Cloud Architect

Description

The Cloud Architect reports to the Director of Technology and Innovation and is responsible for designing and implementing scalable, robust and secure infrastructure solutions to empower our application development teams.
The cloud architect will play a critical role in Redgate’s SaaS journey as we learn to operate software for our customers. A key part of this role will be minimizing the cognitive load of development teams by designing infrastructure solutions with a great developer experience. 
This role will work closely with peers in adjacent disciplines and Redgate’s wider security to continuously evolve our systems to meet business needs.

Responsibilities (not in order of importance)

⦁    Design and implement scalable, robust and secure cloud solutions to empower our application development teams
⦁    Build systems that provide cloud as a service to application teams, shielding them from unnecessary complexity
⦁    Take responsibility for the technical capabilities which will ensure the security of infrastructure by working closely with the Security Architect and the wider Redgate Security function
⦁    Build robust CI/CD pipelines allowing teams to rapidly test and deploy solutions to Redgate’s customers.
⦁    Continuously be aware of changes in business needs and ensure that the cloud design is optimized to meet those.   
⦁    Work as part of the architecture team to shape Redgate’s technical strategy
⦁    Collaborate closely with software development teams to ensure the cloud supports the needs of our applications in service of our customers
⦁    Provide documented cloud solutions and evangelise best practices for using them across engineering (e.g. lightning talks, tutorials, pairing etc).
⦁    Proactively work with development teams to onboard them to use and understand platform-based capabilities so that applications operate consistently for our customers.
⦁    Act as a subject matter expert across Redgate on cloud infrastructure
⦁    Work with product management to understand future needs and product strategy
⦁    Collaborate with and guide teams across Operations and Engineering who are responsible for building and maintaining the cloud infrastructure.
⦁    Perform risk management by anticipating and mitigating potential failures, including working closely with Redgate’s disaster recovery group.
⦁    Actively manage the budget for cloud, identifying cost saving opportunities where possible and areas which require additional investment.
⦁    Representing Redgate’s product infrastructure position to stakeholders (including C-level)
⦁    Working with the development teams to regularly surface their infrastructure-related needs
⦁    Developing standard patterns for common infrastructure problems (such as provisioning, auditing, logging) and working with teams to build automated solutions to these problems.
⦁    Working with stakeholders to establish metrics (such as SLAs and SLOs) and lightweight governance processes, supporting Redgate’s objectives
⦁    Work with the Director of IT to ensure compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements (such as ISO 27001 and SOC2)

Specification
Required
⦁    Deep understanding of cloud with a particular emphasis on AWS
⦁    Familiarity with Docker with an emphasis on Linux containers
⦁    Strong infrastructure as code experience, particularly CloudFormation or Terraform.
⦁    Able to read/write code in Redgate’s core languages (primarily C#, TypeScript and Java).
⦁    Ability to explain highly complex concepts in audience-specific and targeted materials 
⦁    Previous experience in an agile/devops environment that prioritizes rapid iteration and team responsibility over gated development practices
⦁    Strong project management and organization skills and experience in leading change programmes
⦁    Experience of leading agile development teams and driving technical initiatives
⦁    Able to apply various leadership styles, depending on the person and task; effectively coaching, mentoring, supporting and directing teams/individuals as required
⦁    An excellent communicator with a proven ability to build rapport, influence peers, resolve conflict and build consensus
⦁    Good understanding of the current industry infrastructure trends, challenges and mitigation techniques
⦁    Able to form effective vendor relationships for external services, such as cloud vendor support or additional marketplace needs.

Desirable
⦁    Experience collaborating with and presenting to C-suite leadership 
⦁    Demonstrable experience of cost optimization within a SaaS organization