Job description

Microsoft is on a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. Growth mindset encourages each of us to lean in and learn what matters most to our customers, to create the foundational knowledge that enables us to make customer-first decisions in everything we do. In doing so, we create life-changing innovations that impact billions of lives around the world. You can help us achieve our mission. We are looking for a Senior Cloud Solution Architect – Cloud & AI Data to join our Federal organization. The Microsoft Federal organization was established to address the unique mission, legal/regulatory requirements, and procurement rules and processes of the United States Government (USG). Microsoft Federal is committed to ensuring its resources – including appropriately qualified, experienced, and certified personnel (with necessary security clearances or otherwise) are available as needed to meet USG evolving needs. To that end, Microsoft embraces, as a mission-critical philosophy, flexibility in the recruiting, hiring, and workforce assignment of Microsoft Federal personnel. Microsoft Federal personnel can expect to serve in various roles in the Microsoft Federal organization during the course of their career to meet evolving USG needs, regardless of segment – Civilian, Defense, or intelligence community. Qualifications Required/Minimum Qualifications: • Bachelors Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or related field AND 4+ years experience in cloud/infrastructure technologies, information technology (IT) consulting/support, systems administration, network operations, software development/support, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting • OR equivalent experience. • 4+ years of success in consultative/complex technical sales and deployment projects, architecture, design, implementation, and/or support of cloud based applications Other Requirements: Security Clearance Requirements: Candidates must be able to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: • The successful candidate must have an active U.S. Government Top Secret Security Clearance. Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. Failure to maintain or obtain the appropriate clearance and/or customer screening requirements may result in employment action up to and including termination. • Clearance Verification: This position requires successful verification of the stated security clearance to meet federal government customer requirements. You will be asked to provide clearance verification information prior to an offer of employment. • Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter. • Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This position requires verification of U.S. citizenship due to citizenship-based legal restrictions. Specifically, this position supports United States federal, state, and/or local United States government agency customer and is subject to certain citizenship-based restrictions where required or permitted by applicable law. To meet this legal requirement, citizenship will be verified via a valid passport, or other approved documents, or verified US government Clearance Additional/Preferred Qualifications: Technical • Hands-on experience building solutions or POCs with: • Azure OpenAI, open-source LLMs, Claude, Gemini, Llama, and/or Mistral RAG or Retrieval Augmented Generation • LangChain or semantic kernel • PyTorch or Tensorflow Machine Learning, including Azure ML Services / ML Flow • Big Data platforms including SQL DW (Synapse), Snowflake, Redshift, Spark (EMR/HDInsight) • Advanced Analytics, including Azure Databricks • Enterprise-scale technical experience with cloud and hybrid infrastructures, architecture designs including scalability, security and resiliency, database migrations, and cloud technology management. Breadth of technical experience and knowledge, with depth / Subject Matter Expertise (SME) in the following Data Platform Cloud solutions and/or data estate workloads. • SQL platforms including SQL Server (Database/Analysis Services), Azure SQL DB, OSS Databases (PostgreSQL), ETL/ELT systemsNoSQL Databases including Azure Cosmos DB, and OSS Databases (Cassandra, Mongo etc) • Visualization tools, including PowerBIGeneral awareness of Data Governance and Stewardship processes • The technical aptitude, enthusiasm and desire to adapt to change, learn new technologies and understand relevant industry and cloud trends. Education • Bachelors Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or related field AND 8+ years experience in cloud/infrastructure technologies, information technology (IT) consulting/support, systems administration, network operations, software development/support, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting • OR Masters Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or related field AND 6+ years experience in cloud/infrastructure technologies, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting • OR equivalent experience. • Technical Certification in Cloud (e.g., Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google, security certifications). • Professional Cloud Certification in one or more of the following technologies preferred: Cloud, Database, Big Data, BI, Data Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence Experiences • 4+ years experience working in a customer-facing role (e.g., internal and/or external). • 4+ years experience working on technical projects. • Prior work experience in a Consulting/Architecture position within a software engineering and/or professional services company such as Amazon, VMware, Google, IBM, Oracle, or similar desired • Knowledge of Azure cloud services • General Knowledge of competitive cloud services • Competitive Landscape: Knowledge of enterprise public cloud platforms and related industry/marketplace • Partners: Understanding of partner ecosystems and the ability to leverage partner solutions to solve customer needs Cloud Solution Architecture IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $106,400 - $203,600 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $137,600 - $222,600 per year. Microsoft will accept applications for the role