Cloud Data Architect

The Cloud Data Architect owns enterprise platform architecture, security baselines, and Authority to Operate (ATO)-aware provisioning for Summit and its component platforms (CXI, AHI), ensuring teams build on governable, interoperable, and cost-effective designs within VA’s Microsoft Azure cloud environment. This role sets and stewards the technical architecture, security/compliance strategy, and data platform engineering standards that every other Summit workstream - provisioning, data engineering, governance, and AI/ML enablement - builds against., * Set the policy-first foundation: establish and operate clearly documented rules and guardrails around security, compliance, identity/access, data handling, and application design that drive consistent, governed behavior for platform teams and customers.

• Publish and maintain the Enterprise Reference Architecture and Roadmap spanning Summit, AHI, and CXI, with clear guardrails for Lakehouse tiers, approved consumption patterns, cross-platform integration, and identity/access architecture.
• Standardize designs and data management by defining authoritative reference patterns, interfaces, and guardrails aligned with Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) principles and ATO considerations; set platform-wide data management standards (medallion architecture, lineage, catalogs, open formats).
• Define and operate interoperability: specify identity, networking (segmentation/isolation, routing/egress controls, private boundaries), and trust models for on-premises and third-party interconnections; maintain boundary diagrams and Ports, Protocols, and Services Management (PPSM) documentation.
• Operate architecture governance by running Architecture Review Boards (ARBs), capturing Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), and maintaining a Register of Exceptions, keeping decisions traceable to the Enterprise Reference Architecture.
• Provide solution architecture and cloud cost estimates for customer initiatives and evaluate additions to platform capabilities.
• Plan and govern hosting transitions when authorized (e.g., Azure GovCloud to Azure Commercial), providing design/risk guidance on identity, networking, resiliency, cost/performance, and ATO impacts.
• Manage ATO and change-driven security by executing VA Risk Management Framework (RMF)-aligned activities and governing Security Impact Analysis (SIA) intake/review workflows.
• Set observability and DevSecOps standards: logging/metrics/trace schemas, retention and routing, SLO/SLA monitoring, incident playbooks, and secure CI/CD with quality gates and code scanning per VA standards.
• Coordinate with architecture counterparts across AHI, CXI, and CDW Data Architecture, and with domain subject-matter experts, to align modeling, metadata, and analytics approaches across VA’s data platforms.
• Optimize cloud cost and performance by monitoring resource provisioning and utilization and maintaining the FinOps Dashboard with visual reports, projections, and automated cost-increase flags.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Data Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Minimum of 8-10 years of experience in cloud/data architecture roles, including at least 5 years architecting solutions on Microsoft Azure.
• Hands-on experience with Azure Databricks, Azure Data Factory, Delta Lake/Lakehouse architecture, and unified data governance tooling (e.g., Unity Catalog or equivalent).
• Working knowledge of Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) principles and federal RMF/ATO processes.
• Demonstrated experience producing enterprise architecture artifacts, including reference architectures, Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), boundary diagrams, and PPSM documentation.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a favorable Tier 2 (Moderate Risk) background investigation.
• U.S. citizenship or authorization to work in the United States, * Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure Data Engineer Associate, or equivalent Azure certification.
• Direct experience with VA or other federal health-data environments (e.g., Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW), Vista, or electronic health record (EHR) data sources).
• Experience with FinOps practices and cloud cost governance.
• Familiarity with data governance/catalog tooling (e.g., Immuta, Microsoft Purview/Unity Catalog) and federated query platforms (e.g., Starburst).
• Standard office/remote-office environment; extended periods of computer use.
• Must be able to participate in real-time virtual meetings during core East Coast business hours and, as applicable, extended production-support windows.
• Occasional travel within the Continental United States as required for program meetings.

The salary compensation range for this position is $150,000 - 190,000. Compensation decisions depend on a wide range of factors, including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, security clearances, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs.

BDR Solutions, LLC, (BDR) supports the U.S. Federal Government in successfully achieving its mission and goals. Our service and solution delivery starts with understanding each client’s end-state, and then seamlessly integrating within each Agency’s organization to improve and enhance business and technical operations and deployments.