Cloud Architect — WMATA (Onsite, DC Metro)

Velocity Talent is recruiting a Cloud Architect for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

Location: Washington, DC metro area — fully onsite, five days per week. Work is performed at WMATA sites:

• 4100 Garden City Dr, Hyattsville, MD 20785
  
• 300 7th St SW, Washington, DC 20024
  
• 2401 Mill Road, Alexandria, VA 22314
  

Engagement: Contract, approximately 1,920 hours — a one-year base period with a six-month option period, up to 18 months total.

About the role

WMATA's Digital Modernization Office of Service Delivery and Operations (SDAO) is seeking a Cloud Architect with extensive experience in enterprise cloud architecture, IT infrastructure design, cloud governance, and cloud platform implementation.

This person will design, implement, manage, and optimize cloud environments that support WMATA's business and technology objectives. The role requires expertise in cloud-native technologies, infrastructure modernization, security, governance, cost management, and cross-functional collaboration. The Cloud Architect will provide strategic guidance on cloud adoption, architecture standards, and technology roadmaps aligned with enterprise architecture principles and operational requirements.

Responsibilities

• Design enterprise cloud architectures covering compute, network, storage, security, and application integration.
  
• Assess current cloud platforms and identify opportunities for standardization, modernization, automation, and cost optimization.
  
• Create cloud infrastructure designs and implementation roadmaps aligned to WMATA business objectives.
  
• Develop cloud governance frameworks, standards, policies, security controls, and cost-management practices.
  
• Evaluate and recommend cloud technologies, architecture patterns, and technology stacks.
  
• Implement, configure, and deploy enterprise cloud environments.
  
• Lead migrations of applications, services, and data to cloud environments.
  
• Document current-state and future-state architectures, diagrams, workflows, dependencies, and operational procedures.
  
• Integrate cloud-native application services, serverless functions, containers, microservices, data orchestration tools, and storage platforms.
  
• Monitor performance, availability, scalability, security, utilization, and cost.
  
• Troubleshoot complex cloud infrastructure, application, and integration issues.
  
• Collaborate with developers, infrastructure teams, security teams, and network engineers.
  
• Create architecture visualizations using Microsoft Visio or similar tools.
  
• Build cloud performance, utilization, and cost dashboards using Power BI or equivalent.
  
• Provide technical leadership across the design, implementation, and operational lifecycle.
  
• Support enterprise architecture governance and alignment with IT roadmaps.
  

Required experience

• 15+ years designing, developing, and implementing IT infrastructure.
  
• 5+ years specifically in enterprise cloud architecture.
  
• 5+ years aligning cloud strategies and technologies with enterprise architecture standards and IT roadmaps.
  
• 5+ years building comprehensive cloud architectures including network layouts, storage solutions, and compute resources.
  
• 5+ years developing visual dashboards from raw data for cloud cost management using Power BI or a similar platform.
  
• 3+ years of transit-industry experience.
  
• 3+ years implementing architectural patterns and designs for data-analytics applications.