Locations: Irvine, CA
Duration: Contract 
Job Description: 
We are seeking a senior, client-facing Lead Principal Cloud Architect to serve onsite in Irvine, CA as a trusted CTO-style advisor to the client. The role will define, govern, and communicate enterprise cloud, application, security, and infrastructure architecture strategy across multi-cloud and hybrid environments. The architect will translate the client’s business, security, and operational priorities into executable roadmaps, reference architectures, governance guardrails, project intake artifacts, and transformation opportunities.
This position should create a single point of architectural leadership for cloud and hybrid infrastructure strategy while also acting as a window into the client’s forward-looking technology agenda. The resource should help Capgemini identify and shape adjacent demand across application modernization, cyber/security architecture, infrastructure modernization, cloud governance, automation, FinOps, observability, operating model improvement, and technology transformation.
Contract alignment - The contract language frames the Lead Architect as providing thought leadership in forward-looking technology discussions and hands-on technical leadership to guide major incident resolution, root-cause investigations, and assessment of new tools and services. This job requirement preserves that expectation and expands it into practical responsibilities, skills, and success measures for sourcing and interviewing.
Why the role should be onsite
*	Build day-to-day credibility with client technology, security, application, and infrastructure leaders through in-person presence.
*	Identify unstated needs and strategic opportunities that may not surface through remote-only governance.
*	Accelerate architecture decision-making by facilitating workshops, white boarding options, and validating trade-offs with stakeholders in real time.
*	Provide visible senior leadership during major incidents, root-cause analysis, technology evaluations, and transformation planning.
Key Responsibilities
*	Enterprise cloud and hybrid strategy: Define target-state architecture across GCP, Azure, AWS, on-premises, and relevant edge/distributed scenarios. Produce standards, roadmaps, landing-zone patterns, migration paths, modernization approaches, and executive-level trade-off recommendations.
*	Client-facing CTO advisory: Act as a senior technology advisor to client stakeholders; translate business priorities into architecture priorities; identify where client can help shape projects, consulting opportunities, and transformation initiatives.
*	Applications, security, and infrastructure alignment: Ensure architecture decisions account for application modernization, secure-by-design principles, identity, network segmentation, data protection, compliance, platform engineering, operational resilience, and infrastructure integration dependencies.
*	Architecture governance and standards: Create and maintain reference architectures, blueprints, standards, guardrails, reusable modules, and architecture review criteria. Centralize architecture knowledge from SOPs, legacy standards, MSP submissions, and multiple repositories.
*	Project intake and architecture requirements: Lead discovery with business, application, infrastructure, operations, and InfoSec teams. Convert ambiguous needs into clear architecture requirement documents, decision records, intake artifacts, and implementation-ready guidance.
*	MSP and partner design review: Review infrastructure and cloud submissions from MSPs, vendors, and delivery partners for compliance with enterprise standards, security expectations, operational readiness, and hidden integration risks.
*	Technical leadership during incidents and RCA: Provide hands-on architectural leadership during major incidents, problem investigations, root-cause analysis, and corrective-action planning where architecture, reliability, observability, or operational design are contributing factors.
*	Technology evaluation and innovation: Assess new tools, platforms, cloud services, and automation approaches; evaluate fit for purpose, risk, total cost, security, interoperability, and operational supportability.
*	IaC, automation, and platform engineering: Drive adoption of infrastructure-as-code, policy-as-code, CI/CD, reusable automation modules, configuration standards, lifecycle management, and self-service patterns to improve consistency and speed.
*	FinOps and cost governance: Embed cost-aware design practices, tagging standards, consumption governance, forecasting, and optimization recommendations into architecture decisions and operating models.
*	Executive and technical communication: Communicate architecture decisions, risks, dependencies, roadmap options, and recommendations clearly to both technical teams and executive stakeholders.
*	Client leverage and ecosystem connection: Use Capgemini standards, best practices, delivery accelerators, cloud communities, partner relationships, and internal expert networks to bring the right specialist support quickly when needed.
Required Qualifications
*	10+ years of experience in infrastructure, cloud, platform engineering, enterprise architecture, or technology transformation, including 5+ years in senior or lead architecture roles delivering enterprise-scale solutions.
*	Expert-level hands-on experience with at least one major cloud platform, preferably GCP, plus strong working knowledge of Azure and AWS services, architecture patterns, governance, security, and hybrid connectivity.
*	Proven experience defining cloud strategy, target-state architecture, reference architectures, standards, governance guardrails, and architecture review practices.
