Cloud Architect

Location: US - VA, Reston

Remote Type: Office

Time Type: Full time

Job Description

In a world of possibilities, pursue one with endless opportunities. Imagine Next!

 

At Parsons, you can imagine a career where you thrive, work with exceptional people, and be yourself. Guided by our leadership vision of valuing people, embracing agility, and fostering growth, we cultivate an innovative culture that empowers you to achieve your full potential. Unleash your talent and redefine what’s possible.

 

Job Description:

Parsons is looking for an amazingly talented Cloud Architect to join our team!

In this role, you will design, build, and evolve a large-scale, globally distributed mission system operating across both AWS cloud environments and on-premises virtualized infrastructure. You will lead the architecture and implementation of secure, repeatable Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) patterns to deploy and operate compute fleets, network connectivity, and platform services across multiple environments (development, test, staging, production, and lab). This role requires close collaboration with engineering, operations, security, and networking teams to improve reliability, standardize deployments, and accelerate delivery through automation.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Design and implement reference architectures for AWS and hybrid environments (cloud + on-prem virtualization).

• Define deployment patterns for multi-account and multi-environment separation, network segmentation, and scalable compute/storage stacks.

• Establish standardized “landing zone” practices, including account structure, guardrails, logging, tagging, and cost controls.

• Build and maintain Terraform modules and reusable IaC patterns for AWS infrastructure, including VPCs, IAM roles/policies, load balancing, and logging foundations.

• Architect and support virtualized compute fleets using VMware/vSphere patterns for on-prem environments, including golden images, patching baselines, and provisioning workflows.

• Partner with security teams to implement secure-by-design architectures, including least privilege IAM, encryption, and centralized audit logging.

• Design for resilience and continuity with backup/restore strategies, disaster recovery considerations, and multi-AZ patterns.

• Support CI/CD enablement for infrastructure deployments using Git-based workflows integrated with Terraform plans/applies.

• Collaborate with application teams to provide standardized environments and deployment blueprints.

• Produce clear architecture documentation, including logical/physical diagrams, environment definitions, and “as-built” artifacts.

What Required Skills You'll Bring:

• Active TS/SCI security clearance (mandatory).

• 10-15+ years of experience in cloud architecture, systems engineering, or infrastructure engineering, including 3+ years as a hands-on AWS architect/lead.

• Deep expertise with AWS core services and secure architectures (networking, IAM, logging, compute, storage).

• Hands-on expertise with Terraform for production-grade IaC (modules, state management, promotion strategies, drift detection).

• Experience designing and operating hybrid environments (cloud + on-prem virtualization).

• Ability to translate requirements into scalable, maintainable, and secure architectures while providing implementation guidance.

• Ability to travel internationally up to 10%.

• Must possess an active Passport or obtain one upon hire.

What Desired Skills You'll Bring:

• AWS certifications (Solutions Architect Professional preferred).

• Experience with VMware/vSphere architecture and operations (templates, clusters, networking, storage).

• Familiarity with configuration automation tools (Ansible, Packer) and GitOps-style workflows.

• Experience with observability patterns (metrics/logs/traces) and integrating monitoring into operations.

• Experience implementing multi-account AWS governance (Organizations, SCPs) and cost controls (tagging, budgets).

Security Clearance Requirement:

An active Top Secret SCI security clearance is required for this position.​

This position is part of our Federal Solutions team.

The Federal Solutions segment delivers resources to our US government customers that ensure the success of missions around the globe. Our intelligent employees drive the state of the art as they provide services and solutions in the areas of defense, security, intelligence, infrastructure, and environmental. We promote a culture of excellence and close-knit teams that take pride in delivering, protecting, and sustaining our nation's most critical assets, from Earth to cyberspace. Throughout the company, our people are anticipating what’s next to deliver the solutions our customers need now.

Salary Range: $144,800.00 - $260,600.00

We value our employees and want our employees to take care of their overall wellbeing, which is why we offer best-in-class benefits such as medical, dental, vision, paid time off, Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), 401(k), life insurance, flexible work schedules, and holidays to fit your busy lifestyle!

Parsons is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other protected status.

We truly invest and care about our employee’s wellbeing and provide endless growth opportunities as the sky is the limit, so aim for the stars! Imagine next and join the Parsons quest—APPLY TODAY!

Parsons is aware of fraudulent recruitment practices. To learn more about recruitment fraud and how to report it, please refer to https://www.parsons.com/fraudulent-recruitment/.