Senior Cloud Solutions Architect

The Senior Cloud Solutions Architect (SCSA) serves as a strategic technical leader responsible for designing, developing, and guiding the implementation of secure, scalable, and cost-effective cloud solutions across the enterprise. This role provides architectural leadership, drives cloud strategy, and ensures alignment with mission and organizational objectives. The ideal candidate will be able to partner closely with stakeholders, mentor engineering teams, and shape AFCENT’s vision for modern cloud capabilities, security, innovation, and operational excellence. 

Enterprise Cloud Architecture & Design 

• Architect and implement secure, scalable, and resilient cloud solutions across compute, networking, storage, and integration services 

• Lead enterprise-level cloud strategy, cloud roadmap development, and modernization initiatives 

• Develop proofs of concept, prototypes, and reference architectures to validate and integrate emerging cloud technologies 

• Translate complex business, mission, and technical requirements into effective cloud architectures that deliver measurable value 

Technical Leadership & Collaboration 

• Serve as advisor and mentor to engineering, cybersecurity, operations, and development teams 

• Collaborate with leadership, product owners, and cross-functional teams to ensure cloud solutions support strategic and mission objectives 

• Bridge gaps between business challenges and cloud-based solutions, ensuring optimal technology selection and successful implementation 

Security, Governance & Compliance 

• Ensure all cloud architectures comply with organizational security standards and regulatory requirements. 

• Implement cloud security best practices, including identity management, encryption, network segmentation, and real-time threat monitoring 

• Partner with cybersecurity / compliance teams to ensure cloud architectures align to governance standards 

Cloud Optimization & Operational Excellence 

• Evaluate and recommend cloud services, tools, and technologies that enhance performance, scalability, and operational resilience 

• Lead cloud cost-optimization strategies, including rightsizing, automation, and resource utilization planning. 

• Provide expert guidance for cloud migrations, performance tuning, scaling strategies, and capacity planning 

• Continuously assess cloud environments for improvement opportunities and lead the implementation of architectural updates 

Innovation & Continuous Improvement 

• Leverage emerging cloud trends and technologies to inform strategy and architectural direction 

• Drive improvement through architecture reviews, modernization initiatives, and cloud pattern adoptions 

• Foster an engineering culture that emphasizes innovation, automation, and excellence 

Security Clearance 

• Active Secret clearance required, with the ability to obtain TS/SCI 

Education & Experience 

• CompTIA Security+ certification (or higher) 

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field 

• 7–10+ years of experience architecting and implementing enterprise cloud solutions 

• Demonstrated experience as a cloud architect, solutions architect, or data scientist 

Cloud Expertise 

• Advanced proficiency with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform 

• Proven experience designing secure, scalable, highly available cloud architectures 

• Deep understanding of cloud networking, compute, storage, IAM, and security best practices 

• Hands-on experience with IaC tools (Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM/Bicep) 

• Experience with DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and automated cloud deployment 

Security & Compliance 

• Strong understanding of cloud security architectures, zero-trust, encryption standards, and access controls 

• Experience aligning solutions to NIST, FedRAMP, DoD SRG frameworks or similar compliance requirements 

Leadership & Communication 

• Proven ability to lead technical teams and influence enterprise-wide architecture decisions. 

• Strong communication skills with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to nontechnical stakeholders 

• Ability to lead discussions, build consensus, and guide technical decision-making across teams. 

Technical Breadth 

• Hands-on experience with containerization and orchestration platforms (Kubernetes, AKS, EKS) 

• Strong understanding of automation, observability, monitoring, and cloud cost-optimization 

• Expert-level troubleshooting and performance tuning skills 

Travel & Work Environment 

• Hybrid role with a combination of remote work and onsite presence 

• Ability to travel up to 25%, including domestic and occasional international travel