Cloud Solution Architect - Cloud & AI Data Platform

Job description

Overview We are looking for a Cloud Solution Architect – Cloud & AI Data Platform with deep knowledge in data platforms and analytics to support customers in building secure, scalable, and AI-ready solutions on Microsoft Azure. In this customer-facing role, you’ll guide organizations through their data modernization and AI journeys—leading architectural design sessions, proof-of-concept initiatives, and production deployments for mission-critical workloads. Your focus will be on ensuring performance, resiliency, and security across solutions that drive measurable business value. As a key member of the Cloud & AI Data Platform team, you’ll use established repeatable IP and execution frameworks to deliver high-quality outcomes and accelerate solution adoption. You’ll work with cutting-edge technologies such as Microsoft Fabric, Azure Databricks, Cosmos DB, and Purview, helping unlock the full value of their data and AI investments. Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees, we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond. Responsibilities Business Impact: Operates according to required operational excellence and proven practice standards throughout all sales stages/activities/tools of record (e.g., pipeline updates, time tracking) with minimal guidance from more experienced peers. Collaborates across Microsoft and customer/partner teams through on-strategy delivery with minimal guidance from more experienced peers to achieve customer/partner objectives and increase/partner customer satisfaction. Contributes to managing business and technical risks, adapting methodology and applying governance principles to identify, communicate, and minimize business and technical risks. Executes work in compliance with industry and Microsoft guidelines and procedures. With minimal guidance from more experienced peers, prioritizes among competing demands in their work and identifies where impact occurs with customers, ensuring alignment with business priorities and goals. Contributes to the identification, escalation, and mitigation of blockers using appropriate tools and processes to accelerate solution deployment, value realization and usage/consumption with minimal guidance. Continues to develop business, technical, industry, and/or enterprise knowledge and applies it to architecture or support projects with minimal guidance from more experienced peers to help meet business and information technology (IT) requirements and resolve identified constraints. Identifies new opportunities for Consumption, Usage & Unified expansion (especially Enhanced Solutions) at scale with minimal guidance from more experienced peers based on business value to customer/partner and clear understanding of the Microsoft value proposition for supported platforms to empower cloud success, foster and strengthen security and resiliency, and drive AI innovation. Actively listens to and respectfully challenges customers/partners, building trust to then advocate for alternative architectures/solutions/approaches that shape and/or enhance customer requirements with minimal guidance from more experienced peers. Contributes to the identification and evaluation of industry trends (e.g., customer industry verticals, information technology [IT] industry), gathering of customer/partner insights (e.g., feedback around technical preferences, environments, business needs, competitive landscape), and mapping of existing architecture and digital transformation solutions to customer/partner business outcomes. Proactively captures opportunities in appropriate systems, processes, and tools, working collaboratively across the organization to execute on opportunities aligned with Microsoft's Customer Engagement Model. Delivers solutions in line with company methodologies (e.g., product offerings such as value-based deliverables [VBDs], advice, training, technical validation) with minimal guidance from more experienced peers, ensuring proven practices and patterns are followed to prepare customers for operational readiness and achievement of their business goals. Leveraging knowledge of change management proven practices, and/or involving the change management team, contributes to helping the customer deploy for long-term organizational adoption to increase customer satisfaction and drive consumption/usage. Guides customers/partners towards a well-architected (e.g., secure, resilient, artificial intelligence [AI]-enabled), and cost- and performance-optimized solution with minimal guidance from more experienced peers to increase retention and expansion opportunities. Contributes to providing feedback to Unified Delivery Team on VBDs to refine and further develop content. Customer Centricity: Focuses on customer/partner experience through efficient delivery and ensuring a seamless and connected customer experience with minimal guidance. Learns and develops an understanding of customer goals, and contributes to the definition of customer/partner conditions of success. Addresses customer/partner dissatisfaction with minimal guidance, and may contribute to the execution of strategies to improve customer experience, value realization, and acceleration of transformation. Contributes to identifying and/or translating customer/partner problems into industry solutions aligned with Microsoft product and platform strategy, and explaining why and/or how they meet customer/partner outcomes and return on investment (ROI) goals (e.g., via proof of concept, minimally viable product [MVP], rapid prototype) relative to competitive offerings. Helps the customer/partner adopt and use Microsoft product/platform strategy-aligned (cross-solution area) solutions with minimal guidance from mor