Remote Azure Virtual Desktop Architect & Automation Lead

Cognizant

Salem (OR)

Remote

USD 79,000 - 90,000

Full time

3 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

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

Job summary

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is seeking a Senior Azure Virtual Desktop Engineer to lead end-to-end AVD design, deployment, and optimization across pooled and personal desktops. You will size resources, implement IaC, automate provisioning, and collaborate with identity, networking, and security teams to ensure secure, scalable endpoints.

This role emphasizes cost control, automation, and modernization of the Azure estate, with a remote-friendly posting for qualified US applicants

Qualifications

5+ years hands-on experience designing, deploying, and supporting Azure Virtual Desktop environments.
Strong expertise in AVD architecture: Host Pools, Workspaces, Application Groups, Session Hosts, and user assignment models.
Solid understanding of Azure infrastructure services: Resource Groups, VNets, Subnets, NSGs, and network security.
Experience optimizing AVD for performance, scalability, and cost efficiency.
Proficient with PowerShell, Azure CLI, Azure Automation, and IaC tools (Terraform, Bicep, ARM templates).
Experience managing full virtual desktop lifecycle: provisioning, image management, autoscaling, patching, decommissioning.

Responsibilities

Design, build, and deploy Azure Virtual Desktop environments from sizing to production.
Define resource specs: VM SKUs, session host sizing, image selection, capacity planning, naming and tagging.
Configure and maintain Azure infrastructure components: Resource Groups, VNets, Subnets, Host Pools, Workspaces, and Session Hosts.
Design and manage pooled and personal desktops aligned with business requirements.
Administer user assignments, application groups, and host pool allocations for end-user experience.
Monitor and optimize AVD costs via rightsizing, scaling, deallocation schedules, and cost reviews.
Develop automation for provisioning, image management, autoscaling, patching, and decommissioning.
Collaborate with identity, networking, security, and endpoint teams for seamless integration.
Maintain documentation, diagrams, and runbooks.