Senior Cloud Architect

Zachary Piper Solutions is seeking a Senior Cloud Architect to support a long-term federal program. This position is 100% remote. The Senior Cloud Architect will support the technologies and platforms used to operate, manage, and monitor applications, data, and services residing in cloud environments. This role will leverage cloud management technologies across private cloud environments and FedRAMP-approved commercial cloud providers, with a focus on cloud infrastructure, virtualization, high availability, disaster recovery, and integration of cloud-based services. Responsibilities of the Senior Cloud Architect include: Design, implement, configure, and optimize cloud-based infrastructure, platforms, applications, data, and servicesManage and monitor cloud computing resources to ensure optimal performance, availability, reliability, and interaction between applications and servicesLeverage major commercial cloud provider technologies and private cloud platforms to support enterprise and federal environmentsDesign and implement scalable and resilient cloud architectures aligned with application and infrastructure requirementsSupport the ongoing operation and optimization of cloud-based applications, services, and infrastructureDesign, implement, and maintain High Availability (HA) solutions for critical applications and cloud servicesDesign, implement, and test Disaster Recovery (DR) solutions to support business and mission continuityDevelop cloud architectures that address availability, resiliency, scalability, performance, and recoverability requirementsSupport virtualization technologies and virtualized infrastructure within cloud and enterprise environmentsMonitor cloud environments and identify performance, availability, capacity, and reliability issuesTroubleshoot cloud infrastructure, application, and service issues and support root cause analysis and resolutionWork with cloud management and monitoring tools to maintain visibility into infrastructure, applications, data, and servicesIntegrate cloud-based applications and services using Web Services, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and REST servicesDesign and support RESTful API integrations between cloud services, applications, and enterprise systemsEvaluate cloud services and technologies to identify opportunities for improved performance, reliability, scalability, and operational efficiencySupport cloud migrations, modernization efforts, and integration of existing enterprise services with cloud environmentsCollaborate with software engineering, infrastructure, cybersecurity, DevOps, and operations teams to develop and implement cloud solutionsDevelop technical designs, architecture documentation, implementation plans, and operational proceduresSupport cloud infrastructure lifecycle management, including implementation, configuration, maintenance, upgrades, and optimizationAssist with the development and implementation of cloud standards, architecture patterns, and technical best practicesEnsure cloud solutions appropriately support federal security, compliance, and operational requirementsWork with FedRAMP-approved commercial cloud providers and cloud environments supporting federal customersAnalyze system and application dependencies to identify potential availability, performance, and disaster recovery risksParticipate in technical planning, architecture reviews, design discussions, and implementation activitiesProvide technical guidance on cloud infrastructure, virtualization, HA/DR, and cloud service integrationDevelop and maintain technical documentation, architecture diagrams, configuration documentation, operational procedures, and troubleshooting guides Qualifications of the Senior Cloud Architect include: 7+ years of related professional experience5+ years of experience with virtualization and cloud technologies and platforms3+ years of experience implementing High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) solutionsHands-on experience with cloud computing technologies, platforms, and infrastructureExperience designing, implementing, and supporting cloud-based solutionsExperience with virtualization technologies and virtualized infrastructureExperience developing or implementing highly available and resilient infrastructure solutionsExperience developing or implementing Disaster Recovery solutionsExperience working with Web Services, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and Representational State Transfer (REST) servicesExperience integrating cloud applications, services, and infrastructure through APIs and REST-based servicesExperience with cloud management and monitoring technologiesExperience supporting enterprise or federal cloud environmentsAbility to troubleshoot complex cloud infrastructure and service issuesAbility to develop technical documentation, architecture designs, implementation plans, and operational proceduresStrong communication and collaboration skills with the ability to work across engineering, infrastructure, application, and operations teamsHigh School Diploma, GED, or equivalentCompTIA Cloud+ certification or ability to meet the applicable IAM I certification requirement Preferred Qualifications of the Senior Cloud Architect include: Experience supporting federal government or Department of Defense (DoD) cloud environmentsExperience with FedRAMP requirements and FedRAMP-approved cloud servicesExperience with major commercial cloud providers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google CloudExperience supporting private cloud environmentsExperience with cloud architecture and enterprise infrastructure designExperience designing and implementing enterprise-scale High Availability (HA) architecturesExperience designing and implementing enterprise-scale Disaster Recovery (DR) architecturesExperience with cloud migration and modernization initiativesExperience with cloud infrastructure monitoring, performance management, and optimizationExperience with cloud automation and