Principal Cloud Architect AWS

TEKsystems; Raleigh (NC); Remote; USD 150,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading provider of business and technology services seeks a Principal Cloud Architect to lead cloud infrastructure projects in the financial services sector. This fully remote role requires extensive experience in cloud architecture, governance, and collaboration with technology teams to drive cloud initiatives. The ideal candidate will possess strong problem-solving skills and a deep understanding of compliance and risk management in cloud environments.

Benefits

Competitive benefits program

Remote work flexibility

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in cloud architecture and strategy.
• Experience with Large Financial Institutions preferred.
• Strong understanding of cloud governance and security frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture, design, and implementation of cloud infrastructure projects.
• Develop Infrastructure as Code solutions and assist with cloud adoption.
• Collaborate with various teams to ensure integration of cloud solutions.

Skills

Compliance

Risk

Crisis Management

Communication

Problem Solving

Analytical Thinking

Conceptual Thinking

Critical Thinking

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science

High School Diploma or GED with 12 years of experience

Tools

Terraform

AWS

Kubernetes

GitHub/GitLab

Job description

Top Skills' Details
1) 8+ years of experience as a senior/principal cloud professional - this role will be focused on architecture, strategy, road mapping and adoption. This person can anticipate that 70% of their time will be focused on architecture, with a 30% focus on engineering. The expectation is for this person to be close to the technology, but not hands on, as there is a team dedicated to that. Deep implementation and design experience of cloud platforms will be essential for success.
2) Expertise working with various teams and audiences - this individual will partner with technology teams (such as application owners and Information Security), risk and audit professionals, as well as executive leaders on a day-to-day basis, specific to cloud strategy, governance and standards.
3) This person must have prior Financial Services experience, but LFI (Large Financial Institution) experience is preferred - this is due to familiarity in working with regulatory standards and cloud governance practices that are most relevant to their environment.
Project Story: The Bank is prioritizing a lot of cloud-related initiatives over the next 18+ months, and they are looking for two Principal Cloud Architects to aid with architecture, strategy, road mapping and adoption. Today, the majority of this team's focus is between managing existing environments and standing up new platforms. They are at this juncture where they have a few very stable platforms and they have some legacy platforms that they acquired through M&A activity. In addition, there is a new greenfield development that they are starting the design for - this implementation is going to be a key focus area for 2025.
Secondary Skills - Nice to Haves
*Description*
Overview
This is a remote role but needs to sit in the Southeast.

As Principal Cloud Architect, you will be a member of the bank's Cloud Services organization. This role is responsible for leading the architecture, design, and implementation of complex cloud infrastructure projects across multiple cloud platforms. The Principal Cloud Engineer will provide hands-on support for cloud infrastructure, develop Infrastructure as Code solutions, and assist application teams with cloud adoption. Proficiency in scripting, cloud architecture, and strategic problem-solving skills are required, along with the ability to lead projects and mentor other engineers.
Responsibilities
Architect, design, and implement Cloud Native, Cloud Platform, and Infrastructure as a Service to be fault-tolerant against hardware and software failures. Provide auto scalable infrastructure for various application needs and complete performance testing.
Evaluate and select cloud infrastructure solutions, platforms, and tools based on performance, cost, security, and scalability.
Create cloud-focused governance, standards, building blocks and patterns to ensure deployed solutions are secure, scalable, resilient, and cost optimization.
Demonstrate technical cloud architectural knowledge and play a vital role in the design of production, staging, and development of cloud infrastructures running in 24O7 environments.
Design and implement core AWS components such as RBAC, Policy Assignments and Landing Zones.
Develop automation scripts, infrastructure as Code (IaC) as modules and templates (Terraform, ARM templates, PowerShell scripts) for efficient resource provisioning and deployment.
Provide guidance on cloud best practices, trends, and innovations.
Collaborate with Enterprise Architecture, Security, Data Platform, DevOps, and Integration Teams to ensure seamless integration and alignment of cloud solutions with new and existing systems and processes.
Develop and maintain cloud agnostic documentation.
Cloud Community of Practice (CCoP) participation.
Communicate effectively with internal and external customers, vendors, and partners.
Qualifications
Bachelor's Degree and 8 years of Software Application Development, Systems Engineering, or Information Technology Management experience.
OR
High School Diploma or GED and 12 years of Software Application Development, Systems Engineering, or Information Technology Management experience.

Additional Requirements:
Demonstrated experience with LFI (Large Financial Institution) for secure access and operations.
Strong understanding across cloud and infrastructure components (server, storage, network, data, and applications) to deliver end to end cloud infrastructure, architectures, and designs.
Knowledge in integrating AWS with on-prem services like AD, DNS, Firewalls, and load balancers with proper integration patterns and architectures.
Working knowledge of containerization technologies (Docker, containers, Kubernetes).
Design and build experience with AWS Policy to enforce organizational standards and to assess compliance.
Strong understanding of AWS networking concepts.
Design experience with Enterprise scale Landing Zone Architecture.
Experience with cloud security frameworks and tools.
Development experience using Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) and DevOps tooling (GitHub/GitLab).
Understanding of high-level cost and resource estimates for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as Service (SaaS) offerings.
Excellent communication, presentation, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to assess and mitigate security risks across complex cloud environments.
Communication skills - interpersonal.
Analytical skills - data.
Conceptual thinking skills.
Critical thinking skills.

Preferred Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree in computer science.
Minimum 12 years of applicable experience.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional certification.
HashiCorp Certified: Terraform certification.
Terraform Authoring and Operations Professional certification.
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional certification.
*Skills*
compliance, risk, crisis
*Top Skills Details*
compliance, risk, crisis
*Additional Skills & Qualifications*
Great communication skills
*Experience Level*
Expert Level
*Pay and Benefits*
The pay range for this position is $150000.00 - $250000.00/yr.
Benefits are an integral part of total rewards and First Citizens Bank is committed to providing a competitive, thoughtfully designed and quality benefits program to meet the needs of our associates. More information can be found on their website.
*Workplace Type*
This is a fully remote position.
*Application Deadline*
This position is anticipated to close on May 30, 2025.
About TEKsystems and TEKsystems Global Services

We're a leading provider of business and technology services. We accelerate business transformation for our customers. Our expertise in strategy, design, execution and operations unlocks business value through a range of solutions. We're a team of 80,000 strong, working with over 6,000 customers, including 80% of the Fortune 500 across North America, Europe and Asia, who partner with us for our scale, full-stack capabilities and speed. We're strategic thinkers, hands-on collaborators, helping customers capitalize on change and master the momentum of technology. We're building tomorrow by delivering business outcomes and making positive impacts in our global communities. TEKsystems and TEKsystems Global Services are Allegis Group companies. Learn more at TEKsystems.com.


The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.