Cloud Architect

Job Title: DevOps/Cloud Architect

Location: Sacramento, CA (Hybrid/Onsite as required)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Experience: 10+ Years

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced DevOps Manager to lead and support the DevOps function for a large-scale public sector technology modernization initiative. This role requires a strong technical leader who can effectively balance people management (approximately 40%), hands-on DevOps engineering (approximately 40%), and Release Management responsibilities (approximately 20%).

The ideal candidate will be an experienced manager who remains deeply involved in technical implementation, automation, cloud infrastructure, CI/CD pipeline development, and production deployments. This individual will collaborate closely with Project Management, Application Development, Quality Assurance, Infrastructure, Security, and Business stakeholders to ensure reliable, secure, and efficient software delivery.

Key Responsibilities

DevOps Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and manage the DevOps team while fostering a culture of automation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Define DevOps strategies, standards, and best practices across the software development lifecycle.
• Provide technical leadership and architectural guidance for cloud infrastructure and deployment automation.
• Participate in sprint planning, technical design discussions, and production readiness reviews.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to support project delivery and operational excellence.

Hands-on DevOps Engineering

• Design, implement, and maintain scalable cloud infrastructure within AWS.
• Build, enhance, and maintain CI/CD pipelines using modern DevOps tools.
• Automate infrastructure provisioning using Infrastructure as Code (IaC).
• Manage containerized applications using Docker and Kubernetes.
• Implement monitoring, logging, alerting, and observability solutions.
• Troubleshoot deployment failures, infrastructure issues, and production incidents.
• Optimize cloud infrastructure for performance, availability, scalability, and cost efficiency.
• Support security best practices, vulnerability remediation, and compliance requirements.
• Collaborate with development teams to improve deployment automation and release quality.

Release Management (Approximately 20%)

• Plan, coordinate, and manage application releases across multiple environments.
• Develop and maintain release schedules and deployment calendars.
• Coordinate deployment activities across Development, QA, Infrastructure, Security, and Operations teams.
• Ensure all release documentation, approvals, and deployment checklists are completed.
• Manage release readiness reviews, rollback planning, and post-release validation.
• Drive continuous improvement of release management processes.
• Monitor deployment metrics and implement lessons learned following production releases.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 15+ years of IT experience with at least 10 years in DevOps.
• 5+ years of experience leading DevOps or Infrastructure teams.
• Strong experience designing and supporting AWS cloud environments.
• Proven experience managing CI/CD pipelines in enterprise environments.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, or equivalent).
• Strong scripting experience using Python, Bash, or PowerShell.
• Experience with Git-based version control systems.
• Strong understanding of networking, security, IAM, DNS, load balancing, and cloud architecture.
• Experience implementing monitoring and logging solutions.
• Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting large enterprise or government technology environments.
• Experience working within regulated or compliance-driven organizations.
• Experience supporting Agile/Scrum delivery models.
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer, or SysOps Administrator certification.
• Kubernetes certification is a plus.
• Experience with security scanning tools such as SonarQube, Snyk, Checkmarx, or similar.
• Experience implementing DevSecOps practices.

Desired Leadership Competencies

• Ability to lead high-performing technical teams while remaining technically hands-on.
• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Excellent organizational and prioritization abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple initiatives and competing priorities.
• Strong decision-making and risk management capabilities.
• Commitment to operational excellence and continuous improvement.

Success Profile

The ideal candidate is a technical leader who enjoys solving complex engineering challenges while effectively leading a team. They should be comfortable switching between architecture discussions, hands-on troubleshooting, deployment planning, coaching engineers, and coordinating production releases. This role is best suited for someone who can successfully balance leadership responsibilities with day-to-day technical execution in a modern AWS-based DevOps environment supporting mission-critical enterprise applications.

Note: Experience supporting large-scale public sector modernization initiatives, highly regulated environments, or mission-critical enterprise systems is highly desirable. This position supports a long-term digital transformation program requiring high availability, security, compliance, and disciplined release governance.