Microsoft
Develops software, OS, and cloud services
Cloud & AI Infrastructure Cloud Solution Architect - Poly
About the job
- A Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or a related field and 4+ 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, and/or consulting, or equivalent experience.
- Must have an active U.S. Government Top Secret Clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information based on a Single Scope Background Investigation with Polygraph.
- Must meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements before offer and after hire.
- Must successfully verify the stated security clearance and provide clearance verification information before an offer of employment.
- Must pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.
- Must provide verification of U.S. citizenship due to citizenship-based legal restrictions.
- Lead the architecture and delivery of Azure, hybrid, and multicloud infrastructure solutions in federal environments.
- Establish secure, resilient cloud foundations that support artificial intelligence, analytics, and mission-critical workloads.
- Drive consumption, usage, and customer success across Azure infrastructure and artificial-intelligence-enabled services.
- Ensure architectures align with federal security, compliance, and sovereignty requirements.
- Deliver solutions aligned with Microsoft methodologies and operational excellence standards, including accurate pipeline management, documentation, and time tracking.
- Identify, escalate, and help mitigate technical and business risks that could impede solution delivery or value realization.
- Identify and accelerate blockers to cloud adoption, consumption, and usage using approved tools and processes.
- Identify opportunities for Azure infrastructure, hybrid, security, and artificial intelligence consumption growth aligned to customer mission outcomes and Microsoft value propositions.
- Engage customers to challenge assumptions, propose alternative architectures, and recommend optimized solutions that improve security, resiliency, cost, and performance.
- Design and guide implementation of Azure Landing Zones and hybrid and multicloud architectures.
- Design and guide implementation of secure infrastructure platforms supporting artificial intelligence and machine learning, data, and mission workloads.
- Design and guide implementation of governance, identity, networking, resiliency, and operational controls aligned with federal requirements.
- Ensure solutions follow well-architected, secure-by-design, and compliance-ready patterns that enable long-term operational success.
- Support value-based deliverables such as architecture design sessions, proofs of concept, and technical validation engagements.
- Contribute feedback to internal delivery and engineering teams to improve offerings, patterns, and reusable assets.
- Learn customer missions, technical constraints, and conditions for success in federal environments.
- Translate customer challenges into Azure infrastructure and artificial-intelligence-enabled solutions aligned to Microsoft's Cloud and AI platform strategy.
- Build trusted relationships with technical and business decision-makers, bridging infrastructure, security, compliance, and mission requirements.
- Act as the voice of the customer by providing feedback and insights to Microsoft engineering, product, and internal communities.
- Collaborate with Microsoft partners to enable joint solutions, technical readiness, and successful customer implementations.
- Support partners in removing technical blockers and accelerating delivery and consumption.
- Provide technical enablement and guidance to align partner offerings with Microsoft Federal infrastructure and artificial intelligence priorities.
- Maintain deep technical expertise across Azure infrastructure, hybrid cloud, security, and artificial-intelligence-enabling platforms, with breadth across security, resiliency, and artificial intelligence initiatives.
- Mentor peers and contribute to virtual teams, communities of practice, and internal readiness initiatives.
- Contribute to intellectual property, reusable architectures, and patterns that scale across federal customers.
- Represent Microsoft through internal and external technical engagements by sharing best practices and lessons learned.
About the company
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
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- September 21 Hyderabad region expanded AI-ready Azure capacity across India's sovereign cloud demand.
- Fabric IQ and Database Hub deepen governed data advantages announced September 28 in Barcelona.
- GPT-6 Astra rolled into Foundry September 3, strengthening Microsoft's model ecosystem and enterprise agents.
What critics are saying
- Microsoft cut 500 jobs September 22, signaling ongoing Xbox resets through fiscal 2027.
- Judge Casey Pitts kept California OpenAI exclusivity claims alive September 28, extending antitrust exposure.
- OpenAI dependence threatens Copilot economics if model access, pricing, or partnership terms deteriorate.
What makes Microsoft unique
- Azure, Office, and Copilot share one enterprise stack with Fabric, Foundry, and Teams integration.
