Azure Cloud Architect | DC Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO)

Changing Technologies, Inc. (CTI) is hiring on behalf of our client, the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), for an Azure Cloud Architect in Washington, DC.

About the role

OCTO is seeking a hands-on Azure Cloud Architect to lead the continued build-out of its multi-cloud environment, centered on Microsoft Azure with supporting AWS workloads. This position is the technical lead for OCTO's cloud team and the subject matter expert for cloud architecture across DC government.

The architect designs secure, well-governed environments for OCTO and partner agencies, delivers infrastructure through code, plans and executes workload migrations, and provides architectural oversight for Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) deployments. The role works closely with agency IT leaders, OCTO security, and the on-premises virtualization team, and gives technical direction to an Azure Cloud Engineer.

What you will do

• Translate agency business requirements into clear solution designs and present options, costs, and tradeoffs to technical and non-technical audiences, including agency CIOs and OCTO leadership.
• Set the standards for Microsoft Azure use: Cloud Adoption Framework and Well-Architected Framework, landing zone design, naming and tagging, Azure Policy, and role-based access control (RBAC).
• Design, mature, and own the Azure landing zone (management groups, subscriptions, policy, RBAC, security baselines with Microsoft Defender for Cloud) and hybrid connectivity to OCTO data centers: hub-and-spoke networking, private endpoints, firewall integration, and identity integration with Microsoft Entra ID.
• Lead large, complex cloud implementations: assessment, design, and migration of on-premises virtualized workloads to Azure, from discovery and dependency mapping through target design, sizing, cost modeling, and migration waves.
• Deliver production changes through code and pull requests rather than manual portal changes, with Infrastructure as Code practices, change management, and documentation standards.
• Provide architectural oversight of Azure Virtual Desktop environments, including the boundary between Terraform-managed infrastructure and the Nerdio management platform.
• Define monitoring, backup, and disaster recovery standards; track and optimize cloud spend for agency chargeback reporting; support existing AWS workloads at an operational level.
• Mentor and review the code of the Azure Cloud Engineer, keep architecture diagrams, design decisions, and runbooks current, and track work in Azure DevOps boards and ServiceNow.

What you need

• 8+ years in infrastructure engineering, with at least 5 years designing and building in Microsoft Azure, and 8+ years conveying technical and functional concepts and preparing complex technical documentation.
• Demonstrated design and delivery of an enterprise Azure landing zone, including management groups, Azure Policy, RBAC, and hub-and-spoke networking.
• 5+ years of hands-on Terraform experience in production, including reusable modules and remote state management.
• 3+ years building infrastructure CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps (or GitHub Actions with transferable skills), 3+ years planning or leading migrations of on-premises virtualized workloads (VMware or similar) to Azure, and 3+ years leading or mentoring engineers, including code review.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID, conditional access, and identity governance; working knowledge of AWS (EC2, VPC, IAM, S3).
• Bachelor's degree in IT or a related field, or equivalent experience. This is a senior-level position (11 years of experience).
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305), or the ability to obtain it within 6 months of start.

Preferred: state, local, or federal government IT experience; hands-on Azure Virtual Desktop and/or Nerdio Manager for Enterprise; NIST 800-53, CJIS, or FedRAMP; Azure cost management, reservations, and chargeback models; ServiceNow for incident and change management; AWS Certified Solutions Architect (Associate or higher); HashiCorp Certified Terraform Associate.

Worksite: 200 I Street SE, Washington, DC 20003 (onsite)

Schedule: 8 hours per day, 5 days per week

Pay: $92.98/hour

Duration: Contract from November 24, 2026 to September 30, 2027

Start: November 24, 2026

No C2C (Corp to Corp). Must be authorized to work in the US. Interviews are by webcam.

Pay: $92.98 per hour

Application Question(s):

• Is $92.98/hour acceptable for this role? (Yes/No)
• Can you start by November 24, 2026? (Yes/No)
• Can you work onsite in Washington, DC, 5 days per week? (Yes/No)

Experience:

• designing and building in Microsoft Azure: 5 years (Preferred)
• hands-on Terraform in production: 5 years (Preferred)

License/Certification:

• AZ-305 (Preferred)

Ability to Commute:

• Washington, DC 20003 (Required)

Work Location: In person