Remote Azure Virtual Desktop Engineer — Lead & Optimize

Cognizant; Madison (WI); Remote; USD 79,000 - 90,000; 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 Technology Solutions Corporation is seeking a Senior Azure Virtual Desktop Engineer to design, deploy, automate, and optimize AVD environments across pooled and personal desktop scenarios. You will lead end-to-end lifecycle, replacing legacy access, while ensuring security, scalability, and cost efficiency in the Azure estate.

You will collaborate with cloud infrastructure, identity, networking, and security teams to deliver a modern virtual desktop experience and maintain

Qualifications

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

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and deploy Azure Virtual Desktop environments from sizing and architecture through production implementation.
• Define AVD resource specifications including VM SKUs, session host sizing, image selection, capacity planning, naming, and tagging.
• Configure and maintain Azure infrastructure components including Resource Groups, VNets, Subnets, Host Pools, Workspaces, Application Groups, and Session Hosts.
• Design and manage pooled and personal desktop environments aligning with business and technical requirements.
• Administer user assignments, application group access, and host pool allocations for optimal end-user experience.
• Monitor and optimize AVD consumption costs through rightsizing, scaling, deallocation schedules, and monthly cost reviews.
• Develop automation solutions for provisioning, image management, autoscaling, patching, and decommissioning using PowerShell, Azure CLI, and IaC.
• Collaborate with identity, networking, security, and endpoint management teams for seamless integration.
• Maintain technical documentation, architecture diagrams, operational procedures, and runbooks.

Skills

Azure Virtual Desktop design

AVD architecture

Performance optimization

Cost optimization

PowerShell

Azure CLI

Tools

Terraform

Bicep

ARM templates

Azure Automation

Job description

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is seeking a Senior Azure Virtual Desktop Engineer to design, deploy, automate, and optimize AVD environments across pooled and personal desktop scenarios. You will lead end-to-end lifecycle, replacing legacy access, while ensuring security, scalability, and cost efficiency in the Azure estate.

You will collaborate with cloud infrastructure, identity, networking, and security teams to deliver a modern virtual desktop experience and maintain