Full-Time
Senior Cloud Solution Architect
Ctj, Ts/Sci
Updated on 8/19/2026
Microsoft
10,001+ employees
Develops software, OS, and cloud services
Compensation Overview
$106.4k - $222.6k/yr
No H1B Sponsorship
Washington, DC, USA
Remote
Must be within commuting distance of Lorton, Virginia.
US Citizenship, US Top Secret Clearance Required
Bachelor's, Master's
 Sales & Solution Engineering (1) |
|---|
Get referred to Microsoft
See people who can refer or advise you
- A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or a related field, plus 4 or more years of experience in cloud or infrastructure technologies, information technology consulting or support, systems administration, network operations, software development or support, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, or consulting; equivalent experience is also accepted.
- An active U.S. Government Top Secret/SCI security clearance.
- Successful verification of the stated security clearance before employment.
- Successful completion of the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.
- Verification of U.S. citizenship.
- At least 4 years of experience working in a customer-facing role.
- At least 4 years of experience working on technical projects.
- A technical certification in cloud, such as Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google, or security certifications.
- Lead technical projects end to end, providing architecture design and hands-on guidance through pre-sales and implementation.
- Run pilots and proofs of concept to validate designs and move customers from pilot to production by connecting the work to clear business outcomes.
- Identify and resolve technical blockers, including configuration changes, sample code, and escalations, and route non-technical issues to the appropriate owner.
- Apply governance to surface and reduce technical and business risk, define success criteria, and maintain a high-quality standard.
- Build realistic timelines, agree on success metrics, and establish a regular cadence for reporting progress across people, process, and technology.
- Partner with the sales team to identify new opportunities and own key milestones within each engagement.
- Translate technical capabilities into actionable business value and connect customers with appropriate people, ideas, and resources.
- Represent the customer's voice by carrying feedback and blockers to Microsoft product and engineering teams.
- Engage customer technical decision-makers directly using an understanding of their business, industry, and priorities.
- Lead technical discussions and establish rules of engagement across extended teams.
- Help plan and prioritize team capacity so engagements have the greatest impact.
- Work with partners as needed, bridge partner and internal teams, and review partner-led work for quality.
- Build a learning plan, close skill gaps, and deepen expertise through work with customers, partners, and senior peers.
- Mentor others in the technology area, contribute to internal and external technical communities, and serve as a role model for the architect community.
- Run workshops, webinars, and briefing sessions to educate customers and colleagues on Microsoft solutions.
- Develop AI-driven, low-code solutions across the Power Platform and Microsoft 365 as the platform evolves.
- A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or a related field plus 8 or more years of relevant experience.
- A master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or a related field plus 6 or more years of relevant experience.
- Experience with Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, Dataverse, Copilot Studio, or Azure.
- At least 4 years of experience working in a customer-facing role.
- At least 4 years of experience working on technical projects.
- A technical cloud certification, such as Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google, or a security certification.
Microsoft develops software, devices, and cloud services. Windows is an operating system that runs on personal computers, Office provides productivity apps, and Azure offers cloud computing and developer tools. The company differentiates itself with a large, integrated ecosystem of software, devices, and services, plus long-standing partnerships with PC makers and a broad enterprise footprint. Its goal is to put a computer on every desk and in every home, and to extend that reach through cloud services, professional networking (LinkedIn), and gaming.
Company Size
10,001+
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Redmond, Washington
Founded
1975
Get referred to Microsoft
See people who can refer or advise you
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Fiscal 2026 revenue reached $331.8 billion, up 18%, with strong operating leverage.
- Azure crossed $100 billion annual revenue in fiscal 2026, while growing 43% year over year.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot passed 30 million paid seats, proving enterprise willingness to pay.
What critics are saying
- July 23, 2026 Azure maintenance bug broke Copilot, Teams, Graph, and Microsoft 365 globally.
- July 6, 2026 Microsoft cut 4,800 jobs, including 3,200 Xbox roles, signaling internal strain.
- OpenAI supplies roughly 70% of Microsoft AI revenue, creating concentration and dependency risk.
What makes Microsoft unique
- July 29, 2026: Microsoft commercial backlog hit $678 billion, locking in future revenue.
