In This Role

Platform Standards and Governance

• Establish and maintain the Azure landing zone architecture — subscriptions, management groups, network topology, and Microsoft Entra ID integration
• Define and publish enterprise standards for resource naming, tagging, subscription organization, and workload lifecycle
• Own the Architecture Decision Record (ADR) process for platform-level decisions and maintain the decision history
• Chair the periodic architecture review forum and set the agenda for platform standards evolution

Infrastructure as Code

• Select and maintain the enterprise Infrastructure as Code standard (Bicep, Terraform, or hybrid), including the rationale for the choice
• Build and maintain a reusable module library for the Azure workload patterns Four Hands deploys most often
• Establish CI/CD patterns for infrastructure delivery, including linting, policy-as-code, drift detection, and secure secrets handling
• Lead the practical migration from portal-based provisioning to codified delivery, prioritizing workloads where the return is highest

Reference Architectures and Templates

• Publish reference architectures for the workload archetypes Four Hands deploys, such as web application with SQL, containerized workload, data pipeline, integration service, and static site
• Maintain a template library that delivery teams can consume with minimal customization
• Document opinionated patterns for cross-cutting needs including secrets management, private networking, hybrid connectivity, monitoring, and backup

Advisory and Architecture Review

• Serve as the primary technical advisor for teams designing new Azure workloads, engaging during design phase rather than after deployment
• Operate in an advisory capacity by default. Formal approval is reserved for a narrow set of high-impact decisions, including new subscription creation, workloads touching PCI-scoped data, cross-tenant integration, and deployments exceeding defined cost thresholds
• Partner with the Security and Compliance team on identity, network, and data control architecture within Azure workloads
• Escalate policy exceptions and cross-team architectural conflicts to the VP of Infrastructure

Operational Backup and Azure Administration

• Provide backup coverage for the Azure Administrator during planned time off, holidays, and incident response — with sufficient operational proficiency to execute without a ramp period
• Maintain day-to-day working knowledge of Azure administrative tasks including subscription management, RBAC assignments, resource provisioning, cost review, and platform-level break-fix support
• Cross-train continuously with the Azure Administrator to ensure no single point of failure on operational knowledge and to keep documentation current
• Participate in the platform on-call rotation as needed for cloud-level incidents

Adjacent Platform Collaboration

• Partner with the Enterprise Data and Governance team on Microsoft Fabric and Power Platform architecture , providing platform-level guidance while respecting data team ownership of workspace design and content governance
• Collaborate with the Identity and Access Management function on Entra ID architecture as it applies to Azure resource access
• Contribute to FinOps standards, tagging discipline, resource optimization patterns, and budget guardrails — in partnership with the FinOps function. Not accountable for FinOps program execution

Other Duties

• Other duties as assigned, in accordance with training and qualifications
• Uphold the Core Values and be a valuable member of the Four Hands team
  • Be open and honest
  • Reach for excellence
  • Act with responsibility
  • Value the whole person
  • Enjoy the journey

The Ideal Person

• 7+ years of enterprise IT experience, with 4+ years in hands-on Azure architecture and administration roles
• Deep production experience with Azure infrastructure services: compute, networking, storage, identity, and governance
• Demonstrated production use of Infrastructure as Code (Bicep, Terraform, or ARM) at enterprise scale, including module design and CI/CD integration
• Proven track record of establishing standards, reference patterns, and reusable templates in an environment maturing from ad hoc to codified delivery
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID architecture, Azure RBAC, Azure Policy, and management group hierarchies
• Ability to serve as an operational Azure administrator without a ramp period — comfortable executing day-to-day administrative tasks under time pressure
• Strong written communication — this role produces standards documents, reference architectures, and decision records that teams need to actually use
• Demonstrated ability to influence and drive adoption without formal authority
• AZ-305 (Solutions Architect Expert), AZ-400 (DevOps Engineer Expert), or AZ-104 (Administrator Associate) Certifications preferred