Senior Cloud Architect

Overview / Your Impact

AETC recruits, trains, and educates Airmen to deliver 21st-century airpower. AWAKEN is AETC’s enterprise-managed, accredited wireless and network service spanning flight lines, classrooms, dorms, and administrative facilities across the U.S. As Senior Cloud Architect, you are the technical lead driving AWAKEN’s transformation to a cloud-native, software-defined, Zero-Trust enterprise—enhancing performance and cybersecurity for mission training at scale.

Responsibilities

• Architect end-to-end cloud-native, software-defined solutions that meet AETC’s performance, scalability, and user-experience objectives; lead the enterprise evolution to Zero-Trust architectures.

• Design and implement secure hybrid environments (public cloud + on-prem), including cloud networking, segmentation, service-to-service security, and federation models.

• Engineer Identity and Access Management (IAM) with role-based access controls (RBAC), least privilege, and single-/multi-domain federation.

• Secure Kubernetes platforms and container runtimes (network segmentation, RBAC, workload isolation) and guide standards for virtualized environments.

• Develop Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) security baselines to enable repeatable, compliant deployments.

• Lead technical options, costed alternatives, and future-state roadmaps aligned to mission priorities and budget.

Security & Compliance

• Implement RMF-aligned controls; produce/maintain ATO artifacts; support continuous monitoring strategy and control assessments with ISSM/ISSO/SCV.

• Enforce DISA STIG/SRG configurations across Linux/Windows systems, cloud services, VMs, and Kubernetes clusters; maintain timely patching and flaw remediation.

• Enable ACAS/Nessus vulnerability scanning, report results, remediate findings, and sustain POA&Ms in coordination with Government cybersecurity leads.

• Implement web content filtering and traffic prioritization consistent with DoW/USAF policy and AWAKEN rules of behavior.

• Map technical controls to NIST SP 800-53, DISA STIGs, and (as applicable) CMMC requirements; maintain secure logging, audit trails, and evidence packages.

• Support incident response in cloud environments (log analysis, containment, recovery) and contribute to the Government’s cyber incident reporting processes.

Engineering, Testing & Delivery

• Operate in a pre-deployment test/lab environment, perform MBSE-driven validation, and deliver successful test results prior to production rollout.

• Troubleshoot complex enterprise connectivity issues impacting performance or user experience; provide Tier-3 engineering guidance to operations teams.

• Optimize network and cloud configurations for resilience, availability, latency, jitter, and QoS in line with AWAKEN KPIs/SLAs.

Collaboration & Governance

• Engage the COR and AWAKEN Government Technical Leads as a trusted advisor; communicate clearly across diverse technical backgrounds.

• Partner with the Program Manager, providing status, recommendations, and technical insight; contribute to PMRs and enterprise planning.

• Support Configuration Control Boards (CCBs) by proposing changes, documenting artifacts, and sustaining the enterprise baseline.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent practical experience).

• 10+ years of experience in enterprise IT/cloud architecture, systems engineering, or network modernization; 5+ years leading technical efforts on large programs.

• Hands-on expertise with cloud-integrated network designs, hybrid cloud architectures, and Zero-Trust patterns.

• Strong experience with IAM/RBAC, Kubernetes/container security, and Linux hardening; working knowledge of Windows hardening.

• Architect secure, scalable Cloud infrastructures and network connectivity.

• Design cloud-native data platforms, pipelines, and analytics architectures.

• Automate cloud provisioning with Terraform/ARM/Bicep; ensure consistent, FedRAMP-compliant environments.

• Implement RBAC, least-privilege, encryption, and NIST-aligned security controls.

• Drive FinOps optimization and guide engineering teams on cloud best practices.

• Enhance the security and administration of Spectrum IT systems operations.

• Migrate and modernize with config-level changes. Push toward Platform as a Service (PaaS) and cloud-native where possible.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with 5G integration and enterprise Wi-Fi architectures.

• DoWD 8140.03-aligned cyber workforce qualification or willingness to obtain.

• Familiarity with AETC/USAF operational environments; prior support to USAREUR-AF or other DoW organizations is a plus.

• Experience with SAFe practices, Jira/Confluence, and ServiceNow in DoW environments.