Director Technology Solutions - Azure Cloud

Role Overview

The Practice Lead for Azure oversees the technical leadership and strategic advancement of the Azure cloud practice, acting as the ultimate technical authority and owning the practice's growth, quality, and team development. This pivotal position balances hands-on technical direction with team leadership and business strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the leading technical expert and final decision-maker on Azure architecture within the practice.
• Critically assess and provide guidance on solution designs created by Azure Architects and Senior Architects.
• Manage resolution of high-level technical escalations in existing Azure projects.
• Establish and enforce standards, best practices, and technical guardrails across all Azure engagements.
• Champion cloud-native, well-architected methodologies consistently throughout the practice.
• Identify skills gaps within the team and lead structured upskilling and certification programs in Azure technologies.
• Create career progression frameworks and foster a culture of learning and high performance within the practice.
• Ensure adherence to technical quality standards and architecture principles across all projects.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive Azure practice roadmap encompassing new capabilities, service offerings, and technological focuses.
• Produce reusable resources such as reference architectures, accelerators, templates, and operational runbooks.
• Lead and contribute to client-facing activities including RFP and RFI responses, workshops, and act as the subject matter expert for Azure practice in such engagements.
• Spot and support opportunities for upselling and cross-selling within current client accounts.
• Represent the Azure practice in leadership meetings and governance bodies.
• Report key practice metrics including utilization, certifications, project quality, and bench strength to Cloud & DevOps leadership.
• Monitor trends in the Azure ecosystem to proactively integrate emerging services into the practice.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• More than 22 years of comprehensive IT experience, with deep expertise in Azure cloud architecture and practice leadership.
• Demonstrated experience in establishing or leading an Azure Cloud Practice or Center of Excellence in consulting or services organizations.
• Hands-on mastery of Microsoft Azure components including networking, identity and security, infrastructure services, Infrastructure-as-Code implementations, Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines, and container orchestration.
• In-depth knowledge of network configurations such as Virtual Network (VNet), Network Security Groups (NSGs), Azure Firewall, and ExpressRoute.
• Strong understanding of identity and security technologies like Azure Active Directory, Key Vault, Defender for Cloud, Sentinel, and Azure Policy.
• Expertise in infrastructure models including Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Azure Landing Zones, and hybrid cloud architectures.
• Practical use of Infrastructure-as-Code tools such as Terraform, Bicep, and ARM Templates.
• Proficient in developing and managing Azure DevOps pipelines and utilizing PowerShell and Azure CLI for automation.
• Advanced capabilities with container technologies including Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Kubernetes, Helm, and GitOps processes.
• Experience in leading and mentoring diverse, multidisciplinary teams across all seniority levels.
• Proven success in pre-sales activities including responding to RFPs, preparing technical proposals, conducting client workshops, and delivering presentations to CXO-level executives.
• Strong foundation in application modernization involving legacy system assessments, replatforming strategies, containerization, microservices development, and API-centric transformations on Azure.
• Ability to define and implement technical standards, governance frameworks, and oversee architecture review procedures.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills for effective collaboration with and influencing CXO-level stakeholders.

Preferred Additional Qualifications

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) is highly preferred.
• Additional certifications such as TOGAF, ITIL, or Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) are advantageous.
• Experience with multi-cloud or hybrid environments including Azure Arc, AWS, and Google Cloud Platform.
• Recognized contributions in the Azure community, such as Microsoft MVP accolades or active community participation.
• Thought leadership demonstrated through blogging, conference speaking engagements, or open-source projects.
• Knowledge of FinOps and Azure cost governance practices.