*	Demonstrated experience leading cloud migration, modernization, application dependency analysis, landing-zone design, and operational-readiness planning.
*	Strong understanding of secure cloud architecture including IAM, zero trust, network security, encryption, key management, secrets management, vulnerability management, compliance alignment, and cloud-native security tooling.
*	Experience with infrastructure-as-code and automation tools such as Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation, ARM/Bicep, Pulumi, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, GitLab, Jenkins, or comparable platforms.
*	Ability to lead architecture conversations across applications, security, infrastructure, operations, product/application owners, executives, delivery partners, and client stakeholders.
*	Experience reviewing vendor/MSP architectures, delivery artifacts, operational designs, and technology submissions for conformance to enterprise standards.
*	Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to simplify complex architecture decisions for executives while maintaining credibility with technical teams.
*	Willingness and ability to work onsite in Irvine, CA and operate as a visible senior representative aligned with client leadership.
Preferred Qualifications:
*	Formal architect-level cloud certifications: Google Professional Cloud Architect, Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert, AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, or comparable credentials.
*	Experience leading or materially supporting a Cloud Center of Excellence, Enterprise Architecture review board, Design Authority, or comparable architecture governance model.
*	Experience with application modernization patterns including containers, Kubernetes/GKE/AKS/EKS, microservices, API management, serverless, event-driven architecture, and platform engineering.
*	Experience with cloud security architecture, CSPM/CWPP, SIEM integrations, SASE/SSE concepts, Zero Trust, and regulatory/compliance frameworks such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, SOX, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI, or equivalent client-specific controls.
*	Experience with FinOps, cloud cost optimization, chargeback/showback, tagging strategy, budget guardrails, and cloud economics.
*	Experience with observability, AIOps, SRE practices, resilience engineering, DR/BCP, performance engineering, and Day-2 managed-service operating models.
*	Familiarity with enterprise infrastructure services such as identity providers, DNS, DHCP, PKI, network connectivity, data center modernization, and hybrid integration.
*	Familiarity with enterprise frameworks such as TOGAF, ITIL, NIST, CSA CCM, Well-Architected frameworks, or comparable industry standards.
*	Trusted-advisor consulting experience with ability to identify, shape, and qualify downstream project, consulting, and transformation opportunities.
Success Outcomes / First 90 Days
Timeframe - First 30 days
Expected Outcomes - Establish onsite relationships; validate client priorities; inventory current architecture artifacts, standards, intake paths, and recurring pain points; identify immediate risk areas and quick-win governance gaps.
Timeframe - Days 31–60
Expected Outcomes - Publish current-state findings, key dependencies, and priority roadmap themes across applications, security, infrastructure, cloud governance, and operating model improvements. Begin formalizing architecture review cadence and standards backlog.
Timeframe - Days 61–90
Expected Outcomes - Deliver target-state roadmap candidates, reference architecture priorities, action plan for governance improvements, and qualified transformation/project opportunities for follow-up.
Decision Rights, Boundaries, and Operating Model
Decision influence: Provides architecture recommendations, technology assessments, review outcomes, and trade-off analysis; formal client approval authority depends on the client’s governance model.
Escalation role: Raises architectural risks, security concerns, cost/compliance exposure, operational readiness gaps, and dependency blockers to team and client leadership.
Delivery interface: Partners with delivery teams, MSPs, engineering, operations, security, and application/product stakeholders to make architecture decisions implementation-ready.
Not a pure delivery engineer: The role may provide hands-on leadership and technical guidance but should not be treated as a single-threaded implementation resource; the value is senior architecture strategy, governance, and client influence.
Not a sales-only role: The role should identify advisory and transformation opportunities, but the primary value proposition is architectural credibility, client trust, and practical execution guidance.
Must-Have Skills
*	Cloud architecture strategy and target-state design
*	Client-facing CTO advisory / executive influence
*	GCP expertise with Azure/AWS breadth
*	Application, security, and infrastructure integration
*	Cloud security / secure-by-design
*	Architecture governance and standards
*	Infrastructure as Code / automation
*	Migration and modernization planning
*	Major incident / RCA architecture leadership
*	MSP / partner governance
Preferred
*	FinOps and cloud economics
*	Platform engineering / Day-2 operating model
*	Cloud-native patterns
*	Capgemini ecosystem leverage
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Azure

Onsite Contract Position for Enterprise Architect -Multi Cloud (GCP , AWS and Azure with DevOps) in Irvine, CA
