Senior Cloud Architect: Azure Migration & Modernization

Peraton; Arlington (VA); Hybrid; USD 104,000 - 166,000; Full time

Job summary

Peraton is seeking a Principal Engineer Analyst to lead a major Azure cloud migration and modernization effort for a federal customer. Location options include Rosslyn, VA or Beltsville, MD with flexible telework, requiring local presence.

The role demands deep Azure architecture, security governance, and hands-on experience with migration lifecycles, IaC, and monitoring. Citizenship and security clearance are prerequisites for this critical national-security program.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and minimum of 9 years of relevant experience in IT/Network Engineering, Cloud Architecture, or Cybersecurity.
• An additional 4 years of relevant experience may be substituted for the degree requirement.
• Must hold one of the listed certifications prior to start date (continued certification required): CASP+ CE, CCNA Cyber Ops, CCNA-Security, CCNP Security, CEH, CFR, CISA, CISSP (or Associate), Cloud+, CySA+, GCED, GCIA, GCIH, GICSP, SCYBER, VCA DCV, PPDA, Agile IC, SNOW App Dev
• Strong background in Azure cloud architecture and operating model design.
• Familiarity with vulnerability assessment and security baseline standards (e.g., NIST, CIS benchmarks).
• Hands-on experience architecting production Azure environments, including VNets, NSGs, RBAC, and Entra ID/Azure AD configuration.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools (Bicep or ARM templates) for environment provisioning.
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps or equivalent).
• Practical experience with Azure security tooling: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Azure Policy, Key Vault.
• Experience performing application migrations into a cloud environment (lift-and-shift, re-platforming, or refactoring).
• Scripting/automation proficiency in PowerShell or Python.
• Experience configuring monitoring/logging solutions (Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, or Sentinel).
• Experience conducting technical discovery and assessment work, including evaluating application dependencies and data sensitivity.
• U.S. citizenship required.
• Active Secret security clearance with the ability to obtain a final Top Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead a major cloud modernization initiative supporting a federal customer.
• This senior technical leader will be responsible for planning, designing, implementing, and sustaining the migration of a complex on-premises environment into Microsoft Azure.
• This role requires an experienced engineer who can take ownership of the entire lifecycle—from assessing the current environment and defining the future-state architecture to leading migration activities, establishing governance, and supporting long-term operations.
• The ideal candidate combines deep infrastructure, cloud, and cybersecurity expertise with the ability to drive technical strategy and execution across multiple stakeholders.
• Lead the assessment of the existing enterprise environment by inventorying applications, infrastructure, networks, and supporting technologies.
• Analyze application dependencies, data sensitivity, technical risks, and migration complexity to develop a comprehensive migration strategy.
• Design and implement a secure, scalable Azure architecture, including Development, Test, Pre-Production, and Production environments.
• Build and configure cloud infrastructure, identity management, security controls, networking, and baseline configurations aligned with federal security requirements.
• Plan and execute phased application migrations while validating functionality, performance, and security throughout each stage.
• Lead production cut-over activities and oversee the transition from legacy environments, including system decommissioning where appropriate.
• Establish governance processes including change management, application on-boarding, configuration management, and operational standards.
• Configure Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Microsoft Sentinel, and related monitoring capabilities to support operational visibility and security monitoring.
• Design and implement backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity solutions using Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery.
• Lead technical design reviews, architecture discussions, and Change Control Board (CCB) activities.
• Serve as the senior technical advisor to program leadership on cloud architecture, modernization strategy, operational processes, and long-term sustainment.
• Provide ongoing engineering support, optimization, and maintenance for the production cloud environment.

Skills

Azure cloud architecture

CI/CD pipelines

PowerShell

Python

Security governance

Scripting/automation

Vulnerability assessment

Entra ID/Azure AD

AZ DevOps / equivalent

Cloud security tooling

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT/Network Engineering, Cloud Architecture, or Cybersecurity

Tools

ARM templates

Bicep

Azure Monitor

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Azure DevOps

Job description

Peraton is seeking a Principal Engineer Analyst to lead a major Azure cloud migration and modernization effort for a federal customer. Location options include Rosslyn, VA or Beltsville, MD with flexible telework, requiring local presence.

The role demands deep Azure architecture, security governance, and hands-on experience with migration lifecycles, IaC, and monitoring. Citizenship and security clearance are prerequisites for this critical national-security program.