Solution Architect (Public Sector)

• 1-year contract, renewable
• Government project

Position Summary

The Cloud Migration architect is responsible for planning, executing, and overseeing the migration of on-premise servers, applications, and infrastructure to cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, and other public/hybrid cloud environments). This role requires strong technical expertise, exceptional stakeholder management skills, and the ability to collaborate across application teams, security teams, infrastructure teams, and business units to ensure seamless, secure, and cost-effective cloud adoption.

Key Responsibilities

1. Cloud Migration Strategy & Planning

• Develop and execute comprehensive cloud migration strategies for servers, databases, and applications moving from on-premise to Azure, AWS, or hybrid cloud environments.
• Assess current on-premise infrastructure and application portfolios to determine migration readiness, priorities, and sequencing.
• Define migration patterns (rehost, refactor, rearchitect, rebuild, replace) for each workload based on business requirements, technical feasibility, and cost optimization.
• Create detailed migration roadmaps, timelines, risk mitigation plans, and rollback procedures.

2. Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

• Lead conversations and requirements-gathering sessions with application teams to understand dependencies, performance requirements, compliance needs, and business impact.
• Collaborate closely with security teams to ensure migrations comply with security policies, data protection requirements, and regulatory standards (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS).
• Partner with infrastructure teams to design cloud network architecture, disaster recovery, backup strategies, and identity/access management solutions.
• Work with business stakeholders and project sponsors to align migration activities with business priorities, budget constraints, and timelines.
• Facilitate workshops, status meetings, and governance forums to drive alignment across cross-functional teams.

3. Technical Execution & Migration Delivery

• Lead hands-on migration execution including server provisioning, application deployment, data migration, and cutover activities.
• Utilize cloud-native tools and services (Azure Migrate, AWS Migration Hub, Database Migration Service, etc.) to automate and streamline migration tasks.
• Configure cloud infrastructure components including compute (VMs, containers, serverless), storage, networking (VNets, VPNs, ExpressRoute, Direct Connect), and security controls.
• Perform pre-migration testing, validation, and performance benchmarking to ensure workloads meet or exceed on-premise performance baselines.
• Coordinate post-migration validation, user acceptance testing (UAT), and hypercare support to ensure smooth transitions.

4. Security, Compliance & Governance

• Ensure all migrations adhere to organizational security standards, cloud governance frameworks (e.g., CAF, WAF), and compliance requirements.
• Implement identity and access management (IAM), encryption at rest and in transit, network segmentation, and security monitoring solutions.
• Conduct security reviews and risk assessments in partnership with the security team before, during, and after migrations.
• Maintain audit trails, documentation, and compliance artifacts for regulatory and internal audit purposes.

5. Cost Management & Optimization

• Monitor cloud resource consumption and costs, identifying opportunities for cost optimization (rightsizing, reserved instances, autoscaling).
• Develop and enforce tagging strategies, cost allocation models, and showback/chargeback reporting mechanisms.
• Partner with finance and procurement teams to forecast migration budgets and track actual vs. planned expenditures.

6. Documentation & Knowledge Transfer

• Create and maintain comprehensive migration documentation including architecture diagrams, runbooks, configuration guides, and lessons learned.
• Conduct knowledge transfer sessions with operations teams, application owners, and support staff to enable long-term cloud operations and support.
• Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) and best practices for ongoing cloud management and future migrations.

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Skills

• Cloud Platforms: Hands-on experience with Azure and/or AWS, including compute (EC2, Azure VMs), storage (S3, Azure Blob), networking (VPC, VNet), and security services (IAM, Security Groups, NSGs).
• Migration Tools: Proficiency with cloud migration tools such as Azure Migrate, AWS Migration Hub, CloudEndure, Carbonite Migrate, or similar.
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Experience with Terraform, ARM templates, CloudFormation, or Bicep for automated infrastructure provisioning.
• Virtualization & Containers: Knowledge of VMware, Hyper-V, Docker, Kubernetes, and container orchestration platforms.
• Databases: Experience migrating databases (SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL) to cloud-managed services (Azure SQL, RDS, Aurora).
• Networking: Strong understanding of VPNs, ExpressRoute, Direct Connect, DNS, load balancers, firewalls, and hybrid connectivity.
• Security: Knowledge of IAM, encryption, certificate management, security monitoring, and compliance frameworks (ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST).
• Scripting & Automation: Proficiency in PowerShell, Python, Bash, or other scripting languages for automation and orchestration.

Professional Experience

• 8+ years of experience in infrastructure engineering, cloud architecture, or systems administration.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience leading cloud migration projects (Azure, AWS, or multi-cloud environments).
• Proven track record of successfully migrating enterprise workloads (servers, databases, applications) from on-premise to cloud.
• Experience working in large, complex IT environments with multiple stakeholders and cross-functional dependencies.

Soft Skills & Competencies

• Leadership: Ability to lead technical discussions, influence stakeholders, and drive consensus across application, security, infrastructure, and business teams.
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to present complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Collaboration: Strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative mindset able to work effectively with diverse teams and manage competing priorities.
• Problem-Solving: Analytical thinker with strong troubleshooting skills and a solutions-oriented approach to overcoming migration challenges.
• Project Management: Ability to manage multiple migration initiatives concurrently, prioritize tasks, and deliver on time and within budget.
• Adaptability: Comfortable working in fast-paced, dynamic environments and adapting to changing business needs and technology landscapes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Cloud certifications such as Azure Solutions Architect Expert, AWS Solutions Architect Professional, or equivalent.
• Experience with multi-cloud or hybrid cloud architectures.
• Familiarity with DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and agile methodologies.
• Knowledge of cloud cost management tools (Azure Cost Management, AWS Cost Explorer, CloudHealth).
• Experience with disaster recovery planning and business continuity strategies in cloud environments.
• Prior experience in regulated industries (finance, healthcare, government) with strong compliance and governance requirements.

Working Conditions

• May require occasional after-hours work or weekend availability during migration cutovers and critical deployment windows.