Azure Cloud Architect

BACKGROUND/PROBLEM STATEMENT
Health and Human Services Delivery Center is in need of modernizing their IT infrastructure and data application systems. Our cloud strategy will need to encompass upgrades to and replacement of legacy on-premises systems to next generation architecture through acquisition of vendor-hosted systems or custom development in an enterprise hybrid cloud environment. There is an elevated need for the development and coordination of a cloud strategy and architecture, including requirements and performance standards to meet or exceed management and customer specifications in a cost-effective manner. This position will deliver plans and technical roadmaps enabling business transformations and workload migrations, as well as leadership in infrastructure migration methodologies and techniques including application migrations into Azure.
INCURRING COSTS
The Health and Human Services Delivery Center is not responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by the contractor for parking.
RESOURCES
The contractor will be permitted to work from home, but office space for the contractor will be provided as needed. In addition, HHSDC will supply all necessary hardware and software for daily use that are needed to complete assigned work items.
OBJECTIVES OF ENGAGEMENT
The primary objective of this engagement is for the selected candidate to serve as the Azure Cloud Solutions Architect responsible for critically evaluating the business requirements; designing and planning best-fit architecture and technology solutions to address those requirements; and guide the HHSDC Solutions Management teams in implementing the solutions. The successful candidate will pay close attention to aligning its solutions with IT Strategy, business goals, existing technology landscape, technology advancements in the industry, and user experience in designing the solution.
OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
The Architect is a senior level resource with advanced, specialized knowledge and experience in Microsoft’s Azure Cloud, including compute, storage, and application fabric, as well as services for infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS) and serverless. The selected contractor must have proven project experience in the development, testing, and maintenance of Azure based production systems. This position will work with IT managers, business analysts, application developers, DBAs, network, and system staff to achieve project objectives - delivery dates, cost objectives, quality objectives, and program area customer satisfaction objectives.
The contractor will be required to:

Manage assignments and track progress against agreed upon timelines.

Plan, organize, prioritize, and manage work efforts, coordinating with the HHSDC Solution Management and other teams.

Act as a partner consultant to the project team and be responsible to assess task quality and provide ongoing feedback to project members.

Collaborate across the IT organization to define and apply enterprise level standards in solution architecture.

Participate in status reviews, process reviews, deliverable reviews, and quality assurance work product reviews with the appropriate stakeholders.

Participate in business and technical requirements gathering.

Perform research on potential solutions and provide recommendations to the HHSDC Solution Management teams.

Develop and implement solutions that meet business and technical requirements.

Participate in testing of implemented solution(s).

Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and customer representatives.

Give presentations for the IT and project stakeholder groups, as well as other offices and agencies involved with this project.

Develops and maintains meticulous technical and procedural documentation.

Ensure project compliance with relative federal and commonwealth standards and procedures.

Conduct training and transfer of knowledge sessions for system and code maintenance.

Complete weekly timesheet reporting in PeopleFluent/VectorVMS by COB each Friday.

Complete weekly project status updates in Daptiv if necessary. This will be dependent on a project being entered in Daptiv.

Provide weekly personal status reporting by COB Friday submitted on SharePoint.

Utilize a SharePoint site for project and operational documentation; review existing documentation.

CONTRACTOR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
REQUIRED SKILLS:
The Architect has the ability to design, develop, and implement cloud and hybrid solutions that run on Microsoft Azure, including compute, network, storage, monitoring, and security to provide reliable and scalable applications and systems to meet the organization’s objectives and requirements. The Architect is familiar with a variety of the application technologies, environments, concepts, methodologies, practices, and procedures.

Significant, hands-on technical experience and expertise with IT operations, including compute, networking, storage, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, monitoring, data platforms, and governance.

Have advanced experience in Azure administration, Azure development, and DevOps processes.

Experience with researching, designing, and developing public and private cloud solutions, including impacts to enterprise architecture, and platforms required for hybrid cloud computing. Manage how decisions in each area affect an overall solution.

Significant knowledge of software engineering, software architecture, data architecture, systems architecture, and data management, as well as a solid understanding of key digital technology trends and vendor landscape required.

Experience with CI/CD toolsets including version control systems (Git), development and maintenance of pipelines (Azure DevOps)

Experience with IT industry best-practices related to application development trends, infrastructure management and administration required.

Experience with migrating on-premises application systems to a cloud environment.

Analyzing and translating business requirements and use cases into optimized designs and developing sound solutions.

Experience with data lakes, data bricks, and Azure database services.

Experience with SQL, .Net, Python, and other programming languages.

Ability to balance work between multiple projects and possess good organizational skills, with minimal or no direct supervision.

Ability to work and communicate collaboratively and effectively with colleagues, and as a member of a team.

Ability to present complex technical concepts and data to a varied audience effectively.

A minimum of 5 years as a Software Development Lead.

A minimum of 3 years as a Designer or Architect where leadership capabilities have been demonstrated on multiple mission critical systems.

More than 12 years of relevant experience.

4-year college degree in computer science or related field with advanced study preferred.

Microsoft Azure certification preferred.

Job Type: Contract
Pay: $65.00 - $69.00 per hour
Work Location: In person