Cloud Infrastructure Architect - Remote

Please note, employment offered to residents in the following states only: Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont.

At Preferred, we understand the importance of holistic health. To meet the diverse needs of our employees, we offer a comprehensive set of benefits:

Financial

• Short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance coverage are provided at no cost
• Optional benefits include enhanced life insurance and critical illness plans
• 401k plan with an employer contribution that you will receive regardless of your own contribution to the plan
• A cash-balance pension plan
• Student Loan Repayment Assistance
• A short-term incentive plan for all employees

Social

• Generous paid time off, offering of 25 days at hire (prorated based on start date for the first year)
• 7 days of paid sick leave
• 10 paid company holidays
• Personalized paid time off after 3 years!

Emotional

• Access to 26 sessions with a BetterHelp therapist each year for you and up to 5 dependents, as well as access to all of BetterHelp’s group and digital resources
• Access to Family First, a team of care experts who can provide you and your loved ones 1:1 assistance with a variety of caregiving solutions, from elder care to legal and financial challenges, insurance and Medicare navigation, and more!

Physical

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage options begin on the first day of employment
• Health Savings Accounts (with a generous employer contribution!)

YOUR PURPOSE AND FUNCTION IN OUR COMPANY:

The Cloud Infrastructure and Architect designs and helps manage the organization's foundational technology layers. This role bridges business goals and IT operations by creating secure, scalable systems that support servers, networks, cloud platforms, and storage. The ideal candidate balances competing priorities like performance, cost efficiency, scalability, and operational complexity to support modern application delivery and digital transformation.
In addition to deep technical execution across Microsoft Azure, automation, and DevSecOps, the architect acts as a visionary advisor, leveraging emerging technologies and hyper-automation to influence business strategy, drive operational efficiencies and reduce insurance processing cycles.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Strategic Partnership & Business Transformation

• Technology-Driven Strategy: Identify opportunities where emerging technologies (e.g., GenAI infrastructure, advanced MLOps, predictive scaling) and automation can optimize the P&C insurance value chain, improve combined ratios, and accelerate product time-to-market.

Cloud Architecture & System Design

• Create strategic blueprints detailing how hardware, software, and networks interact within the enterprise ecosystem to support business goals.
• Plan and execute the transition of localized data centers to modern, scalable Microsoft Azure cloud environments.
• Assess existing hardware, software, and system codebases to eliminate structural constraints, find errors, and plan architectural upgrades.
• Automation & Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
• Standardize and provision infrastructure utilizing IaC and code-driven deployments to systematically eliminate configuration drift.
• Author new code and develop standardized infrastructure blueprints to automate environment provisioning.
• Assist with designing automated build and release pipelines to enable robust continuous deployment (CI/CD) capabilities and drive DevSecOps practices.
• Expand JSM automation into a full self-service catalog

Cybersecurity, Risk & Compliance

• Build security mechanisms directly into the foundational architectural layers of the enterprise.
• Partner with Security and Compliance to automate enforcement of controls and workflows
• Coordinate closely with corporate security engineers to satisfy complex compliance regulations and insurance market standards.

Technical Leadership & Mentorship

• Serve as the principal technical lead for large initiatives impacting foundational infrastructure.
• Mentor, teach, and develop technical skills among IT teams and engineering peers.

Technology Evaluation & Innovation

• Evaluate emerging tools with focus on AI and automation
• Lead POCs to measure effectiveness and share results with leadership and broader business / technical team
• Assess AI integration into automation workflows with clear tie to measurable outcomes

KEY CAPABILITIES FOR SUCCESS:

• Executive Presence & Influence: Exceptional communication skills with a proven ability to present, negotiate, and establish trust with executive leadership, translating technical risk or capability into clear business outcomes.
• Strategic Business Acumen: Strong capability to analyze P&C insurance business objectives and map them to innovative technology solutions that reduce operational complexity.
• Self-Reliance & Drive: Proven ability to work independently or direct technical teams without significant oversight, remaining accountable for project schedules and executive alignment.
• Analytical & Architectural Thinking: Advanced capability to evaluate and weigh variable factors like software capabilities and hardware compatibility to formulate robust solutions.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, or a closely related technical discipline, required
• Azure Solutions Architect Expert required, and Azure Administrator Associate credential, preferred
• 5+ years of progressively responsible technical experience in a senior infrastructure role, with a strong background in scoping, architecting, and deploying enterprise-scale platforms.
• Proven track record leading cloud migrations and managing production workloads inside Microsoft Azure.
• Practical experience working with Infrastructure as Code toolsets (e.g., Terraform, Bicep, ARM templates) and managing CI/CD automation pipelines.
• Relevant background working in highly regulated industry frameworks; experience within the Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance sector is preferred.

ABOUT US: As a mutual company, we are independent by nature, so we think about insurance solutions a little differently. Through listening, problem solving, examining your challenges and collaborating on the right solutions for you, Preferred Mutual independent agents provide flexible solutions and adapt to your evolving needs. We do the same for our employees. We are process and domain experts, focused on the solutions that deliver results for our clients and our company. We offer a great work environment, professional development, challenging careers, and competitive compensation. With Preferred, there are no surprises. You can count on us to deliver on our promises and be there when you need us, as your insurance provider and your employer. Preferred Mutual is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.

DISCLAIMER: This role (job) description indicates in general terms, the type and level of work performed as well as the typical responsibilities of employees in this classification. The duties described are not to be interpreted as being all-inclusive to any specific employee. Management reserves the rights to add, modify, change or rescind the work assignments of different positions and to make reasonable accommodations so that qualified employees can perform the essential functions of the job. Nothing in this position description changes the at-will employment relationship existing between Preferred Mutual Insurance Company and its employees.

The salary range for the role is $120,000 to $160,000 per year paid on a salaried basis. The rate offered to any candidate will be reflective of the candidate’s experience and any relevant education, certification, or qualifications related to their ability to perform the responsibilities of this position as permitted by law.