Cloud Solution Architect - CTJ - Top Secret

Join Microsoft's US Public Sector Industries - Defense Industrial Base (DIB) team, where data, AI, mission impact, and innovation intersect. The Defense Industrial Base Operating Unit supports a complex and highly regulated ecosystem of commercial contractors across manufacturing, aviation, cybersecurity, and advanced technology-organizations that directly enable U.S. federal, defense, intelligence, and civilian agency missions.

The DIB team is responsible for consolidating and accelerating Microsoft's presence across this landscape by helping customers modernize legacy data platforms, unlock insights from complex data estates, and adopt cloud and AI solutions with confidence. We partner closely with customers operating in high-risk and compliance-driven environments to design and implement secure, resilient, and scalable data and analytics architectures that enable operational excellence, informed decision-making, and mission outcomes.

We are seeking a Cloud Solution Architect (CSA) - Cloud & AI Data to serve as a trusted technical advisor for DIB customers. In this role, you will own the data and analytics architecture strategy and technical relationship with customers, helping them design, adopt, and operationalize modern data platforms and AI-enabled analytics on Microsoft Azure.

You will act as the voice of the customer within Microsoft-translating business, technical, and regulatory requirements into actionable Cloud & AI Data architectures, identifying and removing adoption blockers, and guiding customers through their data and AI transformation journey. Working across Microsoft teams and partners, you will leverage market insights and best practices to drive secure usage, consumption, and long-term customer success at scale.

This role operates within Microsoft's Customer Success model and may be considered for multiple like career stages within the Cloud Solution Architecture discipline.

Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. We work with a growth mindset, lead with integrity, and foster an inclusive culture where diverse perspectives help our customers turn data into insight, insight into action, and technology into mission impact.

Responsibilities

Business Impact

• Engage with customer stakeholders to understand data estates, priorities, and success measures, and design secure Cloud & AI Data solutions that deliver measurable business and mission value.
• Lead architecture design sessions, develop data and analytics roadmaps, and guide proofs of concept (POCs) and minimum viable products (MVPs) to accelerate adoption and ensure long-term technical viability.
• Deliver solutions aligned with Microsoft methodologies and best practices, ensuring production-ready, cost-optimized, resilient architectures.
• Expand consumption and usage of Azure data and AI services by aligning customer value with Microsoft platform capabilities in partnership with account teams.
• Identify and mitigate technical risks, apply governance principles, and remove blockers to accelerate deployment, value realization, and adoption.

Customer Centricity

• Act as the voice of the customer by sharing insights, feedback, and adoption patterns with Microsoft Engineering and internal communities to influence continuous improvement.
• Translate customer data and AI challenges into architectures aligned with Microsoft strategy that deliver clear business value and return on investment.
• Build trusted relationships with technical and business decision makers, bridging alignment between data strategy, analytics, and AI adoption.
• Define customer conditions of success, anticipate adoption challenges, and execute strategies that improve customer confidence, experience, and value realization.

Partner Engagement

• Collaborate with Global Partner Solutions and field teams to identify and prioritize partner-led opportunities aligned to customer outcomes.
• Provide architectural guidance, technical validation, and support for repeatable offerings and scalable delivery models across data and analytics solutions.

Technical Leadership

• Maintain technical readiness across Azure data and analytics services, modern data platforms, and AI-enabled analytics aligned with Customer Success Unit priorities.

• Mentor peers through knowledge sharing, readiness activities, and dissemination of architectural patterns and best practices.

• Identify gaps across customer engagements and contribute improvements to architectures, intellectual property, frameworks, and methodologies.

• Participate in virtual teams and technical communities, sharing insights that strengthen Microsoft's Cloud & AI Data capabilities and customer outcomes.

• On-Site Requirement: Ability to work on site in St. Louis, MO, in support of classified customer mission needs.

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or a related field AND 4+ years of experience in cloud or infrastructure technologies, IT consulting or support, systems administration, network operations, software development or support, technology solutions, architecture, or consulting OR equivalent experience.

Other Requirements:

Security Clearance Requirements: Candidates must be able to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: - The successful candidate must have an active U.S. Government Top Secret Security Clearance. Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. Failure to maintain or obtain the appropriate clearance and/or customer screening requirements may result in employment action up to and including termination. -

Clearance Verification: This position requires successful verification of the stated security clearance to meet federal government customer requirements. You will be asked to provide clearance verification information prior to an offer of employment.

Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This position requires verification of U.S citizenship due to citizenship-based legal restrictions. Specifically, this position supports United States federal, state, and/or local United States government agency customers and is subject to certain citizenship-based restrictions where required or permitted by applicable law. To meet this legal requirement, citizenship will be verified via a valid passport, or other approved documents, or verified US government clearance., * Experience engaging in business-value discussions with technical and business stakeholders in regulated or highly secure environments.

• Experience working in classified or restricted environments, including Special Access Programs (SAP).
• 4+ years of experience in a customer-facing role (internal and/or external).
• 4+ years of experience delivering, implementing, or supporting technical projects.
• Cloud or security certifications (e.g., Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud).

Cloud Solution Architecture IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $106,400 - $203,600 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $137,600 - $222,600 per year.

Microsoft is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. We develop, license, and support a wide range of software products, services, and devices that help individuals and businesses realize their full potential.

Our flagship products include the Microsoft 365 productivity cloud, Windows operating system, Azure cloud platform, and Dynamics 365 business applications. We are also a leader in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, developer tools, and gaming through Xbox and Game Pass.

With operations in more than 190 countries and over 220,000 employees worldwide, Microsoft is committed to responsible innovation, inclusive economic growth, and sustainability. We work closely with governments, industries, and communities to ensure that technology serves the public good and helps address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

As we celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2025, we continue to look forward—investing in AI, cloud, and quantum computing to shape the future of work, education, and society at large scale.