Title: Azure DevOps Architect
Location: Dallas, TX (Onsite)
Duration: Contract
Job Description
- Own and manage our Azure cloud environment, ensuring availability, security, and performance.
- Design, build, and maintain Terraform modules to provide standardized, reusable infrastructure patterns.
- Enable developer self-service through IaC, CI/CD pipelines, and platform automation.
- Manage and support Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters, including application deployment patterns, permissions and identity integration, cluster configuration, and operational best practices.
- Mentor and develop junior engineers, sharing knowledge through pairing, code/design review, and documentation.
- Review architecture and designs to ensure they follow Azure cloud best practices.
- Support identity and access management integrations (e.g., Okta, Entra ID, or other IdPs).
- Manage networking, DNS, and SSL/TLS certificates supporting our applications.
- Support on-premises Windows / IIS-hosted applications as needed.
- Contribute to security best practices, including least privilege, secrets management, and secure infrastructure design.
- Continuously improve automation, observability, and operational maturity.
- Document platform standards, patterns, and operational runbooks.
- Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps for application and infrastructure deployments.
- Implement and support Disaster Recovery (DR) strategies and participate in DR planning and testing.
- Serve as a senior escalation point for cross-layer troubleshooting—quickly isolate whether an issue originates at the Azure/infrastructure layer, the build/deployment layer, the network layer, or the application code, and coordinate the fix.
- Troubleshoot at the code level when needed, understanding of .NET and React applications, follow a stack trace, and use APM/observability tooling to pinpoint where an application is failing.
Required Qualifications
Cloud & Platform (strong, hands-on)
- Azure DevOps, Terraform, ARM
- 12+ years in IT/engineering, with at least 4 years hands-on in a DevOps, Cloud, or Platform Engineering role.
- Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure, including AKS, App Services, IAM / Entra ID, and governance.
- Solid understanding of Azure best practices and cloud architecture fundamentals.
- Experience with Terraform, including creating reusable modules and managing state and environment separation.
- Strong experience with PowerShell as a primary scripting language (Bash or Python a plus) for automation and system management, with demonstrated examples of automation you have built or maintained.
- Strong experience with Azure DevOps, including CI/CD pipelines for both infrastructure and application deployments.
- Experience operating and supporting AKS, including how applications are deployed to Kubernetes, container fundamentals, and identity/permission integration.
- Strong grasp of cloud and application security best practices, including least-privilege access and permission management, authentication/authorization, secrets management, and caching concepts.
- Experience integrating or managing an identity provider such as Okta (or equivalent IdP).
- Understanding of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), including build, test, release, and promotion of applications across environments.
Networking, Monitoring & Troubleshooting
- Working understanding of cloud and general networking.
- Working knowledge of DNS fundamentals.
- Experience managing SSL/TLS certificates.
- Familiarity with APM and infrastructure monitoring tools — Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, and similar — to gain insight into system performance and troubleshoot issues.
- Some experience supporting on-premises Windows / IIS applications.
- Strong cross-layer troubleshooting skills spanning applications, infrastructure, network, and cloud services, including the ability to read .NET and React code and follow a stack trace.
