Principal Cloud Platform Architect

At Accenture Federal Services, nothing matters more than helping the US federal government make the nation stronger and safer and life better for people. Our 13,000+ people are united in a shared purpose to pursue the limitless potential of technology and ingenuity for clients across defense, national security, public safety, civilian, and military health organizations.

About the role

AFS is seeking a Principal Cloud Architect to serve as the senior technical authority for our secure cloud platform organization. This role owns the architectural vision, technical strategy, and engineering direction that enables ~70 personnel across multiple mission areas to design, build, and deliver secure cloud capabilities for government customers operating in some of the most demanding environments in the world.

This is not a back-office architecture role. The Principal Architect operates at the intersection of deep technical expertise and mission-facing leadership—translating government requirements into actionable technical strategies, representing the program’s technical posture to senior government stakeholders and mission partners, and driving the engineering culture that determines whether this organization delivers good work or exceptional work. You will be the technical voice in rooms where decisions shape multi-year program trajectories.

The ideal candidate combines hands-on cloud architecture depth with the executive presence, communication range, and strategic thinking to operate as a peer to the Program Manager in mission delivery. You understand that architecture is a leadership discipline—not just a technical one—and you are energized by building both systems and the people who build them.

Responsibilities

• Shape and communicate cloud architecture strategy, lead the Architecture Review Board, maintain reference architectures, drive technology evaluation, and integrate MBSE with cloud delivery.
• Represent program architecture to government stakeholders, translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences, participate in reviews and briefings, build advisory relationships, and inform business development strategies.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship, define growth paths, set engineering standards, and promote knowledge sharing.
• Align technical execution with program commitments, guide planning and release management, lead risk mitigation, and support incident response.
• Ensure compliance with government security standards, architect solutions for required impact levels, support audits and ATO processes, and drive Zero Trust adoption.

Requirements

• 7 years of progressive cloud engineering and architecture experience.
• Prior experience as the primary technical authority or lead architect on programs of significant scale and complexity in classified or regulated environments.
• Direct experience engaging leadership on technical strategy, architecture decisions, and/or capability roadmaps.
• Hands-on experience designing and implementing secure cloud architectures on AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, or equivalent classified cloud platforms.
• Experience with SAFe, Scrum, or equivalent agile delivery frameworks in complex, multi-team environments.
• Must have an active Top Secret clearance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related STEM field (Master’s preferred).
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, or equivalent advanced cloud platform certification.
• CISSP, CompTIA SecurityX (CASP+), or equivalent IAT/IASAE Level III certification per DoD 8140.
• SAFe certifications (SAFe Architect, SPC, SA) strongly preferred; multiple certifications valued.
• Experience with MBSE tools and practices (Cameo Systems Modeler, IBM DOORS Next, Teamwork Cloud) integrated with DevSecOps delivery.
• TOGAF certification or equivalent enterprise architecture framework experience.
• Experience with earned value management (EVM) and program financial performance at the architecture level.
• Background in multi-network or SAP-classified environment operations with cross-domain solution experience.
• Experience supporting ATO processes, RMF packages, and direct engagement with Authorizing Officials.
• Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA), Kubernetes certifications (CKA/CKAD), or CCSP.
• Demonstrated ability to influence without direct authority in matrixed organizations across contractor and government teams.
• Experience scaling engineering organizations—building processes, standards, and culture that work at 50 people and still work at 150.

Pay

The base pay range for this position in the states of California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia, and the city of Cleveland is $100,200—$203,400 USD.

Compensation for roles at Accenture Federal Services varies depending on a wide array of factors, including but not limited to office location, role, skill set, and level of experience.

Benefits

Accenture Federal Services offers a wide variety of benefits. You can find more information on benefits here.