Principal Architect

The Principal - Cloud Platform Architect is the senior technical authority responsible for designing, governing, and evolving cloud platforms for Minfy's enterprise customers. The role blends hands-on architecture with consultative leadership: translating business outcomes into well-architected, secure, and cost-optimised AWS landing zones, defining reference architectures and reusable accelerators, and guiding delivery teams through complex migrations, modernisation programmes, and platform engineering initiatives. You will work directly with client CIOs, CTOs, and enterprise architects to shape multi-year cloud roadmaps. Key Responsibilities Platform Architecture & Design • Design multi-account AWS landing zones using AWS Control Tower, Organisations, and Service Catalog, aligned to the AWS Well-Architected Framework. • Define reference architectures for compute, networking, storage, identity, observability, and data services across hybrid and multi-region deployments. • Establish guardrails through Service Control Policies, AWS Config conformance packs, and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, AWS CDK, CloudFormation). • Architect zero-trust network topologies using Transit Gateway, AWS Network Firewall, PrivateLink, and segmentation patterns suited to regulated workloads. Security, Compliance & Governance • Embed security-by-design principles aligned to the Kavach360 programme, ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type I, and the India DPDP Act 2023. • Define IAM strategies including identity federation, permission boundaries, and least-privilege models using IAM Identity Centre. • Architect data protection controls: KMS key hierarchies, encryption in transit and at rest, secrets management, and PII redaction patterns. • Partner with the Security and GRC teams on threat modelling, control mapping, and audit readiness for client and internal certifications. Client Engagement & Advisory • Lead architecture workshops, discovery sessions, and Well-Architected Reviews with enterprise customers. • Translate business and regulatory requirements into target-state architectures, migration waves, and modernisation roadmaps. • Support pre-sales by authoring solution proposals, statements of work, bills of materials, and AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) artefacts. • Act as a trusted advisor to client CIOs, CTOs, and enterprise architecture functions across BFSI, manufacturing, retail, and ISV verticals. Delivery Leadership & Enablement • Provide architectural oversight to delivery squads; review designs, IaC pull requests, and production change plans. • Mentor senior engineers and architects; contribute to capability uplift through internal academies and AWS certification programmes. • Build reusable accelerators, blueprints, and platform engineering products that reduce time-to-value across engagements. • Drive continuous improvement of Minfy's delivery methodology, including FinOps, SRE, and DevSecOps practices. Must Have 15 to 20 years of progressive IT experience with at least 6 years in hands-on cloud architecture on Azure. Proven track record designing and delivering enterprise-scale Azure platforms, including Azure landing zones (management groups and multi-subscription design per the Cloud Adoption Framework) and large-scale migrations (200+ workloads). Deep expertise across core Azure services: Virtual Machines, Virtual Network (VNet), AKS/Container Apps, Azure Functions, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Hyperscale / Cosmos DB, Blob Storage, Azure Front Door/CDN, Azure DNS & Traffic Manager, Microsoft Entra ID & Azure RBAC, Key Vault, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, and Microsoft Sentinel. Strong Infrastructure as Code skills (Terraform mandatory; Bicep or ARM templates desirable) and Git-based CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions). Working knowledge of containers (Kubernetes, AKS), service mesh, and event-driven architectures (Event Grid, Service Bus, Event Hubs). Demonstrated experience implementing security and compliance frameworks: ISO 27001, SOC 2, DPDP Act, RBI, or equivalent regulatory regimes. Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) certification; Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ-500) preferred. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with experience presenting to C-level stakeholders. Good to Have Exposure to AWS or GCP for multi-cloud advisory conversations. Hands-on experience with data platform architectures (Azure Synapse Analytics, Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Data Factory, Databricks on Azure). Familiarity with AI/ML platform patterns including Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Foundry / Azure Machine Learning, and generative AI workloads. Experience with FinOps tooling (Microsoft Cost Management, usage/CUR-equivalent exports, third-party platforms) and unit-economics modelling. Prior experience in a Microsoft Azure Expert MSP / Solutions Partner or Big-4 consulting environment.