Senior Infrastructure Architect Jobs (NOW HIRING)

- Sr Infrastructure Architect - onsite Santa Ana CA

this person must have certifications in both AWS and Azure cloud

***ATTN: Please include the below candidate info on the top of each resume to be considered AND THE MANAGER REQUESTED QUESTIONAIRE LISTED IN JOB DESCRIPTION BELOW - MUST BE INCLUDED TO MOVE FORWARD ***
POSITION: Infrastructure Architect
PLACEMENT TYPE:  6 month Right to hire
CLEARANCE REQUIREMENT: County Live Scan, Child Support Services (CSS) Background Clearance, County Probation (PROB) Background which is more in depth and should be discussed with candidate prior to submittal
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT: Minimum 8 years in enterprise infrastructure roles, with a strong focus on cloud and
hybrid environments.
INTERVIEW PROCESS: The interview process will be an initial virtual SAIC technical panel followed by a second on-site interview with OCSD IT team. Final selection will be the OCSD second level acceptance interview.
MISSION OF PROGRAM: Monitor, Alert, Respond and Report cyber threats that target County of Orange assets, systems, and data.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
As this is a very SR Level position Jack O'Connor will be our overall Technical Lead for the screening, interviewing and selection process. Steve Shapiro like all other positions will coordinate all interviews.
Purpose
The Sheriff’s Department seeks a highly experienced Enterprise Infrastructure Architect on a contract basis to provide on-site infrastructure leadership and expert-level technical support.

This role is critical in supporting the department’s migration from on-premise infrastructure to a hybrid cloud model using Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The architect will act as a trusted SME, designing secure, scalable infrastructure and supporting operations across both cloud and on-prem environments.

The architect will also serve as a subject matter expert and mentor, providing structured knowledge transfer and technical training to internal staff
throughout the engagement.
Position Summary
The Infrastructure Architect will work on-site at the Sheriff’s Department to lead enterprise IT architecture strategy, design hybrid cloud infrastructure, ensure compliance with public safety standards (e.g., CJIS), and act as a senior technical advisor to internal teams.

The contractor will be expected to work extended hours when required, particularly during system migrations, outages, security events, or other critical maintenance windows.

The architect is also expected to provide direct mentorship, coaching, and skills development to department IT personnel to build internal technical capability.
Key Responsibilities
1. Architecture & Strategic Planning
a. Lead the technical architecture of a secure, resilient, and scalable hybrid environment (Azure, AWS, and on-prem)
b. Define integration strategies for legacy systems and cloud-based workloads.
c. Develop infrastructure standards, policies, and lifecycle strategies to guide modernization.
 

2. Infrastructure Operations & SME Duties
a. Serve as the lead technical expert (Level 4) for infrastructure, virtualization, networking, and cloud services.
b. Work on-site to provide hands-on leadership in system implementation, maintenance, and performance optimization.
c. Provide after-hours support and overtime as needed during critical cutovers, incidents, or emergency responses.
d. Act as a subject matter expert and technical mentor to IT staff, supporting internal knowledge transfer and skill-building.
e. Mentor IT staff on Microsoft 365, Intune, Azure Backup, and Endpoint Manager operations
3. Security & Compliance
a. Design secure architectures compliant with CJIS, NIST, and state/local law enforcement standards.
b. Oversee identity architecture (Active Directory, Azure AD, Entra ID, AWS IAM, MFA, RBAC).
c. Oversee the PKI infrastructure, ensure encryption, access control, auditability, and secure connectivity across environments.
4. Cloud Integration & Migration
a. Guide the phased migration of infrastructure workloads and services to cloud platforms.
b. Architect hybrid networking (VPN, SD-WAN, ExpressRoute, Direct Connect) and ensure connectivity with public safety systems.
c. Utilize Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, PowerShell, CloudFormation) to automate deployments.
5. Documentation, Training & Support
a. Maintain detailed and current documentation: diagrams, SOPs, runbooks, security plans, recovery procedures.
b. Conduct technical knowledge transfer sessions and provide formal and informal training to department staff.
c. Create and maintain compliance documentation for internal and third-party audits.
6. Required Qualifications
a. Minimum 8 years in enterprise infrastructure roles, with a strong focus on cloud and hybrid environments.
b. Expert-level knowledge of Azure, AWS, on-prem virtualization (VMware/Hyper-V), and enterprise storage.
c. Proven experience in public-sector IT or similarly regulated environments. 
d. Hands-on knowledge in:
i. Virtualization (vSphere/ESXi)
ii. Enterprise Networking (Cisco, Palo Alto, Fortinet)
iii. Storage (SAN, NAS, Object Storage)
iv. Identity and Access Management
v. Hybrid Cloud Networking and Security
vi. Infrastructure automation tools: Terraform, PowerShell, ARM templates, CloudFormation.
vii. Strong understanding of CJIS, NIST, or FedRAMP compliance frameworks.
viii. Demonstrated ability to mentor technical teams and provide structured training in operational environments.
7. Preferred Qualifications
e. Prior experience supporting law enforcement, justice, or public safety agencies.
f. Familiarity with RMS, CAD, body camera/evidence systems, or large data ingestion environments.
g. Professional certifications (preferred but not required):
i. Azure Solutions Architect Expert
ii. AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional
iii. CISSP, VMware VCAP, Cisco CCNP/CCIE
9. Deliverables
a. Monthly infrastructure health check reports
b. Updated documentation for all production systems
c. Quarterly workshops and knowledge transfer sessions for internal IT team
d. Incident response support and root cause analysis documentation
e. Architecture reviews and roadmap recommendations