Lead Cloud Architect (2026-0135)

Acclaim Technical Services; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Acclaim Technical Services seeks a Cloud Architect with a TS/SCI clearance to design and operate a large-scale, globally distributed system across AWS and on-prem virtualization in Chantilly, VA.

You will lead secure IaC patterns, collaborate with multiple teams, and implement landing zones, governance, and cost controls while driving CI/CD for infrastructure deployments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent; 4+ years substituting for degree.
• 10–15+ years in cloud architecture, systems engineering, or infra engineering.
• 3+ years hands-on AWS architect/lead experience.
• Deep expertise with AWS core services and secure architectures.
• Hands-on Terraform production IaC experience.
• Experience designing/hybrid cloud environments (cloud + on-prem).
• Ability to translate requirements into scalable, secure architectures.
• Ability to travel internationally up to 10% and possess a passport.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and IaC patterns for multi-environment deployments.
• Collaborate across engineering, operations, security, and networking.
• Design reference architectures for AWS and hybrid environments.
• Define deployment patterns, landing zones, and cost controls.
• Build Terraform modules and on-prem VMware/V Sphere workflows.
• Ensure secure, least-privilege IAM, encryption, and audit logging.
• Support CI/CD for infrastructure deployments with Git-based workflows.
• Produce architecture documentation and diagrams.

Skills

AWS

Cloud architecture

Security by design

Terraform

Hybrid cloud

VMware/vSphere

CI/CD

GitOps

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Terraform

VMware/vSphere

AWS

Job description

Overview

Acclaim Technical Services, founded in 2000, is a leading cyber operations, intelligence solutions and operations, network infrastructure, engineering and business enablement and enterprise operations company supporting a wide range of U.S. Federal agencies. We are an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) company, which is uncommon within our business sector. ATS is consistently ranked as a top workplace among DC area firms and continues to grow.

We are actively hiring a Cloud Architect with a TS/SCI clearance and polygraph to support a program in Chantilly, VA. In this role, you will design, build, and evolve a large-scale, globally distributed mission system operating across both AWS cloud environments and on-premises virtualized infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture and implementation of secure, repeatable Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) patterns to deploy and operate compute fleets, network connectivity, and platform services across multiple environments (development, test, staging, production, and lab).
• Collaborate with engineering, operations, security, and networking teams to improve reliability, standardize deployments, and accelerate delivery through automation.
• Design and implement reference architectures for AWS and hybrid environments (cloud + on-prem virtualization).
• Define deployment patterns for multi-account and multi-environment separation, network segmentation, and scalable compute/storage stacks.
• Establish standardized "landing zone" practices, including account structure, guardrails, logging, tagging, and cost controls.
• Build and maintain Terraform modules and reusable IaC patterns for AWS infrastructure, including VPCs, IAM roles/policies, load balancing, and logging foundations.
• Architect and support virtualized compute fleets using VMware/vSphere patterns for on-prem environments, including golden images, patching baselines, and provisioning workflows.
• Partner with security teams to implement secure-by-design architectures, including least privilege IAM, encryption, and centralized audit logging.
• Design for resilience and continuity with backup/restore strategies, disaster recovery considerations, and multi-AZ patterns.
• Support CI/CD enablement for infrastructure deployments using Git-based workflows integrated with Terraform plans/applies.
• Collaborate with application teams to provide standardized environments and deployment blueprints.
• Produce clear architecture documentation, including logical/physical diagrams, environment definitions, and "as-built" artifacts.

Required Skills

• Bachelor\'s degree in related field. 4 additional years of experience will substitute in lieu of degree.
• 10-15+ years of experience in cloud architecture, systems engineering, or infrastructure engineering, including 3+ years as a hands-on AWS architect/lead.
• Deep expertise with AWS core services and secure architectures (networking, IAM, logging, compute, storage).
• Hands-on expertise with Terraform for production-grade IaC (modules, state management, promotion strategies, drift detection).
• Experience designing and operating hybrid environments (cloud + on-prem virtualization).
• Ability to translate requirements into scalable, maintainable, and secure architectures while providing implementation guidance.
• Ability to travel internationally up to 10%.
• Must possess an active Passport or obtain one upon hire.

Desired Skills:

• AWS certifications (Solutions Architect Professional preferred).
• Experience with VMware/vSphere architecture and operations (templates, clusters, networking, storage).
• Familiarity with configuration automation tools (Ansible, Packer) and GitOps-style workflows.
• Experience with observability patterns (metrics/logs/traces) and integrating monitoring into operations.
• Experience implementing multi-account AWS governance (Organizations, SCPs) and cost controls (tagging, budgets).

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY (EEO) STATEMENT

ATS is committed to a program of equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, age, religion/creed, hairstyles and hair textures, handicap/disability, genetic information/history, military/veteran status, or any other characteristic or condition protected by applicable law. We support the employment and advancement in employment of individuals with disabilities and of protected veterans, and we treat qualified individuals without discrimination on the basis of their physical or mental disability or veteran status.