ACI Worldwide · 11 hours ago
Principal Architect
Norcross, GA, United States
Full-time
Hybrid
Lead/Staff
8+ years expACI Worldwide powers the payments ecosystem globally, and they are seeking a Principal Cloud Architect to lead cloud architecture strategies across multi-cloud environments. This role involves defining cloud architecture standards, driving cloud adoption initiatives, and providing technical leadership for complex cloud transformations.
BillingFinancial ServicesInsurTechMobile PaymentsPaymentsSoftware
No H1B
Responsibilities
Define and maintain enterprise cloud architecture roadmap aligned with business objectives
Design reference architectures and architecture patterns for multi-cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Establish cloud architecture governance frameworks, standards, and best practices
Lead architecture review boards and provide technical guidance on major cloud initiatives
Drive cloud-native transformation strategies including containerization, serverless, and microservices
Architect hybrid and multi-cloud solutions ensuring interoperability and portability
Evaluate emerging cloud technologies and provide recommendations for adoption
Develop architecture decision records (ADRs) and maintain architecture knowledge base
Lead architecture design for complex, mission-critical cloud solutions
Architect high-availability, fault-tolerant systems across multiple availability zones and regions
Design disaster recovery and business continuity solutions with defined RPO/RTO targets
Create technical architecture documentation including HLDs, LLDs, network diagrams, and data flow diagrams
Collaborate with engineering teams to translate architecture vision into implementation roadmaps
Conduct architecture workshops and design sessions with stakeholders
Provide technical mentorship and architectural guidance to cloud engineers and architects
Lead proof-of-concept initiatives for strategic cloud technologies
Design and implement cloud security architecture following Zero Trust principles
Establish identity and access management (IAM) strategies and policies
Architect network security solutions including VPCs, security groups, NACLs, and transit gateways
Implement encryption strategies for data at rest and in transit
Design security monitoring and incident response frameworks
Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements (SOC 2, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, FedRAMP)
Conduct security architecture reviews and threat modeling exercises
Partner with security teams to implement DevSecOps practices
Architect cost-efficient cloud solutions optimizing compute, storage, and network resources
Implement FinOps practices and establish cloud cost governance frameworks
Design automated cost optimization strategies including rightsizing, reserved instances, and savings plans
Create cost allocation models and chargeback/showback mechanisms
Monitor cloud spending patterns and provide cost optimization recommendations
Establish cloud cost budgets, forecasting models, and variance reporting
Architect solutions leveraging spot instances, autoscaling, and serverless for cost efficiency
Design infrastructure as code (IaC) frameworks using Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM templates, or Pulumi
Establish CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure deployment and configuration management
Architect GitOps workflows for infrastructure and application deployments
Implement policy-as-code frameworks using tools like Open Policy Agent or Cloud Custodian
Design automation solutions for cloud resource provisioning, monitoring, and lifecycle management
Create reusable IaC modules and templates for common architecture patterns
Establish testing frameworks for infrastructure code validation
Lead large-scale cloud migration programs using 6Rs framework (Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, etc.)
Assess existing applications and infrastructure for cloud readiness
Design migration strategies for databases, applications, and workloads
Architect modernization roadmaps transforming legacy systems to cloud-native architectures
Plan and execute data migration strategies ensuring minimal downtime
Establish migration governance including wave planning, testing, and cutover procedures
Design rollback and contingency plans for migration initiatives
Architect container orchestration platforms using Kubernetes/EKS/AKS/GKE
Design service mesh architectures for microservices communication and observability
Establish CI/CD platform strategies and reference implementations
Architect observability solutions for logging, monitoring, tracing, and alerting
Design API gateways and event-driven architectures
Implement chaos engineering practices and resilience testing frameworks
Architect developer platforms and self-service infrastructure capabilities
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related technical field
8-12+ years in cloud architecture, infrastructure engineering, or enterprise architecture
5+ years of hands-on experience with major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)
3+ years in technical leadership or principal engineer roles
Experience designing and implementing large-scale cloud transformations
Experience with multi-cloud or hybrid cloud architectures
Track record of architecting solutions supporting thousands of concurrent users
Expert-level knowledge of AWS (EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, ECS/EKS, VPC, IAM, CloudFormation)
Strong proficiency in Azure (VMs, Storage, SQL Database, Functions, AKS, VNet, Azure AD, ARM)
Working knowledge of GCP (Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, Cloud SQL, GKE, VPC)
Deep understanding of cloud-native services and managed offerings
Expert in Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM templates, Pulumi)
Strong scripting skills (Python, PowerShell, Bash, Go)
Proficiency with configuration management tools (Ansible, Chef, Puppet)
Deep expertise with Kubernetes and cloud-managed Kubernetes services
Advanced networking concepts (VPCs, subnets, routing, load balancing, DNS)
Architecture experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server)
Cloud-native monitoring (CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, Cloud Operations Suite)
Exceptional communication skills with ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences
Strategic thinking and business acumen
Strong leadership and mentorship capabilities
Ability to influence and drive consensus across diverse stakeholder groups
Executive presence and presentation skills for C-level audiences
Collaborative mindset with ability to work across organizational boundaries
Problem-solving and critical thinking under pressure
Customer-focused approach with emphasis on business outcomes
Preferred
Master's degree preferred
Experience in payments, financial services, or regulated industries preferred
Master's degree or MBA in related field
10+ years of enterprise cloud architecture experience
Multi-cloud certifications across AWS, Azure, and GCP
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional
Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect
Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)
TOGAF or Zachman Framework certification
FinOps Certified Practitioner
Experience with infrastructure at massive scale (PB-scale data, millions of transactions/day)
Published thought leadership (blogs, whitepapers, conference presentations)
Open-source contributions to cloud-native projects
Experience with AI/ML infrastructure and MLOps platforms
Terraform or Kubernetes certifications
CISSP, CCSP, or other security certifications
Benefits
Opportunities for growth
Career development
Competitive compensation and benefits package
Company
ACI Worldwide
ACI Worldwide is a software company that delivers payments software solutions.
1001-5000 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
unknown1995-03-24IPO
Leadership Team
Thomas Warsop
President and CEO
Robert Leibrock
Chief Financial Officer
Recent News
2026-01-16
Company data provided by crunchbase