- Office, Windows, and Azure create unmatched distribution across work, devices, and cloud.
- Microsoft Foundry and Copilot bundle models, apps, and commerce into one enterprise platform.
Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?
Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
401(k) Company Match
Professional Development Budget
Conference Attendance Budget
Flexible Work Hours
Remote Work Options
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 0%1 year growth
↓ -1%2 year growth
↑ 0%Investor sentiment around artificial intelligence is shifting towards demanding concrete returns rather than just ambitious spending promises. Tech companies plan to invest over $700 billion in AI this year, with expectations of further increases. Recent earnings revealed a clear divide. Microsoft, Amazon, and Palantir saw double-digit stock price jumps after demonstrating strong results. Microsoft maintained $19.9 billion in quarterly free cash flow despite heavy AI investments, whilst Amazon's cloud division posted its fastest growth in four years, with its AI business exceeding a $25 billion annual run rate. Meanwhile, Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Tesla faced investor scepticism over their substantial AI expenditures without comparable proof of returns. The market has entered what analysts call the "show me" phase, where tangible financial results from AI investments now matter more than spending commitments alone.
Microsoft reported a $678 billion commercial backlog and Azure surpassing $100 billion in annual revenue, growing 41%. The company posted fiscal 2026 revenue of $331 billion, up 18%, with Q4 non-GAAP EPS of $4.74 beating consensus by 11.81%. Microsoft 365 Copilot reached over 30 million paid seats, with net seat additions more than doubling quarter over quarter. Azure guidance implies approximately 45% constant-currency growth in Q1 FY27. However, full-year capital expenditure hit $115.95 billion, up 79.62%, while free cash flow fell to $66.99 billion, down 6.46%. The company's OpenAI investment resulted in $3.1 billion in Q1 FY26 losses. Shares are up 21.2% over the past month but roughly flat year to date. Analysts cite the recurring revenue backlog as a key differentiator in the AI market.
Goldman Sachs estimates $7.6 trillion in cumulative AI capital spending from 2026 through 2031, whilst OpenAI and Anthropic generated combined annualised revenue exceeding $105 billion by August 2026. The industry must scale annual recurring revenue past $1 trillion by 2030 to avoid infrastructure write-downs on hardware with 3-to-5-year lifecycles. Nvidia faces exposure as its 74.9% quarterly gross margin depends on scarce GPU demand, whilst hyperscalers deploy internal chips like Google's TPUs and Amazon's Trainium. The shares traded at 25.64 times forward earnings as of 17 August. Microsoft's AI operations exceeded a $37 billion annual run rate in the March quarter, up 123% year-on-year. GPT-4-level inference costs have fallen 50-fold, potentially expanding market demand.
Microsoft Advertising released an agentic commerce blueprint on Friday to help businesses prepare for AI agents making purchases on behalf of consumers. The "Agentic Playbook" focuses on three priorities: ensuring brands get discovered by agents, making purchases seamless, and optimising performance. The blueprint outlines a 90-day implementation structure. The first 45 days focus on building foundations like preparing product feeds and ensuring smooth checkout. The second 45 days concentrate on content optimisation. Bain & Company estimates agentic commerce will account for 15% to 25% of the US e-commerce market by 2030. Microsoft Copilot operates on the Universal Commerce Protocol, connecting it with retailers including Target and Ulta Beauty. On Thursday, Microsoft rolled out AI Max to all accounts, offering features like search term matching and dynamic URL routing for advertising campaigns.
ChronoScale has entered a two-year strategic partnership with Microsoft to deploy approximately 50 MW of AI compute capacity, the company disclosed in its annual report filed Wednesday. The project will use NVIDIA GB300 systems with advanced liquid cooling for high-density AI workloads, with completion targeted for the first quarter of 2027. The deployment remains subject to financing and meeting various development milestones. ChronoScale reported $9.7 million in cash and a $42.6 million working-capital deficit as of 31 May. The company has access to a $100 million promissory note from parent firm Applied Digital, with $93 million undrawn. ChronoScale reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $71.6 million, down 15% year-on-year, primarily due to a customer loss in December 2024. Operating loss narrowed to $37.5 million from $55.3 million.