infrastructure as codeExperience with containerized applications and orchestration technologiesExperience with Kubernetes, Docker, or similar container technologiesExperience with Terraform, CloudFormation, Ansible, or similar infrastructure automation toolsExperience developing and integrating REST APIs and web servicesExperience with cloud-native application architectures and distributed systemsExperience with DevOps, CI/CD, and automated cloud infrastructure deploymentExperience supporting cloud security, compliance, and authorization requirements in federal environmentsExperience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC), configuration management, and automated provisioningExperience developing cloud architecture diagrams, technical designs, and implementation roadmapsExperience supporting enterprise application and infrastructure modernization Compensation for the Senior Cloud Architect includes: Salary: $125,000-130,000 depending on experienceBenefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k Plan, Holidays, PTO, sick leave as required by law Keywords: Senior Cloud Architect, Cloud Architect, Cloud Architecture, Cloud Engineer, Cloud Engineering, Cloud Infrastructure Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure Architect, Cloud Solutions Architect, Cloud Solutions Engineer, Cloud Systems Architect, Cloud Systems Engineer, Cloud Computing, Cloud Technologies, Cloud Platforms, Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Services, Cloud Management, Cloud Operations, Cloud Administration, Cloud Engineering, Enterprise Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, Private Cloud, Public Cloud, Commercial Cloud, Federal Cloud, Government Cloud, FedRAMP, FedRAMP Cloud, FedRAMP Authorized, FedRAMP Approved, federal cloud computing, government cloud computing, Department of Defense, DoD, DOD, Navy, U.S. Navy, federal government, federal contracting, virtualization, virtual infrastructure, virtualized infrastructure, virtual machines, VM, VMs, VMware, VMware vSphere, vSphere, Hyper-V, virtualization technologies, cloud migration, cloud modernization, cloud transformation, infrastructure modernization, application modernization, cloud deployment, cloud implementation, cloud integration, cloud architecture design, cloud infrastructure design, enterprise architecture, infrastructure architecture, solution architecture, technical architecture, systems architecture, architecture patterns, architecture frameworks, scalable architecture, resilient architecture, highly available architecture, high availability, HA, HA architecture, disaster recovery, DR, disaster recovery architecture, business continuity, continuity of operations, COOP, backup and recovery, recovery architecture, recovery planning, recovery testing, failover, fault tolerance, redundancy, resiliency, cloud resiliency, application resiliency, infrastructure resiliency, availability engineering, reliability engineering, cloud reliability, cloud monitoring, cloud management tools, infrastructure monitoring, application monitoring, service monitoring, performance monitoring, cloud performance, capacity management, resource optimization, cloud optimization, infrastructure optimization, performance optimization, cloud troubleshooting, infrastructure troubleshooting, application troubleshooting, root cause analysis, RCA, incident response, cloud operations, cloud support, cloud administration, cloud lifecycle management, infrastructure lifecycle, cloud service management, Web Services, web services, API, APIs, Application Programming Interface, Application Programming Interfaces, REST, REST API, REST APIs, RESTful, RESTful APIs, REST services, web APIs, API integration, API development, API management, service integration, application integration, cloud integration, systems integration, distributed systems, cloud-native, cloud native architecture, microservices, service-oriented architecture, SOA, enterprise applications, cloud applications, cloud services, application services, data services, AWS, Amazon Web Services, Amazon Web Services Cloud, Azure, Microsoft Azure, Azure Cloud, Google Cloud, GCP, Google Cloud Platform, AWS architecture, Azure architecture, GCP architecture, AWS cloud engineer, Azure cloud engineer, AWS cloud architect, Azure cloud architect, cloud security, cloud compliance, cloud governance, cloud standards, cloud security architecture, federal cloud security, cloud authorization, ATO, Authority to Operate, security controls, NIST, NIST 800-53, RMF, Risk Management Framework, FedRAMP compliance, federal compliance, government security, DoD security, DevOps, DevSecOps, SRE, Site Reliability Engineering, CI/CD, continuous integration, continuous deployment, continuous delivery, infrastructure as code, IaC, Terraform, HashiCorp Terraform, CloudFormation, AWS CloudFormation, ARM templates, Bicep, Ansible, configuration management, automated provisioning, cloud automation, infrastructure automation, deployment automation, cloud orchestration, Kubernetes, K8s, Docker, containers, containerization, container orchestration, OpenShift, Red Hat OpenShift, Linux, Windows Server, enterprise infrastructure, enterprise systems, systems engineering, systems integration, infrastructure engineering, infrastructure design, systems engineering, technical engineering, cloud platform engineering, platform engineering, cloud platform, cloud services management, cloud resource management, cloud resource optimization, cloud architecture documentation, architecture diagrams, technical design, solution design, technical requirements, requirements analysis, technical documentation, implementation planning, architecture reviews, technical leadership, technical guidance, engineering collaboration, remote cloud engineer, remote cloud architect, remote infrastructure engineer, remote systems engineer, CompTIA Cloud+, Cloud+, IAM I, DoD 8570, DoD 8140, Information Assurance, cybersecurity, federal IT, cleared cloud, federal technology, government technology