Cloud Infrastructure & Modernization Architect (Azure)

We are seeking a highly experienced Cloud Infrastructure & Modernization Architect to lead our client's transformation from monolithic applications to containerized microservices with multi-region high availability. This hands-on role requires both architectural vision and implementation expertise as you design disaster recovery infrastructure, decompose applications using Domain-Driven Design, and establish cloud-native practices in a HIPAA/GLBA/SOC 2 compliant environment. You will mentor the development team while building resilient, scalable systems that serve the mortgage lending industry.

Required Experience & Skills

• Core Architecture Experience
• Containerization & Kubernetes
• Microservices & Distributed Systems
• High Availability & Disaster Recovery
• Azure Platform & Networking
• Database Architecture & Performance
• Observability & Monitoring
• Security & Compliance

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in financial services, mortgage lending, or highly regulated industries
• Background with mortgage origination systems (Encompass SDK or similar)
• Message queue migration experience (MSMQ to Azure Service Bus)
• Document processing workflows and OCR integration knowledge
• Azure OpenAI or LLM integration experience in production systems
• Cost optimization and FinOps practices for Azure workloads
• Azure certifications: Solutions Architect Expert, Security Engineer Associate, or Kubernetes certifications (CKA, CKAD)

Technical Environment

• Cloud: Microsoft Azure (Central US primary, East US 2 DR target)
• Current: 33+ Azure VMs, SQL Server on VMs, IIS-hosted .NET applications, MSMQ messaging
• Applications: ML5 Operations, ML5 Document API, eMortgageLaw API (Encompass), ML3 Unity, EclosePlus
• Critical Challenge: 5 applications on single VM (single point of failure), zero DR capability
• Target: AKS microservices, multi-region HA/DR, SQL Always On, API Management, event-driven architecture
• Compliance: SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, GLBA
• Network: Palo Alto PA-850 firewalls (HA), dual ISPs, Azure VNet architecture