Senior Cloud Solutions Architect

Wintrust Financial Corporation; United States; On-site; USD 117,000 - 158,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

401(k) with company match

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Wintrust Financial Corporation seeks a Senior Cloud Architect to lead design, implementation, and governance of cloud architectures across multiple platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP). You will shape the technology roadmap, enforce security and compliance, and drive automation with IaC to reduce drift.

You will mentor engineers, collaborate with stakeholders, and guide migrations of legacy workloads to the cloud, balancing performance, cost, and risk while aligning to enterprise strategies.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience.
• 7+ years in Software Engineering or System Administration with at least 5+ years in Cloud Architecture.
• IT Cloud Architecture, Design, and Implementation using Azure, AWS, and GCP.
• Cloud proficiency with AWS, Azure and/or GCP.
• Deep knowledge of core cloud services and governance.
• IaC mastery with Terraform/Ansible and related tools.
• Containerization expertise in Kubernetes (EKS/AKS/GKE) and Docker.
• Strong networking and hybrid-cloud connectivity knowledge.
• Experience designing multi-cloud redundancy.
• Serverless architecture experience (Lambda, Azure Functions, GCP Functions).
• Broad understanding of cloud computing technologies and trends.
• Cloud migration and management skills with security focus.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and leadership.
• SDLC, architecture frameworks, design patterns, programming concepts.
• Enterprise-scale cloud systems design and implementation.
• Project management experience including budgeting and scheduling.
• Ability to adapt in fast-paced environments with changing priorities.
• Certifications or 10+ years across IT disciplines.
• Certifications: Professional cloud certifications (AWS/Azure/GCP) or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Lead design of scalable, highly available cloud systems in AWS, Azure, and GCP.
• Develop and maintain cloud roadmap aligned with business goals.
• Establish guardrails for resource provisioning and security compliance.
• Drive IaC automation to remove manual drift.
• Lead migration of legacy workloads to cloud (Re-Hosting, Re-Platforming, Re-Architecting).
• Integrate architectural patterns into CI/CD deployment pipelines.
• Identify bottlenecks and optimize latency with caching and load balance strategies.
• Provide technical leadership and escalation for cloud issues.
• Translate complex architecture decisions to business terms for executives.
• Mentor Cloud Engineers through design reviews and workshops.
• Contribute to enterprise cloud strategies and plans.
• Conduct assessments and studies to recommend cloud solutions.
• Participate in planning sessions to clarify capabilities and trade-offs.
• Maintain understanding of business needs and align cloud roadmap accordingly.
• Communicate options and trade-offs to management.
• Analyze project requirements and align with architecture vision.
• Create architectural diagrams documenting project plans and production systems.
• Document cloud solutions including cost, risk, and implementation plans.
• Conduct industry research to inform cloud solutions.
• Support Architecture Standards and Review Board (ASRB) processes.

Skills

Cloud Architecture

Multi-Cloud

Kubernetes

Docker

IaC

Communication

SDLC Knowledge

Tools

Terraform

Pulumi

CloudFormation

Ansible

Job description

Wintrust provides community and commercial banking, specialty finance and wealth management services through its 16 bank charters and nine non-bank businesses. Wintrust delivers the sophisticated solutions of a large bank while staying true to the relationship-focused, personalized service of our community banking roots. We serve clients in all 50 states with more than 200 branch banking locations in Illinois, southwestern Florida, northwestern Indiana, west Michigan and southern Wisconsin and commercial banking offices in Chicago, Denver, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, Mich., and in key branch banking locations throughout Illinois. Our people are the heart of our business and we are proud to rank consistently as a top place to work. Wintrust is a $66 billion financial institution based in Rosemont, Illinois, and listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “WTFC.”

Why join us? An award-winning culture! We are rated a Top Workplace by the Chicago Tribune (past 12 years) and Employee Recommended award by the Globe & Mail (past 6 years) Competitive pay and discretionary or incentive bonus eligible Comprehensive benefit package including medical, dental, vision, life, a 401k plan with a generous company match and tuition reimbursement to name a few Promote from within culture

Why join this team?

The Senior Cloud Architect helps to develop, maintain and govern Cloud architecture and the technology portfolio roadmaps across multiple Cloud application portfolios. Work across all architectural disciplines, including business (processes/activities/functions/information), application, data, integration, infrastructure, security and technology, and creates and maintains related best practices, patterns and reference architectures. The Senior Cloud Architect facilitates the development, implementation and maintenance of standards, guidelines and statements of direction for company IT system architectures, establishing a framework that constrains the design of systems for the purpose of integration of Hybrid Cloud systems and accessibility of data supporting various interdependent business processes and functions. Works closely with applications system architects, data architects, network technologists, business analysts and other stakeholders to ensure consensus on direction, in line with global strategies for future integration. Focus is often on establishing and maintaining a reusable Cloud architectural blueprint to reduce business costs, improve time-to-market of products and services, improved product quality, and customer satisfaction. Design, architect and implement new Cloud capabilities that address any gaps and provide integrated end to end scalable, enterprise-class services. Has a proven capability to analyze existing products and infrastructure, understand how to leverage existing investments and introduce best of breed, emerging Cloud infrastructures: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS across Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or other major cloud computing services.

