About this role
We are hiring for a 100% remote Cloud Infrastructure & Storage Architect (SME) with one of our federal clients. The System Architect - SME (Storage) provides senior technical leadership for enterprise infrastructure architecture and modernization in support of the SEC ISS contract. This role translates mission and functional requirements into scalable, secure technical solutions across on-premises and hybrid/multi-cloud environments. The architect leads cross-functional engineering and operations teams to improve reliability, automation, and service performance aligned to SEC OIT objectives. The position drives technology evaluations, proofs of concept, pilots, and demos while ensuring designs integrate with 24x7x365 enterprise operations and observability requirements. This role ensures architecture decisions align with Zero Trust, FISMA, and SEC governance expectations.
Please find the details below:
Cloud Infrastructure & Storage Architect (SME)
Required Qualifications:
Citizenship/Work Authorization: US Citizen
Clearance: Ability to obtain and maintain SEC Public Trust (or higher if required).
Education: Bachelor's degree in a relevant field.
Experience
• 12+ years of experience in enterprise IT infrastructure, including engineering, architecture, and administration of enterprise storage platforms.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in IT infrastructure roles, including 5+ years focused on Azure cloud engineering and architecture.
• Experienced in Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS) and Software as a service (SaaS) Cloud Hosting Architecture/Design patterns to meet scalability, capacity, availability, performance, storage, cost, and application/platform requirements
• Proven experience managing multi-discipline infrastructure, server, storage, and system operations teams.
• Demonstrated experience translating functional and business requirements into scalable enterprise technical solutions and leading integration efforts.
• Proven experience designing, implementing, and managing secure, highly available cloud environments for enterprise services.
• Experience leading Azure cloud migration and modernization initiatives within regulated or compliance-driven environments.
• Hands-on experience designing, configuring, and administering Azure enterprise cloud environments utilizing Virtual Machines, Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Azure Containers, Kubernetes, Cloud Services, and related cloud-native technologies.
• Extensive experience with enterprise storage platforms, SAN/NAS technologies, storage virtualization, and backup/recovery solutions.
• Experience leading complex infrastructure and storage migrations, upgrades, modernization initiatives, and integrations across cloud and on-premises environments.
• Experience supporting audit readiness, compliance requirements, governance controls, and technical documentation in federal or highly regulated environments.
• Advanced expertise in storage performance tuning, capacity planning, disaster recovery, business continuity, and risk assessment.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across cross-functional teams.
• Hands-on experience with Clustered Data ONTAP software.
• Strong experience with Azure DevOps, Repos, Pipelines, and Boards.
Technical Skills
Cloud & DevSecOps
• Microsoft Azure architecture, engineering, and operations
• AWS cloud integration and hybrid-cloud environments
• Cloud networking, storage, compute, app services, virtualization, and containerization
• Azure DevOps, Repos, Pipelines, and CI/CD implementation
• DevSecOps practices and automation frameworks
• Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) using PowerShell, Bicep, ARM Templates, and Terraform
• Reusable IaC modules, automated validation, governance controls, and drift detection
• Kubernetes, OpenShift, and cloud-native container platforms
Security & Identity
• Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD)
• Azure Policy, RBAC, Conditional Access, and Managed Identities
• Zero Trust architecture and secure cloud design principles
• Cloud governance, compliance enforcement, and operational security
• Enterprise platform security architecture
• FISMA, FedRAMP, NIST, and regulatory compliance frameworks
Storage & Infrastructure
• Enterprise infrastructure architecture and design
• SAN/NAS platforms and storage virtualization
• Clustered Data ONTAP administration and architecture
• Enterprise backup, recovery, replication, and disaster recovery solutions
• Storage performance monitoring, troubleshooting, tuning, and capacity management
• Multi-vendor server operating systems
• Virtualization and hybrid-cloud integration architecture
• System integration, scalability, and resiliency design
• Advanced troubleshooting of mission-critical infrastructure and storage environments
Leadership & Modernization
• Technology evaluations, proof-of-concepts (POCs), pilot programs, and solution validation
• Cross-functional technical leadership and stakeholder communication
• Infrastructure modernization and cloud transformation initiatives
• Integration with infrastructure, network, security, and operations teams
• Architecture governance, standards development, and operational best practices
Preferred Qualifications
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• HashiCorp Terraform Associate Certification
• NetApp Certified Data Administrator (NCDA) or equivalent
• Experience supporting U.S. Federal Government environments with FISMA, NIST, OMB, and FedRAMP compliance requirements.
• Experience supporting SEC or similarly regulated financial-sector federal agencies.
• Experience architecting and supporting observability, monitoring, and ITSM platform integrations.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, OpenShift, Ansible, GitOps toolchains, and automation frameworks.
• Experience implementing immutable infrastructure and policy-as-code controls in enterprise environments.
• Experience leading architecture and modernization initiatives in 24x7x365 enterprise operations environments.
• Proficiency in Ansible, Python, and Bash scripting.
• Experience developing and enforcing infrastructure, cloud, and storage standards, policies, and operational best practices.
• Experience with FinOps, cloud cost optimization, and cloud resource governance.
An Equal Opportunity Employer
iQuasar LLC is a proud partner of the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP) and the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program, reflecting our strong commitment to supporting military spouses, veterans, and inclusive hiring practices. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital/parental/veteran status, disability, genetic information, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, military service, non-merit factors, or any other characteristics protected by applicable law.