Platform Architect/Cloud Architect

Platform Architect/Cloud ArchitectSalary: Open + bonusLocation: Chicago, ILHybrid: 3 days onsite, 2 days remote*We are unable to provide sponsorship for this role*Qualifications10+ years of experienceDeep, hands-on expertise with Kubernetes — Kubernetes tenants, observability, solution design, operators, cluster architecture, workload design, networking, security, and operational patterns at scaleKubernetes on cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.)OPA (Open Policy Agent)CI/CD pipelines: Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or equivalentPractical experience with Apache Flink or equivalent stream processing frameworks — job design, state management, and deployment on KubernetesExperience designing and implementing GitOps pipelines —platform governance, infrastructure-as-code, environment promotion, secrets management, and release automation using tools such as Flux, ArgoCD, Terraform, or HelmPreferred, not requiredHands-on experience architecting Apache Kafka deploymentsStrong AWS architecture experience — VPCs, EC2, EKS, MSK, S3, IAM, KMS, networking, and security servicesExperience with observability tooling at scale — OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk, or equivalentResponsibilitiesLead architecture design and decision-making for core platform capabilities: container orchestration, streaming infrastructure, cloud architecture, CI/CD andGitOps pipelines, and observabilityDevelop and maintain target-state platform architectures with clear transition plans from current stateOwn reference architectures for Kubernetes-based workloads, Kafka streaming topologies, Flink stream processing, and AWS infrastructure patternsArchitect and guide migration of workloads to cloud-native patterns on AWS, including compute, networking, storage, and security servicesDefine GitOps model — infrastructure-as-code practices, pipeline standards, environment promotion, and configuration management at scaleEvaluate and recommend platform technologies and tooling; lead proof-of-concept efforts to validate architectural decisions before commitmentEstablish observability standards — logging, metrics, tracing, and alerting — as a platform-level capability, not an afterthoughtPartner with Application Architecture to ensure platform capabilities match application design requirements — particularly for high-throughput, low-latency clearing workloadsCollaborate with Engineering and operations teams to ensure platform designs are buildable, operable, and supportable — not just theoretically soundFacilitate architecture working sessions with technical leads and business stakeholders; communicate platform decisions clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences