Azure Cloud Architect – AI Infrastructure / Terraform

Industry: Technology / Professional Services

Location: Chicago, IL – Hybrid

Employment Type: Full-Time / Direct Hire

Salary: $145,000–$165,000 annually + Bonus

Work Schedule: Hybrid – Specific onsite days to be confirmed

Benefits: This position is eligible for medical, dental, vision, and 401(k).

About the Opportunity

Our client, an established professional services organization headquartered in Chicago, is seeking a highly skilled Azure Cloud Architect to join its Infrastructure and Engineering team.

This is a senior-level, hands-on architecture opportunity focused on designing, building, securing, and modernizing enterprise Microsoft Azure environments, with a major emphasis on building the cloud infrastructure required to support a new Agentic AI platform.

The ideal candidate combines deep Azure architecture expertise with strong hands-on engineering capabilities across Azure landing zones, Terraform/Bicep, Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), Microsoft Entra ID, cloud security, and Microsoft 365/Azure tenant migrations.

This individual will work closely with technology leadership, AI engineering teams, Infrastructure, DevOps, and Security to establish cloud architecture standards and build scalable, secure infrastructure for next-generation AI applications.

This is not a high-level architecture-only role. The successful candidate must be comfortable both designing solutions and personally implementing the infrastructure required to bring them to production.

Key Responsibilities

Azure Cloud Architecture & Engineering

• Design, implement, and optimize secure, scalable, and resilient enterprise Azure environments.
• Architect and deploy Azure landing zones, including management groups, subscription strategies, networking, and policy-driven governance.
• Establish Azure architecture standards aligned with Microsoft best practices.
• Evaluate existing cloud environments and develop modernization and remediation roadmaps.
• Design solutions across Azure compute, storage, networking, databases, security, identity, and governance.
• Implement cloud monitoring, backup, disaster recovery, and operational best practices.
• Optimize infrastructure performance, reliability, and cost efficiency.

Agentic AI Infrastructure

• Architect and build the Azure infrastructure supporting a new enterprise Agentic AI platform.
• Design cloud environments utilizing:
  • Azure AI Foundry
  • Azure OpenAI
  • Azure AI Search
  • Azure networking and security services
• Partner with AI and software engineering teams to understand application architecture and infrastructure requirements.
• Design scalable, resilient, and secure environments for AI workloads.
• Implement private networking, managed identities, and least-privilege access for AI services and agents.
• Support AI infrastructure deployment, monitoring, observability, and operational readiness.
• Help establish security, governance, and cost-management standards for enterprise AI workloads.
• Evaluate infrastructure requirements for AI orchestration, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and agent-based applications.

Infrastructure as Code & Automation

• Build and maintain Azure infrastructure using Terraform and/or Bicep.
• Develop repeatable and scalable infrastructure deployment processes.
• Integrate Infrastructure as Code into CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.
• Develop PowerShell scripts to automate cloud administration and operational workflows.
• Improve infrastructure consistency, deployment reliability, and configuration management.
• Partner with engineering and DevOps teams to implement automation best practices.

Identity, Security & Governance

• Design and manage enterprise identity solutions using Microsoft Entra ID.
• Implement Conditional Access, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).
• Support Zero Trust security initiatives.
• Establish cloud governance standards across identity, networking, monitoring, security, and compliance.
• Implement Azure Key Vault, encryption, and least-privilege access controls.
• Evaluate cloud environments against Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework, Well-Architected Framework, and industry security standards.
• Identify security risks and recommend remediation strategies.

Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)

• Design, deploy, and manage Azure Virtual Desktop environments.
• Configure and optimize AVD host pools and session hosts.
• Implement and support FSLogix profile management.
• Manage golden images and image lifecycle processes.
• Configure scaling, performance optimization, and security controls.
• Troubleshoot complex AVD infrastructure and deployment issues.

Microsoft 365 & Azure Tenant Migrations

• Lead discovery, planning, and execution of Microsoft 365 and Azure tenant migrations.
• Support tenant-to-tenant migrations involving Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, Entra ID, and Intune.
• Plan Azure subscription and resource migrations.
• Develop coexistence strategies, cutover plans, rollback procedures, and migration documentation.
• Minimize business disruption during migration activities.
• Validate post-migration performance, security, and functionality.

