Senior Azure Security Architect - Remote in USA

Healthcare Cloud | Part-Time Hourly Contract | Remote About the Engagement A Microsoft-focused cloud services firm is seeking a senior security architect to join its delivery team on a part-time, hourly basis. The firm is the managed services provider (MSP) for a multi-clinic US healthcare organization and is leading the migration of the organization's clinical and business applications to Microsoft Azure. The client places a strong emphasis on ransomware resilience, and a healthcare-focused managed security services provider (MSSP) is integrating the new environment into its monitoring service. The core need is a comprehensive security design for the Azure environment. You will be the security voice on an experienced Azure team: reviewing and hardening the architecture as it is built, advising on resilience and recovery, and joining working sessions with the MSSP to separate the questions that matter from the noise in real time. The Environment A hybrid environment spanning a hosted VMware private cloud and Microsoft Azure, connected by two Azure ExpressRoute circuits. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series firewalls and Prisma SD-WAN ION appliances deployed as native virtual machines at both sites. An Azure VMware Solution (AVS) deployment receiving the full data center migration. Azure becomes the primary site and the hosted private cloud becomes the secondary site. More than 40 clinician-facing and business applications in scope, including laboratory, dental, radiology, and IT systems. A vendor-hosted electronic health record (EHR) platform, reached through vendor-specified, customer-managed connectivity hardware in a colocation facility, with integrations to the in-scope applications. What You Will Do Produce and own the security design for the Azure environment across identity, infrastructure, networking, governance, policies, access control, logging, and monitoring. Identity and access control: design Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), and role-based access control (RBAC) for least-privilege administrator and third-party access. Infrastructure: harden AVS, Azure virtual machines, and supporting services against recognized baselines, and review the live build as it progresses. Networking: define segmentation and traffic flow controls across the ExpressRoute circuits, the Palo Alto firewalls and ION appliances, clinic and VPN connectivity, and internet egress. Governance and policies: shape the management group and subscription structure, Azure Policy assignments, security baselines, and written security standards. Logging and monitoring: define log sources, retention, and detection coverage in Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Microsoft Sentinel or the MSSP's platform. Advise on ransomware resilience with Azure as primary and the hosted site as secondary: immutable and isolated backups, recovery point and recovery time objectives (RPO and RTO), and recovery testing. Join working sessions with the client's MSSP, assess its requests, and recommend what telemetry Azure and the firewalls should provide. Map controls to the HIPAA Security Rule and recognized frameworks, and document decisions clearly for the client, its insurer, and auditors. Mentor the delivery engineers so security practice becomes part of how the team builds. Required Qualifications Seven or more years in information security, including at least three years designing and hardening Microsoft Azure environments in production. Hands-on depth in Azure network security: hub-and-spoke design, Network Security Groups, private endpoints, ExpressRoute, route control, and firewall insertion. Experience designing Azure governance: management groups, subscriptions, RBAC, Azure Policy, and landing zone security baselines. Working knowledge of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Sentinel or another security information and event management (SIEM) platform, and Azure Policy. Practical experience designing backup, recovery, and DR for ransomware scenarios, including immutability and isolated recovery. Experience in regulated environments, ideally healthcare under HIPAA, and comfort working under a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). Professional English fluency for live technical discussions with US stakeholders. Consistent availability for one to two hours per business day with overlap during US Pacific business hours. Preferred Qualifications Palo Alto Networks experience, especially VM-Series firewalls and Prisma SD-WAN ION appliances running as virtual machines in Azure and hosted environments. Azure VMware Solution, VMware NSX (including distributed firewall micro-segmentation), and VMware HCX experience. Exposure to Epic or comparable EHR platforms and their connectivity and integration security patterns. Experience working alongside or inside an MSSP, including log source onboarding and alert tuning. Familiarity with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0, the Microsoft cloud security benchmark, CIS Benchmarks, and the HHS 405(d) Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices (HICP). Certifications such as Microsoft AZ-500 or SC-100, Palo Alto PCNSE, CISSP, CCSP, or HCISPP. Bilingual English and Spanish; the team works comfortably in both. Engagement Details Engagement type: Hourly independent contract, starting on a trial basis with room to grow. Time commitment: One to two hours per business day, flexible scheduling. Start: As soon as possible, ideally the week of September 28, 2026. Location: Remote, for candidates based in the United States and already authorized to work here. Languages: English required; Spanish a plus. Compensation: $95 to $110 per hour, depending on experience, on a 1099 or corp-to-corp (C2C) basis, engaged through Nearshore Cyber. No benefits are provided. How We Hire Shortlisted candidates complete a short written assessment. It tests judgment and priorities; it does not ask for design work. A recorded video interview follows. Our client reviews the recordings, so you speak to us once rather than sitting through several rounds. Finalists meet the client directly. Your Information Nearshore Cyber handles applicant information under its privacy policy: If you are shortlisted, your application, assessment, and interview recording will be shared with the hiring client for this role. #J-18808-Ljbffr Near Shore Cyber