What You’ll Do

• Architectural Blueprinting: Lead the design of scalable, highly available, and fault-tolerant systems and ecosystems in AWS, Azure and GCP.
• Cloud Strategy: Develop and maintain the cloud roadmap, ensuring alignment with business goals and industry best practices (Well-Architected Framework)
• Governance & Compliance: Establish guardrails for resource provisioning to ensure security compliance (HIPAA, GDPR, SOC2, etc.) and operational consistency.
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Drive the transition towards a fully automated environment using tools (e.g. Terraform, Pulumi, or CloudFormation) to eliminate manual configuration drift.
• Migration Orchestration: Lead the strategy for migrating legacy workloads to the cloud (Re-Hosting, Re-Platforming, and Re-Architecting).
• CI\\CD Integration: Partner with DevOps teams to integrate architectural patterns into automated deployment pipelines.
• Performance tuning: Identify bottlenecks in current architecture and implement caching, CDN, and load-balancing strategies to optimize latency.
• Technical leadership: Act as final escalation point for complex cloud technical hurdles.
• Stakeholder Communication: Translate complex architectural decisions into business terms for C-suite executives and non-technical stakeholders.
• Mentoring: Level up our Cloud Engineers through design reviews, pair programming and architectural workshops.
• Contribute to the definition of architectural cloud strategies and plans for enterprise’s information technology.
• Conduct assessments, studies, and/or surveys to obtain data; analyzes data to advise and recommend cloud solutions.
• Participate in key planning sessions to advise and clarify capabilities, limitations, and trade-offs of established enterprise architectures and technology in general.
• Develop and maintain a strong understanding of enterprise’s businesses.
• Understand current and future needs of the business and align cloud technology roadmap to deliver upon those needs.
• Identify, analyze, and communicate cloud architecture and integrations options and make recommendations to management.
• Analyze project requirements with development teams and influence the appropriate technical design at the project level maintaining consistency with architecture vision.
• Develop architectural diagrams that document project plans and production systems.
• Develop documentation on recommended cloud solutions that would include relevant research, cost analysis data, risk information, implementation strategies and industry positions.
• Conduct industry research and evaluations in order to develop cloud solutions to resolve business needs.
• Contribute to the Architecture Standards and Review Board (ASRB); ASRB capabilities, documentation and processes.
• Responsible for third-party vendor relationships related to area of responsibility.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience.
• 7+ years of experience in Software Engineering or System Administration, with at least 5+ years of Cloud Architecture experience.
• IT Cloud Architecture, Design, and Implementation utilizing Microsoft Azure, AWS, GCP.
• Cloud Proficiency: Expert-level mastery of AWS, Azure and or GCP.
• Deep knowledge of core services (Computing, Storage, Database, Networking, Cloud Governance).
• IaC Mastery: Proven experience managing production environments via IaC tools (e.g. Terraform, Ansible etc.)
• Containerization: Deep expertise in Kubernetes (EKS/AKS/GKE) and Docker orchestration.
• Networking: Strong understanding of VCPs, Subnets, Transit Gateways, DNS, and Hybrid-Cloud connectivity.
• Multi-Cloud Experience: Experience designing redundancy across two or more cloud providers.
• Serverless Architecture: Proven track record of deploying event-driven architecture using Lambda, Azure Functions, or Google Cloud Functions.
• Deep understanding of cloud computing technologies, applications, and trends.
• Strong cloud migration and cloud management skills with emphasis on cloud resource management and security.
• Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills, along with interpersonal, customer service skills and leadership skills.
• Strong knowledge of software development life cycle (SDLC), architecture frameworks, design patterns, and programming concepts.
• Experience in designing and implementing enterprise-scale cloud systems and applications.
• Experience in project management, including budget and time management.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with changing priorities.
• Certifications or 10+ years of experience across a wide range of Information Technology disciplines.
• Must have at least one of the following Certifications: Professional level Cloud Certifications (e.g. AWS Certified Solutions Architect—Professional) Certifications in Architecture Frameworks (e.g TOGAF, Zachman)

Benefits

• Medical Insurance
• Dental
• Vision
• Life insurance
• Accidental death and dismemberment
• Short-term and long-term Disability Insurance
• Parental Leave
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Traditional and Roth 401(k) with company match
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan at 5% discount
• Critical Illness Insurance
• Accident Insurance
• Transportation and Commuting Benefits
• Banking Benefits
• Pet Insurance Compensation

The estimated salary range for this role is $117,000.00 - $158,000.00, along with eligibility to earn an annual bonus. Actual salaries may vary based on several factors, such as a candidate’s qualifications, skills and experience.

From our first day in business, Wintrust has been proud to serve a variety of unique communities and people from all walks of life. To build a company that reflects the communities we serve, we believe that fostering a unique and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and empowered to succeed will support our ongoing success.

Wintrust Financial Corporation, including community banking and financial services subsidiaries, is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, and other legally protected categories.