Director - Azure Cloud Technology Solutions

Role Overview

This senior leadership position as Practice Lead – Azure bridges technical execution with strategic vision, managing overall growth, technical quality, and team development within the Azure cloud practice. The incumbent serves as the foremost technical authority, focusing on strategy, architecture decision-making, people enablement, and business expansion.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the foremost technical expert and ultimate decision-maker on Azure architecture within the practice.
• Evaluate and guide solution designs crafted by Azure Architects and Senior Architects.
• Address and resolve urgent technical issues arising in ongoing Azure projects.
• Set, uphold, and enforce technical standards, best practices, and safeguards across all Azure initiatives.
• Promote and standardize cloud-native and well-architected approaches throughout the practice.
• Identify skill deficiencies and implement targeted upskilling programs including Azure certification plans for team members.
• Define clear career paths and foster a culture of high performance and continuous learning within the Azure practice.
• Ensure compliance with technical quality standards and architectural principles in all Azure projects.
• Develop and execute the Azure practice roadmap, encompassing new capabilities, service offerings, and technology focus areas.
• Create reusable resources such as reference architectures, accelerators, templates, and operational runbooks.
• Lead and contribute as the Azure SME to RFP/RFI responses and client workshops.
• Recognize and enable opportunities for upselling and cross-selling within existing client accounts.
• Represent the Azure practice in governance forums and leadership discussions.
• Report key health indicators of the Azure practice—including utilization, certifications, project quality, and resource bench strength—to Cloud & DevOps leadership.
• Keep abreast of trends in the Azure ecosystem and proactively integrate new services into the practice.

Required Qualifications

• 22 to 26 years of overall IT experience with deep expertise in Azure cloud architecture and practice leadership.
• Proven background building or leading an Azure Cloud Practice or Center of Excellence in a consulting or services environment.
• In-depth hands-on knowledge of Microsoft Azure covering networking, identity and security, infrastructure, Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC), Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines, and container orchestration.
• Expertise in networking components such as Virtual Networks (VNet), Network Security Groups (NSG), Azure Firewall, and ExpressRoute.
• Strong familiarity with identity/security tools including Azure Active Directory, Key Vault, Defender, Sentinel, and Azure Policy.
• Comprehensive understanding of infrastructure models: IaaS, PaaS, Azure Landing Zones, and hybrid solutions.
• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code technologies like Terraform, Bicep, and ARM templates.
• Proficient in implementing and managing Azure DevOps pipelines; skilled in PowerShell and Azure CLI usage.
• Advanced capabilities with container platforms such as AKS, Kubernetes, Helm charts, and GitOps processes.
• Demonstrated leadership of large, multi-disciplinary teams at varying seniority levels with mentoring skills.
• Track record in pre-sales activities including responding to RFPs, technical proposals, client workshops, and delivering presentations at C-level.
• Strong foundation in application modernization including legacy system assessments, replatforming, containerization, microservices architectures, and API-first transformations on Azure.
• Ability to develop technical standards, governance mechanisms, and manage architecture review processes.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills for confident collaboration with CXO-level stakeholders.

Preferred Additional Qualifications

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) certification is highly preferred.
• Additional certifications such as TOGAF, ITIL, or Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA).
• Experience with multi-cloud or hybrid environments including Azure Arc, AWS, or GCP.
• Recognition as a Microsoft MVP or active contributor in the Azure community.
• Evidence of thought leadership through blogging, conference speaking, or open-source contributions.
• Knowledge of FinOps and Azure cost governance practices.