- Microsoft ships trusted, tenant-isolated AI tools; September 25 Copilot added Home, Code, Autopilot.
- Its distribution moat spans Windows, Microsoft 365, GitHub, and Xbox.
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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
↑ 0%2 year growth
↑ 0%Nokia and Microsoft have expanded their partnership to integrate Nokia Data Suite with Microsoft Fabric, creating an AI-driven foundation for telecommunications network operations. The solution allows operators to access structured network data in minutes rather than weeks and is currently available. For Nokia, the collaboration accelerates monetisation within its AI & Cloud segment, which saw order intake reach €2.8 billion in Q2 2026 and net sales surge 105% year-over-year. The company maintains €2.78 billion in net cash to support the initiative. For Microsoft, the partnership strengthens Azure's enterprise ecosystem, supporting its 43% revenue growth and expanding Microsoft Cloud revenue beyond its $59.3 billion quarterly base. However, Nokia faces restructuring expenses that pushed reported operating margin to negative 1.0% in Q2 2026. Microsoft contends with substantial AI infrastructure investments weighing on free cash flow.
Microsoft and Apple are competing for leadership in the AI era while offering investors different value propositions. Microsoft trades at 25x forward P/E versus Apple's 38x, below the sector average of 35x. Microsoft's sales grew 17.7% year-over-year to $90 billion, whilst Apple's rose 16.4% to $109.4 billion. Microsoft retained nearly 40% of revenue as income compared to Apple's 27%. However, Apple's return on equity reached 135% versus Microsoft's 32%. For dividends, Microsoft offers a 0.76% yield with a 20.53% payout ratio, whilst Apple yields 0.32% with a 12.11% payout ratio, giving both room for increases. Analysts rate Microsoft a "strong buy" with 35% upside potential, whilst Apple receives a "moderate buy" rating with 17% upside.
Microsoft is cutting approximately 500 additional jobs, with 277 positions eliminated in the Puget Sound region, according to a WARN filing. The cuts, which began on 22 September, primarily affect the Xbox gaming division, with smaller reductions in cloud and artificial intelligence units. The layoffs follow Microsoft's July announcement of 4,800 job cuts, representing 2.1% of its global workforce. The company aims to reduce Xbox staff by roughly 20% by fiscal year-end. Affected employees at Microsoft's Redmond facilities and remote positions were notified on 22 September, with eliminations scheduled for 21 November. The company stated facilities will remain open, though some positions may relocate to other Microsoft operations. Earlier this year, Microsoft also offered voluntary buyouts to senior US employees, with over 30% of eligible staff participating in its retirement programme.
Michael Burry, the hedge fund manager who predicted the 2008 financial crisis, has warned that AI companies are hiding $3 trillion in data centre debts that could destabilise the global economy. Burry's analysis of regulatory filings reveals Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta and Oracle have accumulated massive off-balance-sheet obligations. The five companies have signed $1.2 trillion in data centre leases, with at least $857 billion non-cancellable, plus over $1.5 trillion in supply chain purchase commitments. These liabilities don't appear on their balance sheets under current accounting rules. Burry warns this could reach $5 trillion by 2028. With combined annual earnings under $400 billion, Burry questions what happens if AI growth disappoints. Oracle, Microsoft and Meta shares have already fallen from recent peaks.
DrugBank has launched a plugin integrating its Knowledge Graph with Microsoft Copilot, providing biopharma research and development teams with traceable, deterministic data within Copilot tools including Chat, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The plugin connects over 150 million structured data points and billions of relationships covering drugs, targets, diseases, and trials. This allows teams to receive consistent, citable answers grounded in DrugBank's 20-year curated database rather than AI-generated responses. The integration aims to streamline high-friction points in drug discovery, including target identification, competitive landscaping, and portfolio evaluation. DrugBank's Knowledge Graph includes all FDA, EMA, and Health Canada approved drugs, clinical trials since 2020, and clinical-stage assets mapped to over 20 industry ontologies. DrugBank is used by 10 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies and has received more than 65,000 academic citations. The plugin is now available on Microsoft Marketplace.