Sr. AWS Architect

Sr. AWS Architect Location: Dallas, TX — 5 days onsite (no exceptions) (Local only) Duration: 6+ Months Contract Interview Role Overview Client has a firmwide mandate to exit/minimize all datacenters by 2030. Core Engineering is the platform backbone enabling this shift. We're searching for an elite AWS Architect to lead a 4‐person engineering pod (Architect + Tech Manager + 2 Sr. Cloud Engineers) delivering repeatable migration patterns, secure landing zones, and multi‐team adoption across BUs—no hand‐holding. This is not a junior or mid‐level role. The architect must be equally strong in design and hands‐on leadership, with a proven track record of moving complex, regulated workloads and data to AWS at enterprise scale. What You Will Lead & Deliver Architecture & Team Leadership Technical lead for the 4‐person pod; mentor, review, unblock; drive delivery cadence. Convert business/regulatory constraints into platform designs and migration plans. Platform & IaC (CDK‐forward) Author AWS CDK constructs (TypeScript/Python) for network, identity, logging, encryption, data foundations; manage CDK Pipelines across accounts/environments. Define versioning/deprecation strategy for constructs; ensure frictionless consumption by 10–20+ teams. Security & Compliance (bank‐grade) Enforce least‐privilege IAM, permission boundaries, SCPs, key policies (KMS), private endpoints, guardrails. Centralize CloudTrail/GuardDuty/Security Hub; codify controls as policy‐as‐code; maintain evidence. Migration Execution (Apps + Data) Drive discovery, wave planning, and execution using AWS migration tooling: Workloads/servers: AWS MGN (CloudEndure), Migration Hub, ADS. Databases/data: DMS, SCT, DataSync, Snowball Edge/Snow Family, S3 Transfer Acceleration, Glue ETL. Stateful cutovers: blue/green, canary, DNS strategies; performance baselines and smoke tests. Connectivity / Networking Design Direct Connect/VPN, routing, VPC topologies, endpoint policies, NACL/SG strategy; multi‐region HA/DR. Observability & Operations Implement CloudWatch/OTel, metric/trace/log standards; error budgets, runbooks; define SLO/SLIs for shared services. FinOps & Cost Controls Establish tagging standards, cost allocation, rightsizing; RI/SP strategy; dashboards and alerts. Adoption Enablement (MAP KPI) Publish reference architectures, docs/playbooks, sample repos, workshops/office hours; track adoption KPIs. Required Experience 15+ years overall; 10+ years deep AWS architecture in regulated (bank/DoD/health) environments. Led ≥3 large enterprise migrations (100s of servers and multi‐TB data) including plan → migrate → cutover → hypercare. Built multi‐account platforms with Control Tower/Organizations, SCPs, IAM SSO, and centralized logging & security. Hands‐on CDK (not just Terraform): authored reusable constructs adopted by multiple teams, with CDK Pipelines. Demonstrated audit readiness: control mapping, Config rules, exceptions workflow, evidence packs. Required Certifications (must be current or recently lapsed) AWS Solutions Architect – Professional (required) AWS Security – Specialty (required) AWS DevOps Engineer – Professional (strongly preferred) AWS Advanced Networking – Specialty (preferred for DX/VPC design) Nice‐to‐have: AWS Database – Specialty or Data Analytics – Specialty (DMS/SCT strategy), CKA/CKAD (EKS‐adjacent) Core Technical Skills (must‐have depth) AWS CDK (TypeScript/Python), CDK Pipelines, CloudFormation; Terraform literacy welcome but CDK is primary. Security: IAM/SCPs/permission boundaries, KMS (envelope encryption), Secrets Manager, S3 bucket & endpoint policies, private subnets, WAF/Shield, detective controls. Networking: VPC design, Transit Gateway, DX/VPN, routing, multi‐region failover. Data & Migration: DMS, SCT, DataSync, Snowball, S3 transfer strategies, RDS/Aurora patterns, schema conversion, replication lag/cutover. Workload Migration: AWS MGN, image/agent planning, dependency mapping, perf baselines, blue/green cutover. Observability & Ops: CloudWatch, metrics/logging, runbooks, chaos/failover testing, MTTR/MTTD improvements. FinOps: tagging, cost allocation, RI/SP, dashboards. Soft Skills Executive presence; crisp communicator with architects, security, and BU leaders. Bias to action; operates independently, sets and meets aggressive timelines. Pragmatic decision‐maker; documents tradeoffs, risks, and mitigations. Coaches senior engineers; raises the team's bar. Team You'll Lead (4‐person pod) You — Senior AWS Architect (Lead)

1. Technical Manager / Lead Engineer
2. Senior AWS Cloud Engineers (CDK‐capable)

You Own Architecture, Backlog, Code Reviews of CDK Modules, Security Posture, Migration Wave Plans, and MAP Adoption Knockout Criteria (use for fast screening) No AWS SA‐Pro and Security Specialty No enterprise CDK (constructs + CDK Pipelines adopted by multiple teams) Never led multi‐wave app + data migrations with cutover in regulated environments Can't articulate audit evidence (Config/Security Hub/Control Tower + exceptions/remediation) Won't work onsite 5 days/week in Dallas What "Great" Looks Like (candidate signals) Describes a recent datacenter‐exit program with wave plans, RTO/RPO, and rollback proof. Shows a CDK construct library they authored and how it was versioned/deprecated without breaking teams. Explains DX/VPN design, endpoint policies, private S3/Dynamo access, and cross‐account patterns. Produces a sample evidence pack story (control → rule → alert → ticket → remediation → audit trail). Quantifies MAP‐style adoption: "14 teams onboarded in 5 months; TTFD cut from 3 weeks to 4 days." InterSources