Data and AI Architect - Azure

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Band E/F Azure Architect to lead the design, development, and governance of our cloud ecosystem. The ideal candidate will have strong expertise across Azure architecture , data engineering , data science enablement , security , and enterprise integrations . This role partners closely with engineering, product, and business teams to deliver scalable, secure, and future‑ready cloud solutions.

Key Responsibilities

1. Azure Cloud Architecture

·       Design highly available, scalable, and cost‑optimized solutions using Azure services (Compute, Storage, Networking, App Services, AKS, Event Hub, API Management).

·       Lead architecture reviews, cloud adoption frameworks, and best‑practice implementations.

·       Define reference architectures, patterns, and guardrails for development teams.

2. Data Engineering & Analytics

·       Architect end‑to‑end data pipelines using Azure Data Factory, Synapse, Delta Lake, Databricks, ADLS Gen2, and Event Streaming solutions.

·       Establish data ingestion, transformation, and governance frameworks.

·       Optimize data models for analytics, machine learning workloads, and enterprise insights.

·       Collaborate with Data Scientists to operationalize ML models using MLOps (Azure ML, Model Registry, CI/CD pipelines).

3. Data Science & AI Enablement

·       Enable scalable training, deployment, and monitoring of ML/AI workloads.

·       Evaluate and integrate Azure AI services (OpenAI, Cognitive Services, search vectors, embedding pipelines).

·       Define best practices for feature engineering, model lifecycle management, and ML observability.

4. Security, Compliance & Governance

·       Implement Zero‑Trust architecture and industry standards for identity, access, encryption, and network security.

·       Establish governance via Azure Policy, Blueprints, Defender for Cloud, RBAC, and resource hygiene.

·       Lead security assessments, threat modeling, and compliance auditing (SOC2, ISO, HIPAA, etc.).

5. Integrations & API Ecosystem

·       Architect enterprise integrations using Azure Integration Services (API Management, Service Bus, Logic Apps, Event Grid).

·       Oversee API standards, versioning, gateway policies, and enterprise messaging frameworks.

·       Ensure reliable async and real‑time integrations across internal/external systems.

6. DevOps & Automation

·       Drive Infrastructure‑as‑Code (Terraform/Bicep), CI/CD (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps), and automated deployments.

·       Optimize cost, performance, observability, and operational resilience (Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, App Insights).

7. Stakeholder Leadership

·       Serve as a technical advisor to business and product teams.

·       Conduct architecture workshops, capability roadmaps, and cloud modernization strategies.

·       Mentor engineering teams and cultivate cloud engineering excellence.

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Expertise

·       8–15+ years of experience in cloud, data, or application architecture roles.

·       Strong hands‑on experience with Azure services across compute, data, network, security, and integration domains.

·       Expertise in:

o   Data Engineering: Data Factory, Synapse, Databricks, Lakehouse, streaming pipelines

o   Data Science: Azure ML, model deployment, MLOps

o   Security: IAM, Azure AD, Defender, Network Security, Policies

o   Integrations: API Management, Service Bus, Logic Apps

o   DevOps: Bicep, Terraform, YAML pipelines, GitOps

·       Solid understanding of distributed systems, microservices, event‑driven architectures.

Soft Skills

·       Strong architecture documentation and communication skills.

·       Ability to translate business needs into scalable technical designs.

·       Experience influencing CXO‑level stakeholders.

·       Problem‑solving mindset with end‑to‑end ownership.