until September 26th 2025 Responsibilities Business Impact Operates according to required operational excellence and proven practice standards throughout all sales stages/activities/tools of record (e.g., pipeline updates, time tracking). Collaborates across Microsoft and customer/partner teams through on-strategy delivery to achieve customer/partner objectives and increase customer/partner satisfaction. Proactively manages business and technical risks, adapts methodology and applies governance principles to identify, communicate, and minimize business and technical risks. Executes work in compliance with industry and Microsoft guidelines and procedures. Continuously prioritizes among competing demands in their work and identifies where impact occurs with customers, ensuring alignment with business priorities and goals. Delivers solutions in line with company methodologies (e.g., product offerings such as value-based deliverables [VBDs], advice, training, technical validation), ensuring proven practices and patterns are followed to prepare customers for operational readiness and achievement of their business goals and targets. Leveraging knowledge of change management proven practices and/or involving the change management team, proactively helps the customer deploy for long-term organizational adoption to increase customer satisfaction and drive consumption/usage. Guides customers/partners towards a well-architected (e.g., secure, resilient, artificial intelligence [AI]-enabled), and cost- and performance-optimized solution to increase retention and expansion opportunities. Provides feedback to Unified Delivery Team on VBDs to refine and further develop content. Proactively identifies new opportunities for Consumption, Usage & Unified expansion (especially Enhanced Solutions) at scale based on business value to customer/partner and clear understanding of the Microsoft value proposition for supported platforms to empower cloud success, foster and strengthen security and resiliency, and drive AI innovation. Actively listens to and respectfully challenges customers/partners, building trust to then advocate for alternative architectures/solutions/approaches that shape and/or enhance customer requirements. Identifies, and evaluates industry trends (e.g., customer industry verticals, information technology [IT] industry), gathers customer/partner insights (e.g., feedback around technical preferences, environments, business needs, competitive landscape), and maps existing architecture and digital transformation solutions to customer/partner business outcomes. Proactively captures opportunities in appropriate systems, processes, and tools, working collaboratively across the organization to execute on opportunities aligned with Microsofts Customer Engagement Model. Proactively identifies, escalates, and mitigates blockers using appropriate tools and processes to accelerate solution deployment, value realization and usage/consumption. Applies business, technical, industry, and/or enterprise knowledge to architecture or support projects to meet business and information technology (IT) requirements and resolve identified constraints. Customer Centricity Proactively acts as the voice of the customer/partner, sharing ideas, feedback, insights, success stories and strategic/technical input with Engineering teams, Product Offerings teams and internal communities leveraging relevant insights from feedback tools and systems. Identifies patterns of feedback across customers/partners/territories/industries and leverages them to develop strategic and actionable insights. Presents business cases to program managers to influence product roadmaps, decision making, bug fix prioritization, and own and drive initiatives as appropriate. Identifies and/or translates customer/partner problems into industry solutions aligned with Microsoft product and platform strategy, and explains why and/or how they meet customer/partner outcomes and return on investment (ROI) goals (e.g., via proof of concept, minimally viable product [MVP], rapid prototype) relative to competitive offerings. Proactively helps the customer/partner adopt and use Microsoft product/platform strategy-aligned (cross-solution area) solutions. Builds relationships with technical decision makers (TDMs), and helps build the bridge between TDMs and business decision makers (BDMs). Independently interacts as needed with customers/partners Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and other C-level (CXO) roles to bridge understanding of security, compliance, operational and risk requirements across BDMs, TDMs, CIO and CISO teams, appropriately engaging additional subject matter experts when deeper expertise is required. Drives self and guides other team members to focus on customer/partner experience through efficient delivery and ensuring a seamless and connected customer experience. Defines customer/partner conditions of success by leveraging an understanding of customer goals. Anticipates and addresses customer/partner dissatisfaction and unmet needs, and executes strategies to improve customer experience, value realization, and acceleration of transformation. Partner Specialization Identifies and prioritizes several opportunities that align with revenue goals, and orchestrates growth of solution utilization pipeline with partners. Provides assistance with partner and sales teams to bring clarity to specific opportunities through proof of concept and technical pre-sales support. Understands solution area-specific market opportunities (e.g., competitor insights) and collaborates with Global Partner Solutions (GPS) business stakeholders to lead and execute initiatives to translate opportunities into actions. Proactively guides and supports partners in developing repeatable offerings, practices, products, and solutions. Advises the partner throughout initial strategic customer implementations. Technical Leadership Leverages market insights and demand signals to assist leadership in identifying relevant areas in which to drive up-skilling and/or accreditations based on demand. Role models technical readiness, both depth-aligned to solution area priorities and breadth-aligned to Customer