Platform Architect - Remote

Overview

Lead platform architecture & cloud hybrid solutions for USCIS

Key Responsibilities

• platform strategy
• security compliance
• cloud migration
• ci/cd automation
• capacity planning
• cost optimization

Tasks

-Design and guide platform strategy across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments for USCIS. -Incorporate security and compliance into platform design: ensure platforms adhere to applicable federal standards (e.g. NIST, FedRAMP, FISMA, DHS policy), enforce secure baselines, hardening, logging/audit, patching, vulnerability management. -Integrate platform components with identity and access services, directory services, authentication, authorization, and security controls. -Maintain architecture documentation: system diagrams, interface definitions, data flows, platform lifecycle plans, disaster recovery / failover plans. -Communicate architectural options, trade-offs, risk assessments to USCIS leadership and stakeholders. -Ensure cost optimization: monitor usage, make architectural trade-offs, implement cost controls, manage spend across cloud and on-premise infrastructure. -Collaborate with application developers, infrastructure, network, security, and operations teams to ensure platform architectures meet performance, availability, reliability, and security SLAs. -Review vendor products / third-party tools / COTS solutions with respect to platform fit, cost, maintenance, security, and roadmap alignment. -Lead efforts on cloud migration, modernization, scalability (autoscaling, load balancing), disaster recovery, high availability, redundancy. -Mentor and guide other architects, engineers, and operations staff; facilitate knowledge transfer. -May be responsible for both strategic and hands-on technical work. -Lead the architectural design, evaluation, and implementation of enterprise platform services including compute, storage, virtualization, containerization, serverless, orchestration, and middleware. -Oversee and/or contribute to platform operations, including release and deployment pipelines, automation, CI/CD, configuration management, infrastructure as code (IaC). -Perform capacity planning, resource provisioning strategy, monitoring, and tuning of platform performance. -Define platform reference architectures, blueprints, standards, patterns, and best practices; ensure consistency and compliance across the enterprise.

Requirements

• devsecops
• multi‑cloud
• kubernetes
• zero trust
• cissp
• terraform

What You Bring

-Compliance with all USCIS / DHS policies, guidelines, and security training. -Experience with modern DevOps / DevSecOps practices. -U.S. Citizenship and ability to meet USCIS / DHS clearance/suitability requirements. -Deep experience with multi-cloud, hybrid cloud, and on-premises platform deployments (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP). -Excellent communication skills: able to work with technical and non-technical stakeholders, present architecture decisions, write technical documentation. -Experience with emerging tech relevant to USCIS modernization: AI/ML platform integration, edge computing, etc. -Senior / SME level; likely expected to lead or have oversight over other architects/engineers. -Certifications such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect, Google Cloud Professional Architect, Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), etc. -Prior experience working on federal or DHS / USCIS contracts, or in regulated environments. -Experience with platform monitoring, telemetry, observability tools. -Strong security background: secure architecture, compliance frameworks, identity management, zero trust, auditing / logging. -Ability to travel or work with geographically dispersed teams if required. -Solid skills in performance tuning, capacity planning, scalability, reliability engineering. -Strong experience with core platform technologies: virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V, etc.), container orchestration (Kubernetes, OpenShift, etc.), serverless, microservices, middleware, networking for platforms. -Typically, 10+ years of experience in platform architecture or similar roles in large-scale enterprise environments. -Familiarity with Zero Trust architectures and strategy. -Proficiency in automation, IaC (Terraform, CloudFormation, Azure ARM, etc.), configuration management, CI/CD pipelines. -Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a closely related field. Advanced degree preferred.

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About Akima

-Founded with a vision to support critical sectors, providing solutions across defense, intelligence, and civil sectors. -Serves a broad spectrum of industries, including energy, infrastructure, and water resources. -Delivered complex projects, such as large-scale infrastructure upgrades and energy management solutions. -Projects often involve intricate logistical coordination, requiring a deep understanding of specialized markets. -Approach is deeply collaborative, often working alongside government agencies and other key partners. -Noteworthy projects include managing water resource systems and optimizing energy infrastructure for municipalities. -Focus on operational excellence makes it a go-to partner for government and private sector organizations.

Sector Specialisms

Security Clearance

-u.s. citizenship required and must meet uscis/dhs clearance and suitability requirements.