Staff Cloud Architect L4

Robots & Pencils; Kentucky; On-site; USD 52,000 - 73,000; Full time

Job summary

Robots & Pencils is an applied AI engineering firm seeking a Staff Cloud Architect to lead end-to-end architecture across cloud, data, and AI/ML workloads. You will drive technical strategy, own multi-domain designs, and mentor engineers while ensuring scalable, secure systems.

This role focuses on cloud migrations, platform modernization, and collaboration with leadership to align technical direction with business goals. Experience with AWS/Azure/GCP, Kubernetes, and AI tooling is essential.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in software engineering with 3+ years in architecture or leadership
• Strong cloud-native & multi-cloud architectures
• Experience with microservices, containers, and event-driven systems
• Proficient with IaC and CI/CD practices

Responsibilities

• Define architecture across cloud, data, and AI/ML for end-to-end engagements
• Architect scalable cloud-native solutions across AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes
• Design data architectures with warehouses, data lakes, and pipelines
• Lead architectural standards and mentoring of engineers

Skills

Cloud platforms expertise

Microservices & serverless

Data architecture

Python & APIs

AI/ML production systems

Security & IAM in cloud

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

Terraform

CloudFormation

Pulumi

GitHub Actions

Snowflake

BigQuery

Spark

Kafka

SageMaker

Vertex AI

MLflow

Job description

Staff Cloud Architect

APPLICATIONS FROM OUTSIDE CANADA & THE US WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS ROLE

6 month contract

Company Overview

Robots & Pencils is an applied AI engineering firm building the next frontier of business architecture. We design and ship AI co-workers that integrate into enterprise operations and deliver measurable results for our clients. We're all in on AWS, combining deep UX capability with senior engineering talent to get AI into production fast and keep it there. We’ve earned the trust of leaders across Consumer Products and Retail, Education, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, and Manufacturing and more, and earned a reputation as the nimble alternative to traditional global systems integrators. Founded in 2009, with delivery centers in Canada, the United States, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, we are smaller, faster, and more senior by design. Our teams average 15+ years of experience. We move fast, sweat the details, and build things that actually ship.

Position Overview

We’re looking for a Staff Cloud Architect to lead the design and delivery of complex, multi-domain systems spanning cloud, data, and AI. This role is ideal for an experienced engineer who can define technical strategy, own end-to-end architecture for major engagements, and provide technical leadership across teams. In this role, you will work as a delivery-embedded technical leader on cross-functional teams, defining architecture across cloud infrastructure, data platforms, and AI/ML workloads. You’ll act as a technical escalation point on complex challenges, mentor mid-level engineers, partner with leadership on technical direction, and ensure systems are scalable, secure, and built to last.

Why This Role Matters

At Robots & Pencils, we design AI systems for a human world. Our name says it all. Robots and pencils means engineering paired with creativity, because every agent we ship has to work for real people in real workflows. That balance is baked into how we operate. Every role here contributes directly to that mission. Here, you shape how AI systems integrate into enterprise operations, how teams move at real velocity, and how products create measurable impact for clients and the people they serve. We ship production-ready AI in 30 to 45 days. That pace demands people who take ownership, lead with craft, and care deeply about what they put their name on.

What You’ll Do

Craft & Delivery

• Define technical strategy and lead architectural design across cloud, data, and AI/ML systems for end-to-end engagements
• Architect scalable cloud-native solutions, including multi-cloud and hybrid strategies (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes)
• Design data architectures including warehouses, data lakes, and pipelines for batch and streaming workloads (e.g., Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, Spark, Kafka)
• Design AI/ML systems including model serving, MLOps pipelines, feature stores, and LLM-based applications (e.g., SageMaker, Vertex AI, MLflow, Hugging Face)
• Define infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and DevOps standards across engagements (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, GitHub Actions)
• Drive performance, scalability, cost, and reliability optimization across deployed systems
• Ensure architecture meets security, governance, and compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2)
• Lead cloud migrations and platform modernization initiatives
• Bring an AI-forward mindset to your daily work, using tools like Claude, Cursor, and other modern AI assistants to ship higher-quality work at pace

Collaboration & Communication

• Partner with leadership and clients on technical direction, translating business goals into architectural decisions
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to engineering and non-engineering stakeholders alikeEngage closely with engineering, data, AI, and product teams to align architecture with broader business priorities
• Develop and maintain architecture documentation, standards, and guidelines

Leadership & Influence

• Establish architectural standards and best practices that lift quality and consistency across the team
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers, helping them grow their architectural thinking and craft
• Act as a technical escalation point on complex architectural and integration challenges
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend tools, frameworks, and patterns that improve architecture over time

What You’ll Bring

• 8+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 3 years in architecture or technical leadership roles
• Deep expertise in cloud platforms and cloud-native architectures (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Strong background in microservices, serverless, containers, and event-driven systems (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker, Lambda, EventBridge)
• Proficiency with infrastructure as code and CI/CD (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, Pulumi, GitHub Actions)
• Strong data architecture expertise across relational, NoSQL, and big data systems (e.g., PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Snowflake, BigQuery, Spark, Kafka)
• Hands-on experience with data modeling, ETL/ELT pipelines, and orchestration (e.g., Airflow, Prefect, dbt)
• Strong experience designing AI/ML systems for production, including LLMs, MLOps, and model serving (e.g., SageMaker, Vertex AI, MLflow, Hugging Face, PyTorch, TensorFlow)
• Solid understanding of networking, security, identity, and access management in cloud environments
• Experience with governance, compliance, and observability frameworks
• Strong software engineering skills (Python, APIs, containerization)
• Demonstrated leadership and technical mentoring experience
• Strong stakeholder communication skills, with the ability to translate technical depth across audiences
• Demonstrable usage of AI-forward tools such as Claude and Cursor
• Multi-cloud architecture experience, AI ethics or responsible AI experience, or enterprise architecture certifications (e.g., TOGAF, AWS/Azure/GCP) is a plus

Helpful Extras And Unique Skills

You’ll Do Well Here if You Are

• A doer. You see something broken and fix it. You'd rather move on clarity than wait for certainty.
• A fast learner who knows you don't know everything. The AI landscape changes weekly. You're senior enough to know better and curious enough to keep learning anyway.
• Direct in a way that makes the work better. You give honest feedback. You'd rather have the hard conversation than blow smoke.
• Obsessed with craft. You know genius is in the details. You ship exceptional, not perfect, and you don't put your name on work you wouldn't stand behind.
• Built for ownership. You honor commitments, admit mistakes fast, and back your teammates when a decision costs something. No handoffs, no finger-pointing.
• All in. You treat clients' businesses like your own. You take the work seriously without taking yourself seriously.
• Resourceful when the budget, timeline, or team is tight. Constraints don't slow you down. They sharpen you.
• Glad to be in the room with people who care as much as you do. Our teams average fifteen-plus years of experience. We hire people who push each other to do better work.

The below range reflects the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue-based metrics, any collective bargaining agreements, and business or organizational needs. The salary range for this role is $53. - $74 per hour. CAD.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.

An offer of employment may be conditional upon successful completion of a background check in accordance with local legislation and our candidate privacy notice. Your current employer will not be contacted without your permission. We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all job applicants and employees. Employment decisions are based upon job-related reasons regardless of an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, marital status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by law.