Cloud Architect (Data & AI Platforms)

Role Overview
The Cloud Architect will define the target architecture, technical design, infrastructure sizing, connectivity model, security controls, DevOps approach, and operational guardrails for enterprise cloud-based data and AI platforms. The role will provide architecture leadership across Microsoft Fabric, Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC), Informatica Advanced Serverless on Azure, Microsoft Foundry, and associated integration services. Working closely with CLIENT IT, cloud specialists, data engineers, Informatica specialists, security teams, and the Cloud & AI Ops Specialist, the Cloud Architect will ensure that platform environments are secure, scalable, resilient, cost-efficient, and aligned with enterprise standards. The assignment is primarily required through the architecture and build phases for an estimated three-month period. During deployment and steady-state operations, execution will transition to the designated Informatica and Fabric data engineering resources and the Cloud & AI Ops Specialist, while the approved architecture, technical design, best practices, and operational runbooks will remain the governing baseline.

Required Skills and Experience
• Proven experience designing enterprise cloud data and AI platforms on Microsoft Azure.
• Strong architecture knowledge of Microsoft Fabric, including capacities, workspaces, OneLake, Lakehouses, Data Warehouses, Data Factory pipelines, Spark and SQL workloads, mirroring, replication, security, monitoring, and deployment patterns.
• Working architecture knowledge of Microsoft Foundry and the infrastructure, connectivity, identity, governance, and operations considerations for enterprise AI services.
• Strong understanding of Informatica IDMC, Secure Agent architecture, Secure Agent groups, CDGC, Data Integration, Data Quality, and Advanced Serverless on Azure.
• Experience with Azure networking and security, including private endpoints, private DNS, managed virtual networks, firewalls, routing, identity, RBAC, managed identities, service principals, Key Vault, and logging.
• Demonstrated ability to convert functional and non-functional requirements into scalable architecture, infrastructure sizing, technical specifications, and implementation guardrails.
• Experience designing DevOps operating models, repositories, branching strategies, CI/CD controls, environment promotion, release governance, and infrastructure automation.
• Strong knowledge of cloud FinOps, capacity planning, consumption optimization, cost anomaly detection, quota management, tagging, chargeback/showback, and performance-cost trade-offs.
• Understanding of high availability, disaster recovery, backup, failover, service continuity, and production-readiness practices for data platforms.
• Ability to produce high-quality architecture diagrams, solution design documents, decision records, configuration baselines, runbooks, and handover packs.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, risk-management, facilitation, documentation, and senior stakeholder communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications
• 10+ years of experience in cloud architecture, data platform architecture, data engineering, or enterprise infrastructure, with significant responsibility for Azure-based solutions.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, engineering, or a related discipline; a postgraduate qualification is advantageous.
• Relevant Microsoft Azure architecture certification; Microsoft Fabric and Informatica certifications are strongly preferred.
• Experience delivering enterprise data platforms within managed services, shared services, highly governed, or regulated environments.
• Experience working with multi-vendor teams and communicating technical decisions to architecture boards, security reviewers, delivery leadership, and operational support functions.