Lead Enterprise Architect / Principal Cloud Infrastructure Architect

We are seeking a Lead Enterprise Architect on behalf of a premier client in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to backfill a critical strategic leadership role supporting mission-critical transportation technology modernization. In this high-visibility, individual-contributor position, you will define and advance target-state enterprise architecture, intelligent automation, Zero Trust security baselines, and PCI-DSS compliance across hybrid cloud, networking, applications, and regulated payment environments. Working through cross-functional influence rather than direct management, you will serve as the senior architectural liaison between Digital Technology and executive stakeholders, evaluating Generative AI/ML use cases, driving Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and DevSecOps pipelines, and maintaining clear integration boundaries with peer platform architects. Additionally, you will leverage modern AI-assisted architecture workflows to accelerate technical designs, deliver reference implementations, and mentor engineering teams to build secure, scalable, and resilient transportation systems that directly advance enterprise priorities.

Key Responsibilities

• Enterprise Modernization & AI Enablement: Define and govern target-state enterprise architectures, technical standards, and multi-year roadmaps across hybrid cloud, infrastructure automation, analytics, asset management, and AI-enabled decision support systems.
• AI & Intelligent Automation Architecture: Evaluate Generative AI, machine learning, and process automation use cases; translate complex business requirements into secure deployment architectures with robust data governance, access controls, auditability, and operational ownership.
• Zero Trust & Security Architecture: Lead architectural direction for Zero Trust models, cloud networking, identity-aware access, and microsegmentation across on-premises and cloud environments, incorporating software-defined controls and automated policy enforcement.
• Regulatory Governance & PCI Transformation: Conduct technical risk assessments and establish compliant architecture patterns aligned with PCI-DSS, NIST, ISO/IEC 27001, and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulations.
• Architecture Acceleration & AI Workflows: Apply AI-assisted prompt engineering and architecture workflows to accelerate technical documentation, risk analyses, business cases, and executive communications; establish reusable patterns for complex security and cloud concepts.
• Cross-Functional Leadership & Coaching: Partner closely with peer architects (including Cloud Platform leads), engineering, and compliance teams to provide hands-on coaching, design walkthroughs, and reference implementations that scale internal technical capabilities.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education & Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data/Intelligence, or a related field with 13+ years of relevant experience (or equivalent work experience).
• Enterprise Scale: Proven track record of delivering significant business value realization for large-scale enterprise environments valued at $500M+ .
• Architecture Practice Leadership: 9+ years of technical/business experience , including 2 to 3 years embedded within a formal Enterprise Architecture Practice area.
• AI & Security Architecture Mastery: Demonstrated experience designing architectures for AI/ML integration, Zero Trust, microsegmentation, and regulated payment (PCI-DSS) environments.
• Stakeholder Influence & Communication: Outstanding ability to communicate complex concepts to C-suite leaders, senior engineers, and matrixed stakeholders without direct authority.
• Transformation & Portfolio Execution: Experience managing multiple concurrent architecture engagements, scaling architecture practices, and driving complex portfolio transformations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced Degree: Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA), Computer Science, or a related field.
• Transportation Sector Experience: Previous technology domain experience within Travel, Transportation, or Passenger Rail sectors.
• Multi-Domain Architectural Breadth: Deep knowledge spanning Business Architecture, Solution Architecture, Infrastructure/Technical Architecture, and Information/Data Architecture.
• Modern Tooling Mastery: Hands-on experience with DevSecOps pipelines, automated policy enforcement, software-defined networking, and AI-driven architecture workflows.