Lead architectural evolution for a multi-cloud platform, focusing on consolidation, cloud-native migration, observability strategies, and implementing security compliance.
Principal Infrastructure Architect – Cloud & SaaS Platforms San Jose, CA | Newport Beach, CA | Hybrid (2–3 days onsite)
Role Overview
We are seeking a highly experienced, hands-on Principal Infrastructure Architect to lead the architectural evolution of a large-scale, multi-cloud platform. This is a principal-level role — meaning the expectation goes well beyond senior: we are looking for someone who has been there and done it, who has walked into complex enterprise environments, assessed the landscape, and driven meaningful consolidation and modernization with both strategic vision and direct execution.
The core mandate is rationalizing an environment with too many overlapping systems — consolidating redundant observability platforms, streamlining security infrastructure, unifying log management, and building a data tokenization capability where none currently exists. This person will report into a VP-level architect and serve as a primary SME for infrastructure strategy.
What You'll Do
Platform Consolidation & Strategy
- Audit existing infrastructure to identify and eliminate redundant technology solutions (e.g., collapsing multiple observability platforms into one)
- Develop and drive data replication strategy and log infrastructure management across the enterprise
- Lead proof-of-concept work to evaluate and recommend replacement technologies
- Build out a net-new data tokenization solution
- Serve as SME for infrastructure strategy — planning AND execution; the doing is as important as the thinking
Cloud-Native Migration & Architecture
- Lead migration of legacy EC2-based workloads to Amazon EKS and Kubernetes; define standards for multi-region availability, auto-scaling, and spot instance orchestration
- Architect and deploy high-performance API Gateways and LLM Gateways to manage traffic for Generative AI workloads
- Implement Service Mesh (e.g., Istio, Linkerd) for advanced traffic splitting, mTLS, and observability
Real-Time Data & Event Infrastructure
- Design infrastructure for high-scale storage engines including AWS-native databases (DynamoDB, Aurora), OLAP systems, and real-time databases (Aerospike, Druid) supporting sub-millisecond latency
- Architect scalable Pub/Sub messaging systems (Kafka, SNS/SQS, Pulsar) to enable event-driven architectures at internet scale
Observability
- Define and implement a unified observability strategy based on OpenTelemetry (OTLP)
- Integrate platforms such as Grafana, Datadog, and Graylog for single-pane-of-glass visibility across logs, metrics, and traces
Identity, Security & Compliance
- Modernize authentication and authorization systems (OIDC, OAuth2, SPIFFE/SPIRE)
- Deploy and manage centralized Secret Stores (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager), security gateways, and automated certificate management
- Design Zero Trust network architectures; familiarity with SOC2 and PCI-DSS a plus
Infrastructure as Code & Technical Leadership
- Champion GitOps culture; enforce IaC best practices using Terraform, Crossplane, or Pulumi
- Mentor senior infrastructure engineers and drive Well-Architected reviews
- Partner cross-functionally with software teams to ensure infrastructure supports rapid product iteration
About You
Experience & Background
- 10+ years in infrastructure engineering and architecture, with a proven track record managing large-scale cloud deployments (AWS primary; GCP/Azure also valued)
- FAANG or Big Tech background is a strong differentiator
- Deep enterprise experience: you've walked into sprawling, complex environments, understood the strategic vision, and driven real change — not just recommendations
- Demonstrated long tenure at key roles; we are looking for people who go deep, not candidates with a string of 1–2 year stints
Technical Requirements
- Kubernetes Expert: deep hands-on mastery of Kubernetes and EKS, including custom controllers, operators, and VM-to-container migration for stateful and stateless workloads
- Database Reliability: strong experience architecting high-scale real-time stores (Aerospike, Redis) and analytics engines (Druid, ClickHouse)
- Observability: proven ability to build observability pipelines from scratch using OpenTelemetry collectors and visualization tools (Prometheus/Grafana/Datadog)
- Automation: expert-level proficiency in Go, Python, or Bash; deep CI/CD experience (GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, ArgoCD)
- Networking: deep understanding of cloud networking (VPC, Transit Gateways, Direct Connect) and protocols (gRPC, HTTP/2, WebSocket, QUIC)
Location & Work Model
Hybrid position based out of San Jose, CA or Newport Beach, CA — candidates must be within commutable distance of one of these two offices. Onsite presence of 2–3 days per week is expected. Candidates outside these locations will be considered only in exceptional cases and will face a significantly higher bar.
Compensation
Base salary is competitive and flexible, commensurate with experience. 25% target bonus. Comprehensive benefits including medical/dental/vision, 401(k), paid parental leave, and unlimited PTO.
Similar Jobs
Information Technology • Sales • Security • Cybersecurity • Automation
The Area Vice President will manage sales in the Eastern US, leading a team, driving sales growth, and building customer relationships while ensuring high performance and strategic collaboration across teams.
Top Skills:
CRMIdentity And Access ManagementIdentity SecurityItdrMfaNhiPam
Insurance • Legal Tech • Social Impact
As the first in-house Data Engineer, you will own the data infrastructure, build and maintain data pipelines, and collaborate with teams to ensure quality data access and insights.
Top Skills:
AirflowBigQueryDagsterDbtGoPythonSQL
Software • Defense
As Executive Producer, lead the development of wargaming and simulations, managing programs and teams to ensure successful outcomes in government projects.
Top Skills:
AICloud-Based Game EngineModelingSimulationsSoftware Development
What you need to know about the Charlotte Tech Scene
Ranked among the hottest tech cities in 2024 by CompTIA, Charlotte is quickly cementing its place as a major U.S. tech hub. Home to more than 90,000 tech workers, the city’s ecosystem is primed for continued growth, fueled by billions in annual funding from heavyweights like Microsoft and RevTech Labs, which has created thousands of fintech jobs and made the city a go-to for tech pros looking for their next big opportunity.
Key Facts About Charlotte Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 90,859; 6.5% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Lowe’s, Bank of America, TIAA, Microsoft, Honeywell
- Key Industries: Fintech, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing, e-commerce
- Funding Landscape: $3.1 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (CED)
- Notable Investors: Microsoft, Google, Falfurrias Management Partners, RevTech Labs Foundation
- Research Centers and Universities: University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Northeastern University, North Carolina Research Campus
