Overview

Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. On our Federal team, you'll help a U.S. government customer operate and modernize some of their most mission-critical systems, in secure, classified environments where reliability is not optional.

The Senior Cloud Solution Architect position centers on deep, hands-on expertise across the Microsoft Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI), focused on customer needs to build, secure, and modernize cloud-based business applications. If you like solving hard problems, working alongside a cleared team, and being the person others turn to, this role was built for you.

You will act as a trusted technical advisor: designing architecture, leading proofs of concept, unblocking teams, and guiding the customer from first pilot to full production.

You must have deep expertise with the Microsoft Power Platform, experience delivering in cleared environments, an active security clearance, and be located in commuting distance from Lorton, Virginia.

Responsibilities

Architecture Design and Deployment

• Lead technical projects end to end, providing architecture design and hands-on guidance through both pre-sales and implementation.

• Run pilots and proofs of concept to validate a design, then move the customer from pilot to production by tying the work to clear business outcomes.

• Identify and resolve technical blockers, from configuration changes to sample code and escalations, and route non-technical issues to the right owner.

• Apply sound governance to surface and reduce technical and business risk, define what success looks like, and hold the work to a high-quality bar.

Drive Customer Success

• Build realistic timelines, agree on the metrics that define success, and set a regular cadence to report progress across people, process, and technology.

• Partner with the sales team to spot new opportunities and take ownership of key milestones within each engagement.

• Translate technical capability into business value the customer can act on, and connect them with the right people, ideas, and resources.

• Act as the voice of the customer, carrying feedback and blockers back to Microsoft product and engineering teams to help shape future products.

Scale Customer Engagements

• Engage customer technical decision-makers directly, drawing on your understanding of their business, industry, and priorities.

• Lead technical discussions and set clear rules of engagement (roles, boundaries, and hand-offs) across extended teams.

• Help plan and prioritize team capacity so engagements land where they have the most impact.

• Work with partners where it helps, acting as the bridge between partner and internal teams and reviewing partner-led work for quality.

Technical Leadership

• Build your own learning plan, close skill gaps early, and deepen your expertise by working with customers, partners, and senior peers.

• Share knowledge generously: mentor others in your technology area, contribute to internal and external technical communities, and act as a role model for the architect community.

• Run workshops, webinars, and briefing sessions to educate customers and colleagues on Microsoft solutions.

• As the platform continues to evolve, this role will increasingly focus on AI-driven, low-code solutions across the Power Platform and Microsoft 365. Experience with Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, Dataverse, Copilot Studio, or Azure is a plus.

• Embody our culture and values.

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

Security Clearance Requirements: Candidates must be able 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: The successful candidate must have an active U.S. Government Top Secret/SCI Security Clearance. Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. Failure to maintain or obtain the appropriate clearance and/or customer screening requirements may result in employment action up to and including termination.

• Clearance Verification: This position requires successful verification of the stated security clearance to meet federal government customer requirements. You will be asked to provide clearance verification information prior to an offer of employment.

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

• Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This position requires verification of U.S. citizenship due to citizenship-based legal restrictions. Specifically, this position supports United States federal, state, and/or local United States government agency customer and is subject to certain citizenship-based restrictions where required or permitted by applicable law. To meet this legal requirement, citizenship will be verified via a valid passport, or other approved documents, or verified US government Clearance.

Additional or preferred qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or related field AND 8+ 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 Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, Liberal Arts, or related field AND 6+ years experience in cloud/infrastructure technologies, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, and/or consulting OR equivalent experience.

• 4+ years experience working in a customer-facing role (e.g., internal and/or external).

• 4+ years experience working on technical projects.

• Technical Certification in Cloud (e.g., Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google, security certifications).

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.