Senior Associate Cloud Architect – Azure, Security & AI at NTT Ltd

Key Responsibilities

Azure Solution Architecture

• Design Azure-based infrastructure and platform solutions for enterprise, commercial, and public sector customers.
• Develop secure, scalable, highly available, and resilient cloud architectures aligned to Microsoft's Cloud Adoption Framework and Azure Well-Architected Framework.
• Conduct cloud readiness assessments, workload discovery, architecture reviews, and solution recommendations.
• Support Azure Landing Zone design and implementation initiatives.
• Produce architecture diagrams, solution blueprints, technical design documents, and migration roadmaps.

Cloud Migration & Modernization

• Assess customer environments and define migration and modernization strategies for applications, servers, databases, and workloads moving to Azure.
• Support migrations using Azure-native tools including Azure Migrate and Azure Site Recovery.
• Design hybrid cloud architectures integrating on-premises systems with Azure services.
• Assist customers in modernizing workloads through containers, Kubernetes, serverless computing, and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) capabilities.
• Support business continuity, backup, disaster recovery, and resilience planning initiatives.

Pre-Sales & Customer Engagement

• Participate in customer discovery sessions, architecture workshops, and technical assessments.
• Contribute to RFPs, RFIs, proposals, Statements of Work (SoWs), and technical responses.
• Present cloud, security, and AI solutions to technical, business, and executive stakeholders.
• Support account teams in identifying Azure consumption growth opportunities and cloud transformation initiatives.
• Assist customers in developing cloud adoption and digital transformation roadmaps.
• Act as a trusted technical advisor throughout the customer engagement lifecycle.

AI & Data Platform Enablement

• Support customers in designing cloud architectures that enable AI, analytics, automation, and data-driven transformation.
• Assist in identifying and developing opportunities leveraging Azure AI Services, Azure OpenAI, Azure Machine Learning, Microsoft Fabric, and Microsoft Copilot technologies.
• Support development of AI-ready data platforms and cloud-native architectures.
• Collaborate with customers to evaluate AI readiness, governance requirements, and Responsible AI practices.
• Design integrations between AI services, customer applications, business workflows, and enterprise systems.
• Help customers understand the business value, risks, and opportunities associated with AI adoption.

Cost Optimization & Operational Excellence

• Support Azure consumption reviews and optimization assessments.
• Identify opportunities for cost savings through rightsizing, Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, and resource optimization.
• Assist customers in implementing FinOps and cloud financial management best practices.
• Recommend improvements related to performance, reliability, availability, operational efficiency, and scalability.
• Support operational governance and resource lifecycle management initiatives.

Security, Governance & Compliance

• Apply Microsoft security best practices across Azure environments covering identity, infrastructure, network, application, and data security.
• Support implementation of Zero Trust security principles within customer environments.
• Design and support solutions utilizing Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Purview, and related security services.
• Implement governance frameworks using Azure Policy, Management Groups, Landing Zones, and security baselines.
• Conduct cloud security assessments, architecture reviews, risk evaluations, and remediation planning activities.
• Support compliance initiatives aligned to ISO 27001, GDPR, PCI-DSS, CIS Benchmarks, and industry-specific regulatory requirements.
• Assist customers in strengthening cybersecurity posture through monitoring, threat detection, identity protection, and security operations best practices.

Managed Services Enablement

• Support the design and transition of customer environments into managed service operational models.
• Collaborate with delivery teams to establish cloud operational standards and support frameworks.
• Assist in designing monitoring, alerting, backup, recovery, patching, and operational governance solutions.
• Participate in service reviews, health checks, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to expand customer engagement through managed services offerings.

Internal Collaboration & Enablement

• Collaborate with cloud engineering, security, AI, data, and delivery teams to develop customer solutions.
• Work closely with Microsoft account teams, specialists, and partner ecosystem stakeholders.
• Support internal capability development and knowledge-sharing initiatives.
• Stay current with Microsoft's cloud, security, AI, and data platform innovations.
• Contribute to solution templates, architecture standards, methodologies, and best practices.

Knowledge & Skills

Azure Architecture

• Strong understanding of Azure Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS).
• Knowledge of Azure Virtual Machines, Storage, App Services, Azure SQL, Kubernetes, Networking, and Identity Services.
• Experience designing scalable, highly available, and secure cloud architectures.
• Understanding of Azure Landing Zones and Cloud Adoption Framework principles.

Networking & Infrastructure

• Experience with Azure Virtual Networks (VNets), NSGs, Azure Firewall, Load Balancers, Route Tables, DNS, and Traffic Manager.
• Understanding of hybrid connectivity through VPN Gateway and ExpressRoute.
• Knowledge of network segmentation, connectivity, routing, and enterprise infrastructure design.

Security & Identity

• Understanding of Zero Trust architecture principles.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, Identity Governance, and Privileged Identity Management.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Purview, and cybersecurity best practices.
• Understanding of security operations, vulnerability management, threat protection, and compliance frameworks.

AI & Data Technologies

• Understanding of Azure AI Services, Azure OpenAI, Azure Machine Learning, Microsoft Fabric, and modern data platform architectures.
• Awareness of Responsible AI principles, governance controls, and AI security requirements.
• Knowledge of analytics platforms, data lifecycle management, and data governance practices.
• Ability to articulate AI use cases and business value propositions to customers.

Automation & DevOps

• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform, Bicep, or ARM Templates.
• Understanding of CI/CD principles using Azure DevOps or GitHub.
• Experience with PowerShell, Azure CLI, automation, and configuration management concepts.

Monitoring & Operations

• Knowledge of Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, and operational monitoring frameworks.
• Understanding of backup, disaster recovery, observability, and service management best practices.

Attributes

• Strong customer-facing communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to simplify complex technical concepts for business and executive stakeholders.
• Strong consultative and problem-solving skills.
• Commercial awareness with the ability to identify growth and optimization opportunities.
• Detail-oriented, analytical, and proactive.
• Collaborative team player with strong stakeholder management skills.
• Passion for cloud technologies, cybersecurity, and AI innovation.
• Commitment to continuous learning and professional development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related discipline.

Preferred Certifications

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate

Advantageous Certifications

• Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert
• Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate
• FinOps Certified Practitioner
• Kubernetes and Container Platform Certifications
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate or Professional
• Google Professional Cloud Architect

Experience

• 1-3 years of experience in cloud architecture, cloud engineering, systems engineering, infrastructure consulting, technical pre-sales, or related technology roles.
• Experience designing, implementing, or supporting Microsoft Azure environments.
• Exposure to cloud migration, modernization, governance, or optimization projects.
• Experience supporting customer-facing technical engagements, workshops, solutioning activities, or consulting assignments is preferred.
• Understanding of Azure infrastructure, networking, security, identity, and cloud operations concepts.
• Exposure to cybersecurity, AI, analytics, automation, or data platform technologies will be an added advantage.
• Familiarity with Infrastructure-as-Code, automation, scripting, or DevOps practices is desirable.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional technical and business teams.