Sr. Devops Architect

CloudIQ Technologies | Full-Time - Senior Azure Devops Architect About CloudIQ TechnologiesCloud IQ offers a portfolio of IT Cloud Management services designed to ensure high availability, scalability, optimal uptime, and reduced total cost of ownership. We provide end-to-end Cloud Infrastructure and Application Migration Services, helping global organizations optimize mission-critical IT systems and business processes. Our expert teams enable customers to focus on core business functions while we manage their infrastructure with precision and reliability.CloudIQ is a full-stack engineering solutions provider with deep expertise in Application Modernization and modern data analytics platforms across Azure, AWS, and Kubernetes. Recognized as one of the top 100 companies and certified by both the Cloud Native Computing Foundation and Microsoft, CloudIQ is committed to delivering cutting-edge cloud-native engineering solutions.We are actively seeking talented individuals who want to work on impactful projects, accelerate their career growth, and realize their full potential within a leading cloud technology organization.Experience: 10–15+ years Location: [Remote] Employment Type: Full-Time, 1099 (individual Contracting)About the RoleWe are seeking a highly experienced DevOps Architect to lead the design, implementation, and governance of scalable cloud infrastructure, CI/CD ecosystems, and automation frameworks across the organization, with a strong focus on Microsoft Azure. This is a senior, hands-on architectural role for someone who can independently define standards, mentor engineering teams, and drive execution even in the absence of broader team support. The ideal candidate combines deep technical depth across infra, application, and platform engineering with strong communication and leadership skills, and is comfortable both setting strategy and rolling up their sleeves to build.Key ResponsibilitiesArchitecture & StrategyOwn the end-to-end DevOps and cloud architecture strategy across Azure (and AWS where applicable), defining standards for infrastructure, deployment, security, and observability.Architect secure, scalable, highly available cloud infrastructure (App Services, AKS, Functions, API Management, Storage, Redis, Key Vault, Networking) with a focus on governance and cost efficiency.Define and evolve the organization's IaC, CI/CD, container, and release engineering strategy across multiple teams and product lines.Lead architectural reviews, DevOps roadmap planning, and long-term technical direction setting.Drive cloud migration strategy and execution (on-prem to cloud, cross-cloud, or platform modernization initiatives).CI/CD & AutomationArchitect and oversee CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps (YAML pipelines) and GitHub Actions across microservices, APIs, containerized, and serverless workloads.Establish quality and security gates (SonarQube, SAST, SCA, automated testing) as standard practice across pipelines.Define frameworks for feature flag-driven releases (Statsig, LaunchDarkly, or similar) enabling progressive rollouts, controlled experiments, and safe rollback.Build reusable, modular Infrastructure-as-Code frameworks (Terraform, Bicep, ARM, or Pulumi) that can scale across teams and environments.Champion automation-first practices using PowerShell, Bash, and Python, along with policy-as-code.Kubernetes & Platform EngineeringDefine and govern AKS cluster architecture, container strategy, image scanning, Helm chart standards, and secrets management.Establish GitOps workflows, service mesh strategy, and multi-cluster governance policies.Provide architectural oversight for full-stack application deployments, including .NET-based services, ensuring infra and application layers are well integrated.Observability & ReliabilityDefine enterprise-wide monitoring, logging, and alerting standards using Azure Monitor, Application Insights, Log Analytics, Prometheus, and Grafana.Establish proactive alerting frameworks, distributed tracing, and performance dashboards to drive reliability and faster incident response.Set SLIs/SLOs and reliability practices in partnership with SRE and engineering teams.Release Engineering & ExperimentationDefine enterprise standards for blue/green, canary, and A/B deployment strategies.Partner with product and engineering leadership to establish experimentation guardrails and feature rollout governance using Statsig or similar platforms.Security & ComplianceArchitect secure-by-design pipelines and infrastructure, incorporating Azure RBAC, managed identities, network security, encryption, and Key Vault best practices.Ensure architecture and processes align with compliance frameworks (SOC2, ISO27001, PCI, etc.).Partner with security teams to build automated compliance and audit-readiness into the platform.Leadership & CollaborationAct as the technical authority and point of escalation for DevOps and cloud architecture decisions.Mentor and coach DevOps engineers, fostering knowledge-sharing and technical growth across the team.Operate independently and make sound architectural decisions when working with minimal supervision or in the absence of the wider team.Communicate effectively with engineering, product, QA, SRE, and leadership stakeholders, translating complex technical concepts into business-relevant terms.Be a strong team player who leads by example — hands-on when needed, strategic when required.Required Qualifications8+ years of experience in DevOps, cloud architecture, or platform engineering roles, including prior experience designing systems at scale.Proven experience architecting solutions on Microsoft Azure; working knowledge of AWS is a plus.Strong hands-on expertise with Azure DevOps (Pipelines, Repos, Artifacts, Boards) and GitHub Actions.Deep experience with Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform, Bicep, or ARM templates); Pulumi experience a plus.Solid understanding of Azure networking, identity, security, and compute services.Strong scripting ability across PowerShell, Bash, and Python.Extensive experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and AKS in production environments.Application-level knowledge, particularly .NET-based full-stack applications, to bridge infra and development concerns.Experience with feature flagging/experimentation platforms such as Statsig, LaunchDarkly, or similar.Proven experience with monitoring/alerting tooling (Azure Monitor, App Insights, Prometheus, Grafana).Demonstrated experience leading cloud/infrastructure migration projects.Ability to work independently, delegate effectively, and drive outcomes without constant oversight.Preferred QualificationsCertifications: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure DevOps Engineer Expert, or equivalent.Experience with microservices, event-driven architecture, and messaging systems (Service Bus, Kafka, Event Grid, etc.).Prior experience in a technical leadership or architect role with direct mentoring responsibility.Soft SkillsStrong analytical, architectural, and problem-solving capability.Excellent verbal and written communication; comfortable presenting to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.Demonstrated ability to lead initiatives independently with minimal guidance.Strong team player who is equally effective collaborating and operating solo.Passion for automation, cloud engineering, reliability, and continuous improvement.