Job description

Position: Senior Cloud Solutions Architect (Azure) Senior Cloud Solutions Architect (Azure) Blue Flag is seeking an ambitious, senior-level Cloud Solutions Architect specializing in Azure to join our dynamic team. This opportunity is remote. As a key player in our cloud infrastructure initiatives, you ll architect, implement, and optimize cloud solutions for large enterprise environments, including a cutting-edge data and analytics platform for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Responsibilities • Lead cloud architecture design and solutioning for a large data and analytics platform, with emphasis on Azure-based services including Azure Databricks, Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Factory, Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, Azure Kubernetes Service, and Azure Cognitive/ML Services • Drive the migration of large, complex workloads from the legacy warehouses and on-premises VA systems into the cloud-based platform, ensuring security, compliance, and performance optimization • Architect data ingestion, processing, and integration patterns using batch, near-real-time (Golden Gate), streaming (Event Hubs), SFTP, and API-based ingestion methods • Support data preparation, wrangling, transformation, enrichment, normalization, and integration pipelines leveraging Databricks, Synapse, and Starburst • Define and implement solution accelerators (e.g., Databricks notebooks, ingestion patterns, reporting and ML workspace templates) to support repeatable, scalable implementations across work streams • Partner with customer success teams to support onboarding of VA customers, including migration of work groups with extensive and complex VM/application footprints • Provide architectural guidance for system-to-system integrations using APIs, SHIR (Self-Hosted Integration Runtime), and various API frameworks • Ensure Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) models are consistently applied across Azure Entra (Active Directory), service principals, managed identities, and data lake ACLs • Work closely with platform engineers, data governance engineers, data management engineers, and application development teams to design, review, and improve deployment patterns • Align architecture decisions with VA security and compliance requirements, including FISMA, NIST 800-53, FIPS 199/200, VA Handbook 6500, and the VA Authority to Operate (ATO) boundary constraints • Provide architectural input into platform roadmap planning, ensuring that Dev Ops, initiatives, and customer projects are aligned with VA s strategic priorities and capacity planning processes • Document all solution architectures in the platform s unified architecture framework within Confluence, ensuring traceability across enterprise, platform, data, integration, and consumption layers • Mentor engineers, data scientists, and other technical staff in cloud-native architecture best practices, automation, and data product development • Research and evaluate emerging cloud technology trends and best practices to enhance company offerings Requirements Education & Experience • Bachelor s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field. • 8+ years of experience in cloud architecture, with at least 5 years focused on Microsoft Azure. • Demonstrated experience leading large-scale cloud migration projects, including VM and application migrations from on-premises environments to Azure. • Proven expertise in data engineering and analytics workloads, with hands-on experience in: • Azure Databricks (data processing, ML pipelines, advanced analytics) • Azure Synapse Analytics (SQL Pools, big data analytics, enterprise data warehouse) • Azure Data Factory and Event Hubs (batch, near real-time, and streaming ingestion) • Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2, Neo4J, and SQL databases Technical Skills • Strong background in cloud-native solution architecture within multi-cloud environments (Azure Gov, AWS). • Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Git Hub Actions) for provisioning and deployment automation. • Deep understanding of data governance frameworks (Collibra, Immuta for ABAC, RBAC group models in Azure Entra). • Knowledge of system security and compliance requirements in a federal environment, including NIST 800-53, FISMA, FedRAMP High, and VA…

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