Azure Application Modernization Architect

Title

Azure Application Modernization Architect

Project

CATO

No. of Positions

1

Type of Hire

Contract

Work Authorization

Any

Work Location

Downtown Houston Texas (Preferred Locals)

In-Office Requirement

No Remote-No Exceptions. Must start onsite from Day 1 and provide written confirmation for the same)

Job Summary

This individual will own the modernization process end to end: establishing a repeatable assessment-to-execution framework developing a deep technical understanding of each application and defining how individual workloads should be modernized. The role is the bridge between our cloud infrastructure team and the application layer - the person responsible for turning what the application does into a clear cloud-native target architecture and roadmap.

Success requires the ability to bridge business needs application architecture application assessment application migration cloud-native capabilities and to uplift the existing teams application-level expertise along the way.

Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth assessments of existing applications to understand architecture dependencies business criticality and technical debt.
• Define modernization strategies (re-host re-platform re-factor replace retire) for each application.
• Establish and document a repeatable modernization framework patterns library and decision playbook for the broader cloud team to follow.
• Develop modernization roadmaps that align with enterprise architecture principles and the cloud adoption strategy.
• Recommend target-state architectures (e.g. microservices containerization APIs serverless PaaS adoption).
• Recommend adoption of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Azure App Service Azure Functions API Management Logic Apps Service Bus and Event Grid.
• Guide adoption of DevOps & DevSecOps practices: CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps GitHub Actions) IaC (Terraform).
• Define data modernization strategies (Azure SQL MI Cosmos DB Synapse Data Factory).
• Engage application and business owners to capture requirements validate target designs and secure stakeholder sign-off.
• Create business cases showing the value of modernization (cost savings agility performance compliance).
• Collaborate with the cloud engineering team to hand over modernization blueprints for execution.
• Mentor and upskill the existing cloud architecture team on application-level analysis and modern engineering practices.
• Monitor modernization outcomes and refine strategies for continuous improvement.

Skills

No. of Years of Experience

Detailed Writeup

Total No. of Years of Experience

12 years of overall IT experience with 6 years in application assessment architecture and modernization in Azure

Strong experience analyzing legacy enterprise applications such as Oracle SQL Server mainframe and packaged applications.

Hands-on experience with application portfolio rationalization and modernization strategies such as re-host re-platform refactor replace and retire.

Ability to define target-state architectures using Azure-native services such as AKS Azure App Service Azure Functions API Management Logic Apps Service Bus and Event Grid.

Solid understanding of modern application architectures: APIs microservices containers serverless and DevOps practices

Experience with DevOps/DevSecOps practices CI/CD pipelines Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions and IaC tools such as Terraform.

Knowledge of data modernization options such as Azure SQL MI Cosmos DB Synapse Data Factory and Data Migration Service.

Familiarity with containerization & orchestration: Docker Kubernetes Helm.

Strong knowledge of migration & modernization tools: Azure Migrate App Service Migration Assistant Data Migration Service CAST Highlight.

Prefer: Certifications such as Azure Solutions Architect Azure DevOps Engineer or TOGAF

Strong communication skills to work with application owners business stakeholders and cloud engineering teams.