Technical Leadership & Collaboration

• Partner directly with Infrastructure, DevOps, Security, AI engineering, and business leadership.
• Provide architectural recommendations and technical guidance.
• Document architecture decisions, technical designs, and implementation standards.
• Present complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Mentor engineers and review technical designs.
• Support cloud strategy, infrastructure modernization, and technology planning initiatives.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in cloud infrastructure, engineering, or architecture roles.
• 4+ years of hands-on Azure architecture or senior Azure engineering experience.
• Deep expertise across Azure compute, storage, networking, security, identity, and governance.
• Proven experience designing and implementing enterprise Azure landing zones.
• Strong hands-on experience with Terraform and/or Bicep.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions.
• Hands-on Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) experience, including:
  • FSLogix
  • Host pools
  • Scaling
  • Golden image management
• Advanced Microsoft Entra ID experience.
• Experience with Conditional Access, PIM, RBAC, and identity lifecycle management.
• Experience leading Microsoft 365 and/or Azure tenant migrations from planning through cutover.
• Strong understanding of Azure security, Zero Trust, encryption, and cloud governance.
• PowerShell scripting proficiency.
• Strong troubleshooting and technical problem-solving skills.
• Ability to independently design and implement complex cloud infrastructure solutions.
• Excellent communication, documentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience supporting AI workloads within Microsoft Azure.
• Experience with Azure AI Foundry.
• Experience with Azure OpenAI.
• Experience with Azure AI Search.
• Experience designing infrastructure for Agentic AI solutions.
• Familiarity with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), AI orchestration, and Model Context Protocol (MCP).
• Experience with agent identity, authorization, and security.
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305).
• Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400).
• Azure AI Engineer Associate (AI-102).
• Microsoft Azure Security certifications.
• HashiCorp Terraform Associate certification.
• Microsoft Graph API experience.
• AWS or Google Cloud Platform experience.
• FinOps and enterprise cloud cost optimization experience.

What We're Looking For

The ideal candidate is a true hands-on Azure Cloud Architect who has personally designed and implemented complex enterprise cloud environments.

We're especially interested in candidates who can discuss specific examples of:

• Architecting and deploying Azure landing zones.
• Building infrastructure using Terraform or Bicep.
• Designing Azure networking, security, and identity solutions.
• Deploying and managing Azure Virtual Desktop environments.
• Leading Microsoft 365 or Azure tenant migrations.
• Establishing cloud governance and architecture standards.
• Building secure, scalable infrastructure for modern applications.
• Partnering with software or AI engineering teams on cloud infrastructure requirements.

Experience with Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Search, or Agentic AI infrastructure is a significant advantage.

This position is not intended for someone whose experience is primarily Azure administration, traditional infrastructure support, or high-level architecture without hands-on implementation.

Additional Details

• Location: Chicago, IL
• Work Arrangement: Hybrid
• Employment Type: Permanent / Direct Hire
• Salary: $145,000–$165,000 + Bonus
• Team: Infrastructure & Engineering

Why Consider This Opportunity?

• Competitive salary and bonus opportunity.
• Play a key role in building the Azure infrastructure for a new enterprise AI product.
• Work directly with technology leadership and AI engineering teams.
• Own enterprise Azure architecture and modernization initiatives.
• Gain exposure to Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI, and emerging Agentic AI technologies.
• Influence cloud security, governance, automation, and infrastructure standards.
• Lead complex cloud migrations and modernization efforts.
• Remain hands-on with modern cloud engineering tools and technologies.
• Join an organization investing in cloud infrastructure and AI innovation.

If you're an experienced Azure Cloud Architect who enjoys both designing and building enterprise cloud solutions and wants to help establish the infrastructure foundation for emerging AI technologies, we'd like to hear from you.

Addison Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Addison Group provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Addison Group complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. Reasonable accommodation is available for qualified individuals with disabilities, upon request.