Success Unit (CSU)/corporate initiatives (e.g., security, resilience, AI), and influences team to drive their own technical readiness. Acts as a mentor, leading readiness and upskilling activities in the team/organization by educating colleagues on technical and non-technical concepts and sharing proven practices. Proactively identifies gaps through delivery, communicates those gaps to relevant team members and internal/external stakeholders, and connects gaps and patterns across business and technology areas that drive changes and improvements to products, IP (both existing and new), technologies, and/or processes/practices that enable solutions to scale across customers. Contributes to the development and modification of Microsofts structured frameworks and methodologies. Provides thought leadership and innovation to customers/partners and internal communities at the local level. Contributes to leading virtual teams (v-teams) around technologies and customer/partner challenges, and shares ideas, insights, and strategic, technical input with technical teams, internal communities across the field, and the larger virtual team across Microsoft using knowledge of Microsoft architectures and their context in the competitive landscape. Demonstrates strong industry knowledge and increases recognition for Microsoft solutions by contributing to and sometimes leading presentations and engagements with external and internal audiences (e.g., Tech Connect, Build, Ignite) Contributes to intellectual property (IP) and identifies patterns where no IP exists (e.g., CoPilot and AI scenarios) to help build scalable and repeatable models. Participates in external technical and non-technical community events (e.g., conferences, seminars, technical meetups, webcasts, blogs, hackathons) that elevate the Microsoft brand and shares learnings across internal teams. Skills: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Apache Cassandra, Architectural Design, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Background Investigation, Big Data, Blog, Bridge Building, Bug Tracking/Defect Management, Business Case, Business Intelligence, C-Level Management, Change Management, Channel Strategies, Cloud Applications, Cloud Architecture, Cloud Computing, Computer Science, Conferences, Consulting, Content Development, Customer Acquisition, Customer Experience, Customer Relations, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Support/Service, Customer/Client Research, Data Science, Database Analysis, Database Extract Transform and Load (ETL), Defense Intelligence, Ecosystems, Electronic Medical Records, Enterprise Architecture, Establish Priorities, Federal Government, GPS (Global Positioning System), Government, Government Requirements, Hybrid Cloud, IBM Product Family, IP (Internet Protocol), IT Requirements, Industry/Trade Analysis, Information Technology & Information Systems, Information Technology Consulting, Information/Data Security (InfoSec), Integrated Circuits (ICs), Intellectual Property (IP), Intelligence Community, Kernel Programming, Leadership, Legal, Local Government, Machine Learning, Mentoring, Microsoft Product Family, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Windows Azure, Network Administration/Management, Open Source, Operational Support Systems (OSS), Oracle, Partner Sales, Performance Tuning/Optimization, Philosophy, PostgreSQL, Process Improvement, Product Planning, Product Programs, Product Strategy, Professional Services, Project/Program Management, Proof of Concept, Public Cloud, Purchasing/Procurement, Rapid Prototyping, Regulatory Requirements, Remote Team Management, Resolve Customer Issues, Return on Investment (ROI), Risk, SQL (Structured Query Language), SQL Databases, Sales, Sales Prospecting, Sales Support, Scalable System Development, Security Clearance, Seminars, Software Administration, Software Development, Software Engineering, Stewardship, Strategic Planning, Systems Administration/Management, Technical Leadership, Technical Sales, Technical Strategy, Technical Support, Thought Leadership, Time Tracking, Top Secret Clearance, United States Citizen, VMWare, Web Casting About the Company: Microsoft DO WHAT YOU LOVE Make your mark on the world’s most used technologies. Develop the next hit mobile application. Pioneer a startup that could be the next big thing. At Microsoft, you choose your path. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft is a top innovator in both the consumer and enterprise technology industry. Just a few of the many things our products do are unleash creativity, connect businesses, and make learning more fun. But our continued success is based on one thing: our employees. We hire amazing, talented people and give them the opportunities—and the tools—to succeed. WHY MICROSOFT? As a Microsoft employee, you’re surrounded by a diverse group of the smartest people in your field. This fosters new ideas, better business results, and creates a dynamic work environment. In the office, you’re constantly challenged and supported by your colleagues. Every day holds something new and exciting. We also offer unparalleled depth and breadth of career opportunities. As an industry leader in multiple fields, working for Microsoft means being able to do whatever you feel passionate about—and being able to make an impact in that field. From day one, we give our employees significant responsibility. This means that you’ll know that you directly contributed to something that has a positive impact on people worldwide. Whether you choose to work in management, dive deep into the newest technology, or explore multiple professions, you’ll find everything you need at Microsoft to drive your career—and to make a difference. WE GET IT – YOU’RE MORE THAN YOUR JOB Everyone works differently and is motivated by different things. We also understand that there’s more to you than your job. That’s why we offer competitive pay and a wide assortment of benefits-- to help you make the most of life at work and away from it. GET THE BALL ROLLING Company Size: 10,000 employees or more Industry: Computer Software Founded: 1975 Website: http://www.microsoft.com

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