Lead Cloud Architect / Program Lead

Noblis is helping FAA manage large and complex telecommunications and information management programs that use state of the art technologies to deliver enterprise infrastructure services essential to the safe and efficient operation of the largest, safest, and most complex aviation system in the world. We are seeking smart, passionate, and motivated people to join our proven team in a challenging and rewarding work environment where you will be actively engaged at the intersection of technology and operations enhancing our nation’s aviation system. If you want to be involved in acquiring, implementing, and managing the communications and information solutions to achieve our nation’s aviation vision, this is the job for you!

This is an opportunity for an experienced, driven software solutions architect to join a dynamic team working to implement and manage the FAA’s highly-visible System Wide Information Management (SWIM) program as part of the NextGen transformation strategy.

This role serves as the technical lead and program-level architect for FAA System-Wide Information Management (SWIM) Flight Data Publication Service ( SFDPS ) cloud migration and RMA improvement initiatives. Align engineering, compliance, and program stakeholders; design target-state cloud architecture on the FAA cloud platform and lead the Agile program to deliver migration and modernization.

Primary responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end cloud migration strategy and target architecture for SFDPS in the FAA cloud platform (including networking, identity, security, separation of environments, and CI/CD integration).
• Translate FAA Efficiency Critical requirements into measurable architecture decisions, acceptance criteria, and verification steps.
• Work with the Fed Lead to manage the engineering program (multi-squad coordination), prioritize backlog across reliability, security, and migration tracks, and ensure delivery across sprints/releases.
• Define deployment and operational governance: environment promotion model, access controls, cost management, and DR/backup strategy.
• Drive coordination, produce architecture artifacts (diagrams, trade studies, data flow, security control mappings), and liaise with FAA program management and ATO stakeholders.
• Set technical standards (container image lifecycle policies, vulnerability scanning, runtime security, observability requirements) and mentor senior staff.
• Ensure compliance documentation and support for authorization packages (e.g., FedRAMP or FAA-specific authorization).

• Masters of Science degree and 12 years of relevant professional experience
• or Bachelor of Science degree and 15 years of relevant professional experience
• Experience delivering enterprise/cloud architectures and leading complex platform migrations, with significant Red Hat/OpenShift and cloud experience.
• Proven track record leading Agile engineering programs and coordinating cross-functional teams in government or regulated industries.
• Deep understanding of federal cloud security/compliance frameworks and experience supporting authorization processes.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills; experience producing architectural decision docs and cost/benefit trade studies.
• Experience setting organization-level engineering standards and governance.
• Experience defining coding standards, best practices, and development methodologies-including scripting standards (Python, Bash) across multi-language teams.
• Track record of architecting software solutions requiring Java-based microservices, native components, and automation scripts in cloud environments.
• Knowledge of asynchronous messaging patterns, pub-sub, and point-to-point queues.
• Experience with Cloud-based messaging services (e.g.AWS SNS/SQS, Azure Service Bus, Google Pub/Sub).
• U.S. Citizen or U.S. Permanent Resident (3+ years ouf of the last 5 years U.S. residency).
• Ability to obtain and maintain FAA Suitability., * Certifications: RHCA, AWS/Azure/GCP Professional or GovCloud certs, SAFe Program Consultant (SPC), PMP, or equivalent.
• Prior FAA/ATM program leadership experience is a major plus
• Development experience for enterprise-level system design and integration in a language suited for high-throughput systems, such as Java, Go, Python, or .NET backend development
• Proven ability to understand complex C and C++ codebases to design migration strategies and orchestrate cross-language containerization and modernization efforts.
• Proven experience with at least one major message broker, such as Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, IBM MQ, Solace, or NATS.
• Experience with data serialization formats, specifically JSON, XML, Avro, or Protobuf.
• Knowledge of messaging protocols like AMQP, MQTT, JMS, or STOMP.

Compensation at Noblis is determined by various factors, including but not limited to, the combination of education, certifications, knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience, internal and external equity, location, clearance level, as well as contract-specific affordability, organizational requirements and applicable employment laws. The projected compensation range for this position is based on full time status. For part time or on-call staff, compensation is proportionately adjusted based on hours worked. While monetary compensation is important, it’s just one component of Noblis’ total compensation package.

Posted Salary Range

USD $127,100.00 - USD $198,575.00 /Yr.

Noblis and our wholly owned subsidiaries, Noblis ESI and Noblis MSD, take on some of the nation’s toughest challenges, delivering advanced solutions to our customers’ most critical missions. We bring together leading scientific, engineering, and management expertise in a culture grounded in objectivity and collaboration, ensuring our work creates lasting impact across federal missions.

We work with a broad range of government agencies in the defense, intelligence, and federal civilian sectors. Learn more and find opportunities at careers.noblis.org (https://careers.noblis.org/about-noblis/)

Why Work at Noblis

At Noblis, we share a passion for excellence and innovation, and we create an environment where people can do meaningful work while maintaining the balance that keeps them energized and fulfilled. We seek out individuals with a natural curiosity and desire to collaborate and learn. We believe our people are our greatest strength, and we consistently seek exceptionally skilled, mission-driven professionals who care deeply about doing work that enriches lives and makes our nation safer.

Noblis has earned numerous workplace awards (https://noblis.org/who-we-are/awards/) for our culture, our commitment to employee well-being, and our dedication to meaningful, impactful work. We also maintain a drug-free workplace.

Remote/hybrid status is subject to change based on Noblis and/or government requirements.