'll remain hands‑on in the most critical design decisions while leading and mentoring a team of senior architects across Cloud, Network, and Security disciplines. Your decisions will influence cloud platforms supporting critical business operations, large‑scale modernization programs, and long‑term enterprise transformation initiatives. You will be a valued member of the AWS Professional Services team and work collaboratively with client leaders, architects, and strategic partners to deliver secure, scalable, and innovative cloud solutions.

In this role, you will

• Serve as the senior technical authority and primary point of accountability for AWS Infrastructure Delivery and Cloud Transformation initiatives.
• Act as a trusted advisor to executive stakeholders, client leadership teams, and Architecture Review Boards (ARBs) on cloud strategy, modernization, security, governance, risk management, and technology investment decisions.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of 10-15 Cloud, Network, and Security Architects across onsite and offshore delivery teams while raising architectural maturity and technical excellence across the organization.
• Establish enterprise architecture standards, governance frameworks, reusable design patterns, and AWS best practices that balance security, resilience, scalability, performance, and cost efficiency.
• Stay hands‑on by leading architecture reviews, validating solution designs, resolving complex technical challenges, and guiding strategic implementation decisions.
• Architect and govern enterprise‑scale multi‑account, multi‑region AWS environments utilizing AWS Organizations and shared services models.
• Design advanced AWS networking architectures leveraging Shared Services VPCs, Transit Gateway, Cloud WAN, VPC Peering, Route 53, PrivateLink, Security Groups, Network ACLs, and AWS Network Firewall.
• Define secure hybrid‑cloud connectivity strategies using AWS Direct Connect, VPN, and BGP routing to support enterprise workloads across cloud and on‑premises environments.
• Lead cloud security architecture and governance initiatives utilizing Service Control Policies (SCPs), AWS Security Hub, GuardDuty, AWS Config, Network Firewall, and organizational guardrails.
• Drive threat modeling, compliance alignment, security reviews, audit readiness, and risk management programs across highly regulated and mission‑critical environments.
• Lead Infrastructure‑as‑Code adoption and standardization using Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, and AWS CDK while establishing deployment governance and automation frameworks.
• Drive cloud engineering excellence through GitLab‑based CI/CD automation, platform standards, and infrastructure lifecycle management practices.
• Partner with customer and engineering teams to lead migration, refactoring, modernization, and platform engineering initiatives across ECS, EKS, and Fargate environments.
• Define cloud‑native architecture patterns and engineering standards that improve agility, accelerate delivery, and increase operational reliability.
• Architect resilience and business continuity solutions using AWS Resilience Hub, AWS Fault Injection Simulator (FIS), disaster recovery frameworks, and multi‑region availability strategies.
• Provide architectural leadership for scalability, performance, reliability, and operational excellence across ECS, EKS, Lambda, RDS, and CloudFront environments.
• Create and maintain architecture roadmaps, executive presentations, reference architectures, governance documentation, and strategic technology recommendations.
• Collaborate with AWS, strategic partners, vendors, and customer stakeholders to align technology solutions with business objectives and long‑term transformation goals.

Work Model

We strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role's business requirements, this is a remote position open to qualified applicants in Dallas, TX. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work‑life balance through our various wellbeing programs.

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.

What you need to have to be considered

• 15+ years of Infrastructure, Cloud, Networking, and Enterprise Architecture experience.
• 8+ years of AWS architecture, cloud transformation, and technical leadership experience.
• Proven experience operating at the Principal Architect, Lead Architect, Chief Architect, or equivalent senior technical leadership level.
• Experience leading and developing teams of 10+ Architects within global delivery organizations.
• Strong executive presence with demonstrated success engaging C‑level stakeholders, business executives, senior technology leaders, and Architecture Review Boards.
• Deep expertise across AWS Networking, Security, Infrastructure, Automation, Modernization, Governance, and Resilience services.
• Hands‑on experience designing enterprise‑scale AWS networking architectures including Transit Gateway, Cloud WAN, Direct Connect, VPN, Route 53, PrivateLink, and BGP routing.
• Strong experience implementing Infrastructure‑as‑Code using Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, and AWS CDK.
• Experience establishing cloud governance programs, security guardrails, and operating models across large AWS environments.
• Proven experience architecting and governing multi‑account, multi‑region AWS environments.
• Experience leading large‑scale AWS modernization and cloud transformation initiatives.
• At least one current AWS certification, such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect, AWS Certified Advanced Networking, AWS Certified Security, or an equivalent enterprise cloud certification. Additional AWS certifications are highly valued.

These will help you stand out

• AWS CDK expertise using TypeScript.
• Deep experience with GitLab CI/CD automation and platform engineering practices.
• Hands‑on expertise with AWS Resilience Hub and AWS Fault Injection Simulator (FIS).
• Experience designing and implementing enterprise landing zones and cloud guardrail frameworks.
• Proven success establishing enterprise cloud governance models, reference architectures, and architecture review processes adopted across multiple business units.
• Experience designing highly regulated cloud environments within Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare, Manufacturing, or other enterprise industries.
• Track record of building high‑performing architecture organizations and mentoring architects into leadership positions.
• Experience partnering with AWS, strategic vendors, and executive stakeholders to influence enterprise cloud strategy and technology roadmaps.
• Strong consulting, communication, and executive presentation skills with the ability to influence stakeholders across both business and technology functions.

We're excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Don't hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum requirements listed. Think about your transferable experiences and unique skills that make you stand out.

Salary and Other Compensation

Applications will be accepted until September 14, 2026.

The annual salary for this position is between $164,500 - $192,000 USD 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.

Benefits

• 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

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.

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

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.