Senior Azure Cloud Architect

Job Title:
Senior Azure Cloud Architect

Job Location:
Hybrid- [4 days in office]- Montpelier, VT, USA

** Please note, this role is not able to offer visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future**

We are seeking an experienced Senior Azure Cloud Architect to lead the design, implementation, migration, automation, and operational management of enterprise-scale Azure cloud environments. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in Azure infrastructure, cloud networking, security, automation, migration strategies, and modern cloud-native services while providing technical leadership to distributed engineering teams.

This role requires a highly skilled cloud professional capable of driving Azure transformation initiatives, implementing landing zones, designing secure and scalable architectures, and ensuring operational excellence across hybrid cloud environments.

Salary and Other Compensation:

The annual salary for this position is up to $150K depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

• Design, architect, and manage Azure cloud infrastructure using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) frameworks such as Terraform, ARM Templates, or Bicep to ensure scalable, repeatable, and secure deployments.

• Lead Azure Landing Zone implementation and cloud modernization initiatives
  , establishing governance, security, networking, and operational standards for enterprise cloud adoption.

• Design and manage Azure networking solutions
  , including Virtual Networks (VNets), Express Route, Site-to-Site VPNs, VNet Peering, Load Balancers, WAF, CDN, SD-WAN integrations, DNS services, and firewall configurations.

• Architect and support Azure PaaS services including Azure SQL Database, Cosmos DB, Storage Accounts, Key Vault, App Services, Function Apps, Event Hub, Service Bus, Blob Storage, and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).

• Lead cloud migration projects utilizing Azure Migrate, Azure Site Recovery, Lift-and-Shift methodologies, and third-party migration tools to migrate applications and infrastructure from on-premises environments to Azure.

• Develop and implement automation solutions using scripting and orchestration technologies to streamline provisioning, deployment, monitoring, patching, backup, and operational processes.

• Manage enterprise Azure security and identity services
  , including Active Directory integrations, SSL certificate management, RBAC implementation, Key Vault management, security monitoring, and cloud governance controls.

• Provide operational leadership for cloud service delivery
  , ensuring high availability, performance, reliability, disaster recovery readiness, and adherence to SLA commitments across cloud platforms.

• Lead and mentor distributed engineering teams
  , providing technical guidance, architectural direction, project oversight, and best practices for cloud engineering, Dev Ops, and infrastructure operations.

• Collaborate with stakeholders, business teams, and project managers to define cloud strategies, manage project life cycles, identify continuous improvement opportunities, and deliver exceptional customer and stakeholder experiences.

What you’ll need to succeed (required skills)

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field.

• 15+ years of Infrastructure and Cloud Engineering experience.

• 10+ years of hands‑on Azure Cloud Architecture and Engineering experience.

• Proven experience building and managing Azure enterprise environments.

• Strong expertise in Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, ARM Templates, Bicep, or equivalent).

• Extensive experience…