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Must-Have Qualifications - Significant senior-level experience architecting cloud, data, and application solutions (typically 10+ years; 3-5+ years in architecture leadership).
- Deep hands-on expertise in SQL (SQL Server/PostgreSQL/Azure SQL) and data modeling/performance tuning.
- Strong C#/.NET design skills (ASP.NET Core, microservices, async programming, DI, unit testing).
- Proven delivery on Microsoft Azure (AKS/Containers, Functions, App Services, Event Hubs/Service Bus, API Management, Key Vault, Monitor/Log Analytics).
- CI/CD and DevOps leadership (Azure DevOps/Jenkins, Git workflows, pipelines, IaC with Bicep/ARM/Terraform).
- Solid understanding of systems architecture in Agile contexts; ability to maintain architectural runway and drive non-functional outcomes.
Preferred Qualifications - Experience with streaming (Kafka/Event Hubs), NoSQL (Cosmos DB), data lakes/warehouses (ADLS, Synapse, Snowflake), and ETL/ELT (Data Factory, Databricks).
- Exposure to MLOps (MLflow, Azure ML) and DS toolchains (Python/R), plus model monitoring.
- Security certifications or hands-on with threat modeling, SAST/DAST, SBOM, and supply-chain security.
- Certifications: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, DP-203 (Azure Data Engineer), Azure DevOps Engineer Expert.
Core Competencies (Band-4) - Architectural leadership at portfolio/platform scale; sets guardrails and guides multiple product teams.
- Systems thinking business acumen; ties architecture choices to measurable business impact (BTI/NPI).
Communication influence; crisp narratives and artifacts (roadmaps, ADRs, blueprints, diagrams).
Key Responsibilities Architecture Strategy - Define and evolve target architectures for cloud-native applications and data platforms, aligning to business OKRs, non-functional requirements (availability, latency, cost, security), and runway for upcoming epics.
- Lead platform/portfolio architecture governance (reference architectures, ADRs, standards, guardrails) across multiple products/teams at Band-4 scope.
Cloud DevOps - Design and lead implementation of solutions on Microsoft Azure (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS) including API management, container platforms, serverless, identity, monitoring, and cost optimization.
- Establish CI/CD pipelines, environment strategy, and release orchestration; guide teams on IaC, secrets management, and automated quality gates (security, performance, SLOs).
Data Engineering Data Science - Architect data platforms and pipelines (batch/streaming) with strong SQL fundamentals: dimensional modeling, normalization/denormalization, performance tuning, indexing, partitioning.
- Enable Data Science at scale: feature stores, experiment tracking, reproducible pipelines, and MLOps (deployment/monitoring/rollback of ML models).
- Partner with DS teams on problem framing, model operationalization, and guardrails (bias, explainability, data privacy).
Application Architecture (C#/.NET) - Lead design for C#/.NET microservices and distributed systems (REST/gRPC, messaging, event-driven architectures), ensuring observability, resiliency patterns (circuit breakers, retries), and zero-downtime deployments.
- Guide modernization (from monoliths to microservices), domain-driven design, and API/product thinking.
Security, Compliance Quality - Embed DevSecOps practices; ensure threat modeling, secure SDLC, vulnerability remediation, and compliance (GDPR, SOC2, ISO).
- Drive architectural reviews and critical design reviews; uphold testing strategy (unit/integration/perf/chaos) aligned to non-functional requirements.
Leadership Stakeholder Management - Mentor architects/engineers; build communities of practice and raise the bar on engineering excellence.
Translate complex tech decisions into business outcomes; influence product, program, and executive stakeholders.