Azure Cloud Architect

ROLE: AZURE CLOUD ARCHITECT (BANKING-MULTI-REGION& ACTIVE-ACTIVE)
DOMAIN: FINANCIAL

THIS IS ONSITE HYBRID
CORP 2 CORP
INTERVIEW: TELEPHONIC & SKYPE

OVERALL EXPERIENCE 12

YRS+ MUST HAVE WORKED AS ARCHITECT FOR 2 LONG TERM PROJECT

We are looking for a highly skilled Azure Cloud Architect with deep experience in banking and financial services to design and implement secure, compliant, and resilient cloud architectures. The role focuses on multi-region, active-active strategies to ensure zero/near-zero downtime, meet strict regulatory requirements, and support high-volume transactional systems.

Key Responsibilities

•     Design and implement multi-region, active-active architectures for core banking, payments, and digital channels
•     Build solutions that ensure high availability (99.99%+), low latency, and zero data loss (near-zero RPO)
•     Architect real-time failover mechanisms across Azure regions with minimal service disruption
•     Define and implement disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BCP) aligned with banking regulations
•     Ensure compliance with financial regulatory standards such as:
o     PCI DSS
o     SOX
o     GDPR (if applicable)
o     FFIEC guidelines
•     Design secure architectures incorporating:
o     Zero Trust principles
o     Network segmentation and private endpoints
o     Encryption (at rest, in transit, and in use where applicable)
•     Implement global traffic management using:
o     Azure Front Door (WAF-enabled)
o     Traffic Manager (latency/priority routing)
•     Architect data replication and consistency strategies:
o     Azure SQL Active Geo-Replication
o     Cosmos DB multi-region writes (for globally distributed apps)
o     Event-driven replication using Service Bus / Event Grid
•     Ensure data residency, sovereignty, and auditability requirements are met
•     Implement fraud detection and real-time analytics integration pipelines
•     Collaborate with security and risk teams for threat modeling and compliance audits
•     Lead architecture governance, design reviews, and regulatory assessments

Required Skills & Qualifications

•     10+ years in IT with 5+ years in cloud architecture within banking/financial services
•     Proven experience designing highly available financial systems (payments, trading, digital banking)
•     Deep expertise in:
o     Multi-region Azure deployments
o     Active-active architectures with real-time replication
o     High-throughput, low-latency transaction systems
•     Strong understanding of:
o     RTO/RPO for financial workloads
o     Data consistency vs availability trade-offs in financial transactions
o     Secure API and Open Banking architectures

•     
Experience with :
o     Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for microservices
o     API Management (for Open Banking / PSD2 APIs)
o     Identity solutions (Azure AD, Conditional Access, MFA)
•     Hands-on with:
o     Infrastructure as Code (Terraform / Bicep / ARM)
o     CI/CD pipelines (Azure Dev Ops, Git Hub Actions)

Preferred Qualifications

•     Azure certifications:
o     Microsoft Certified:
Azure Solutions Architect Expert
o     Azure Security Engineer Associate

•     
Experience with :
o     Core Banking Systems modernization
o     Payment gateways and SWIFT integrations
o     ISO 20022 messaging standards
•     Familiarity with:
o     Basel III
o     PSD2 (EU context)

Key Banking-Specific Concepts

•     Active-Active for Payments Systems (no downtime tolerance)
•     Data Integrity & Transaction Consistency (ACID compliance where required)
•     Fraud Detection Integration with real-time streaming
•     Audit Trails & Regulatory Reporting
•     Segregation of Duties (SoD) and role-based access control
•     Cybersecurity & Threat Detection (SIEM/SOAR integration)

Soft Skills

•     Strong stakeholder management across risk, compliance, and audit teams
•     Ability to translate regulatory requirements into technical architecture
•     Leadership in high-pressure, mission-critical environments
•     Excellent documentation and audit-readiness mindset

Nice to Have

•     
Experience with multi-cloud or hybrid banking environments
•     Knowledge of digital banking platforms and fintech integrations
•     Exposure to AI/ML use cases in fraud detection and credit risk