We are seeking an Azure Cloud Platform SME/Architect with deep expertise in Azure native services, enterprise landing zone design patterns, and secure cloud platform implementation. This role will support two parallel migration workstreams:

Workstream 1: Migration of on-prem Kubernetes workloads (Jetstream clusters) to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Workstream 2: Migration of 4,500+ VMware virtual machines across 8 data centers to Azure VMware Solution (AVS)

The architect will lead the Azure Landing Zone foundation design and implementation, ensuring alignment with Microsoft's Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF), Zero Trust principles, governance guardrails, and scalability objectives.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

8+ years in cloud platform engineering or architecture, with 4+ years of Azure-focused delivery

Proven experience in designing and implementing Azure Landing Zones aligned with Microsoft CAF

Strong working knowledge of Azure native services across:

o Networking (ExpressRoute, NSGs, UDRs, Azure Firewall)

o IAM & RBAC (Azure AD, conditional access, service principals)

o Monitoring (Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Diagnostics)

o Security (Defender for Cloud, Azure Policy, Key Vault)

Hands-on experience with:

o AKS cluster setup and workload migration

o AVS architecture and migration using HCX

o IaC tools: Terraform, Bicep, ARM templates

o DevOps tools: Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, CI/CD pipelines

o Azure Landing zone and AKS platform blue print pattern build using Terraform or Ansible automation for IaCs

Familiarity with container orchestration patterns, persistent volume configurations, YAML/Helm, and secrets/config map management

Nice to Have:

Microsoft Certifications: AZ-305 (Azure Solutions Architect Expert), AZ-700 (Network Engineer Associate), AZ-400 (DevOps Engineer Expert)

Experience migrating container workloads using Portworx, NFS, or GlusterFS to Azure-native volumes

Knowledge of FinOps, Azure Cost Management, and tagging policies

Exposure to hybrid DNS setups and Azure Arc/Hybrid management solutions