Senior Cloud Solution Architect- Cloud & AI

Overview Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions (MCAPS) Core accelerates customer outcomes and business growth. By uniting product, engineering, marketing, sales, customer success, and partners around a common customer mission, we help customers realize value faster and turn innovation into measurable business impact. Through deep technical expertise and differentiated go-to-market execution, we win competitively, capture market share, and scale repeatable growth motions. We differentiate through value creation - delivering world-class, AI-powered customer experiences that accelerate adoption, strengthen loyalty, and create sustainable competitive advantage, driving growth that outpaces the market. Within MCAPS-Core, Cloud + AI Platforms (CAIP) is one of the most strategic businesses worldwide at Microsoft. Given the tremendous momentum in customer pursuit of Digital Transformation, there’s never been a more exciting & compelling time to be a part of the Cloud + AI Platform business at Microsoft! And within CAIP, the WW Technical Success operates as the bridge between product direction, sales strategy, and scalable delivery execution. It plays a pivotal role in enabling the field, building scale through the Field and Factory, development of reusable intellectual property (IP) and assets, managing field technical escalations and product blockers, influencing product direction, and engaging in high-priority customer engagements. We are looking to hire a Senior Cloud Solution Architect – App & Data Modernization to help industrialize the path to AI-ready workloads. Modernization is the prerequisite for AI value: legacy applications and the data coupled to them block AI-native experiences, and our team’s mission is to modernize the app and its data together — as one wave, one cutover, one outcome. You will design and build high-quality, repeatable intellectual property (IP) — frequently including code — for broad use by Microsoft delivery teams and partners, and you will build the content and skilling that enables the field to adopt agentic modernization tools at scale. You will bring depth in application modernization (moving .NET or Java workloads to Azure containerization and PaaS — App Service, Azure Container Apps, AKS, Functions, and API Management) and/or database migration and modernization (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, Cassandra, and MongoDB to Azure SQL, Flexible Servers, and Cosmos DB) — ideally both. You do not need to be a full-time developer, but you will be comfortable operating in a developer-centric team: working in modern developer tools and environments, contributing to a code-based IP portfolio, and reasoning through assess → upgrade → remediate → containerize → deploy workflows. Working with agentic tooling — GitHub Copilot’s app-modernization capabilities, Azure Migrate, and the Azure Copilot Migration Agent — you will help shape an industrialized, agent-native approach to modernization, always under human control. This is a high-impact opportunity to lead innovation at scale and empower customers to unlock the full value of their Cloud and AI investments. If you are passionate about partnering with customers, identifying patterns, building agentic IP and skilling the field based on those patterns, and giving product teams a vision of what to build as a best-in-class service, this role is for you. 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 Develop strategy to solve critical CAIP App & Data Modernization priorities across Cloud + AI customers — modernizing applications and their data together with focus on SQL Databases. Design and build high-quality, repeatable IP offerings — frequently including code — that can be delivered by Microsoft teams and partners, built agent-native using modern developer tools, environments, and build systems. Bring hands-on depth in application modernization and SQL database migration and modernization. Build the content and skilling that enables field CSAs, delivery teams, and partners to adopt agentic modernization tools at scale. Design and build automation and solutions for delivery efficiency, and help close the gap from migration to true, agentic modernization. Build trusted relationships with stakeholders across MCAPS-Core, Engineering and with business leaders to shape cloud and AI modernization strategy, acting as a technical advisor and champion for long-term success. Unblock and accelerate customers’ modernization efforts — architect solutions for customers and help resolve blockers and escalations. Deliver new offerings with direct customer engagement before scaling them out to the field through internal and partner delivery engines. Be the Voice of the Customer; share insights and best practices, and partner with Engineering teams to remove blockers and influence Microsoft’s product roadmap. Inspire AI adoption by sharing best practices, leading with Microsoft’s AI story, and helping customers innovate with confidence at scale. Maintain technical skills and knowledge of market trends and competitive insights; collaborate and share with the technical community.

Qualifications Required/minimum qualifications: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or related field AND 4+ years experience in cloud/infrastructure technologies, information technology (IT) consulting/support, systems administration, network operations, software development/support, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting OR equivalent experience.

Other Requirements Microsoft is unable to sponsor a work visa for this role due to the nature of the role's job duties. Additional Preferred Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field AND 8+ years experience in technology solutions, practice development, architecture, consulting, and/or cloud/infrastructure technologies. OR Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or related field AND 6+ years experience in technology solutions, practice development, architecture, consulting, and/or cloud/infrastructure technologies. OR equivalent experience. Technical Certification in Cloud (e.g., Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google, or security certifications). Proven aptitude for adopting new technologies, learning quickly, and staying current with relevant cloud platform trends and capabilities. Comfort operating in a developer-centric environment — working with modern developer tools and environments (e.g., IDEs, CLIs, source control) and contributing to a code-based IP portfolio — even if not in a full-time developer role. Experience with AI-assisted / agentic developer tooling such as GitHub Copilot (including app-modernization capabilities), and with Azure modernization tooling such as Azure Migrate and the Azure Database Migration Service. Application modernization experience: refactoring or replatforming .NET or Java applications to Azure App Service, Azure Container Apps, AKS, Azure Functions, or API Management. Database migration and modernization experience across SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, Cassandra, or MongoDB, targeting Azure SQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL/MySQL Flexible Server, or Azure Cosmos DB. Experience building reusable IP, accelerators, or delivery assets for use by field teams or partners. Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and / or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire / transfer and every two years thereafter.

Cloud Solution Architecture IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $106,400 - $203,600 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $137,600 - $222,600 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.