VP, AWS Cloud Architect

Job Description:

Role Summary/Purpose:

The VP, AWS Cloud Architect is responsible for leading the design, implementation and optimization of advanced AWS cloud solutions. This role will partner heavily across the business areas in the enterprise, driving the end-to-end target state architecture of applications within a cloud footprint, as well as working with engineering teams to migrate and build capabilities in the cloud.

Our Way of Working

We’re proud to offer you choice and flexibility. At Synchrony, our way of working allows you to have the option to work from home, near one of our Hubs or come into one of our offices. Occasionally you may be required to commute to our nearest office for in person engagement activities such as business or team meetings, training and culture events.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Cloud Strategy & Architecture

  • Develop and execute the AWS cloud strategy, ensuring alignment with business and technology objectives.

  • Architect robust, scalable, secure and resilient AWS solutions tailored to support critical applications and workloads.

  • Translate business needs into technical solutions and own the design and delivery of complex cloud solutions, including proof of concepts and prototypes.

• Infrastructure Design & Deployment

  • Design and implement advanced AWS cloud infrastructures, including compute, storage, networking and serverless architectures.  

  • Oversee capacity planning to ensure infrastructure supports current and future workloads efficiently.

  • Develop multi-region and hybrid cloud solutions to ensure high availability, disaster recovery and resilience.

• Security and Compliance

  • Ensure all cloud solutions meet security, compliance and regulatory standards, including GDPR, PCI-DSS, SOC 2 and other banking regulations.

  • Implement advanced security measures, including IAM, encryption, secure networking and continuous monitoring.

• Optimization and Innovation

  • Continuously evaluate and optimize cloud environments for cost, efficiency, scalability and performance.

  • Lead efforts to standardize, automate and streamline cloud development and deployment processes to improve efficiency.

  • Stay ahead of industry trends and emerging AWS services to drive innovative solutions and be at the forefront of cloud adoption

• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Leadership

  • Promote best practices for cloud architecture, governance and operations across the organization.

  • Provide technical leadership and foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement amongst teams.

  • Partner with Engineering, DevOps and Cloud Operations teams to integrate AWS solutions into existing workflows and pipelines.

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or related field; advanced degree preferred but not required and a minimum of 7+ years of experience in IT infrastructure or cloud architecture; OR in lieu of a degree, 10+ years of experience IT infrastructure or cloud architecture

• 4+ years of hands-on experience designing and deploying solutions on AWS

• Experience in banking OR other highly regulated industries with a focus on compliance frameworks such as PCI DSS, GDPR or SOC 2

• Proven expertise designing, implementing, and securing full scale AWS IaaS environments and virtual datacenters (including infrastructure, networking, storage services)

• Proven experience designing, implementing, securing, and supporting AWS data platforms and integration services (including RedShift, Data Zone, Lake Formation, Glue, etc.)

• Advanced proficiency with IaC tools like Terraform, CloudFormation or AWS CDK

• Deep understanding of cloud networking, identify management, security and governance

Highly Recommended AWS Certifications:

• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional

• AWS Certified Security – Specialty

• AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional

• AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty

Desired Characteristics:

• Strong interpersonal skills to foster collaboration across DevOps, Engineering and other cross-functional teams

• Proficiency in analyzing complex challenges and making data-driven decisions

• Ability to adapt to evolving technol