AWS Cloud Application Architect- (local Chicago candidates only-NO third parties)

Job Title: AWS Cloud Application Architect

Location: Schaumburg, IL (Hybrid)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Job Summary

We are looking for an experienced AWS Cloud Application Architect to lead the design, implementation, and monitoring of our AWS-based microservices infrastructure with a strong emphasis on security best practices. You will collaborate with our offshore engineering team to ensure the successful and secure migration of our CRM system, while empowering our in-house PHP-focused engineers with the knowledge and tools to manage and maintain the new environment. This role requires deep expertise in AWS, microservices architecture, and a proactive approach to embedding security at every layer of our cloud infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

• AWS Architecture Design: Design and implement a scalable, secure, and cost-efficient AWS microservices infrastructure to support our CRM migration from a PHP-based system to a .NET-driven environment, prioritizing security best practices.
• Migration Oversight: Monitor and guide the offshore engineering team’s progress in migrating CRM functionalities to AWS, ensuring adherence to security standards, performance benchmarks, and project timelines.
• Team Enablement: Educate and upskill our in-house PHP engineering team on AWS fundamentals, microservices concepts, and security best practices to ensure long-term self-sufficiency and secure operations.
• Cloud Monitoring & Optimization: Set up monitoring, logging, and alerting systems (e.g., CloudWatch, ELK Stack) to track the health, performance, and security posture of the AWS environment, with a focus on detecting and mitigating risks.
• Collaboration: Act as the technical liaison between in-house engineers and offshore contractors, ensuring clear communication and alignment on deliverables, including security requirements.
• Solution Development: Architect solutions that securely integrate our legacy PHP systems with the new .NET microservices, ensuring seamless functionality, data integrity, and protection against vulnerabilities.
• Security & Compliance: Implement and enforce AWS security best practices (e.g., IAM least privilege, VPC segmentation, encryption at rest and in transit, security group configurations) to safeguard our infrastructure and sensitive data, ensuring compliance with industry standards.
• Cost Management: Optimize AWS resource usage to balance performance, security, and cost, providing regular reports to leadership on cloud spending and security investments.
• Threat Mitigation: Proactively identify and address security risks during and post-migration, including regular audits of the cloud environment and contractor deliverables.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Experience: 7 years of experience in cloud architecture, with at least 3 years focused on AWS in a production environment and a proven track record of implementing security best practices.
• AWS Expertise: Proficiency with AWS services including EC2, ECS/EKS, Lambda, API Gateway, RDS, DynamoDB, S3, CloudFormation, and CloudWatch, with hands-on experience securing these services.
• Microservices Knowledge: Hands-on experience designing and deploying secure microservices architectures, preferably with .NET Core.
• Programming Background: Familiarity with PHP and .NET to bridge the gap between legacy systems and the new infrastructure, with an understanding of secure coding practices.
• Monitoring Tools: Experience setting up and managing monitoring solutions (e.g., CloudWatch, Prometheus, Grafana) for distributed systems, with an emphasis on security monitoring.
• Security Expertise: Deep knowledge of AWS security tools and practices (e.g., AWS Shield, WAF, KMS, GuardDuty) and experience securing microservices environments against common threats (e.g., DDoS, data breaches).
• Leadership: Proven ability to oversee contractors, mentor teams, and instill a security-first mindset across technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Problem-Solving: Strong analytical skills to troubleshoot issues in cloud deployments and migrations while addressing security vulnerabilities.
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills to collaborate with cross-functional and remote teams and articulate security requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• AWS Certification (e.g., AWS Solutions Architect – Associate or Professional, AWS Security Specialty).
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, AWS CodePipeline) and securing them.
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) in AWS environments and securing container workloads.
• Background in CRM systems or large-scale application migrations with a security focus.