Azure Cloud Architect

Azure Cloud Architect – Permanent Position 📍 Location: The Hague, Netherlands 💼 Employment Type: Permanent / Full-Time 🗣️ Language Requirement: Dutch – Native/Fluent is Mandatory 🌍 Work Environment: Enterprise / International About the Role We are looking for a highly experienced Azure Cloud Architect to join a leading enterprise organization in The Hague on a permanent basis. The ideal candidate will have 12+ years of overall IT experience, including 7+ years of hands-on experience in Azure Cloud Architecture. You will be responsible for defining and evolving enterprise cloud architecture, driving cloud transformation initiatives, and providing technical leadership across cloud platforms, security, infrastructure, DevOps, and application modernization. This role requires a strong combination of strategic architecture expertise, technical depth, stakeholder management, and leadership capability. Key Responsibilities Define and own the overall Azure Cloud Architecture strategy, roadmap, and target-state architecture.Design enterprise-scale, highly available, secure, resilient, and scalable Azure solutions.Lead the architecture and implementation of Azure Landing Zones, hub-and-spoke networks, and multi-region/multi-subscription environments.Provide architectural leadership for application modernization, microservices, containerization, and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).Design cloud security architecture covering identity, network segmentation, encryption, Zero Trust, and security controls.Establish and maintain architectural governance, standards, reference architectures, and reusable design patterns.Lead cloud migration and modernization strategies, including lift-and-shift, replatforming, and refactoring.Evaluate Azure services, third-party technologies, and emerging cloud-native solutions.Define high availability, disaster recovery, and business continuity architectures.Collaborate with FinOps and finance teams to deliver cost-efficient and optimized cloud architectures.Act as a trusted technical advisor to senior IT and business stakeholders.Guide and mentor DevOps, Platform, Security, and Engineering teams.Conduct architecture reviews and ensure alignment with the Microsoft Well-Architected Framework.Create and maintain architecture documentation, solution diagrams, technical standards, and Architecture Decision Records (ADRs).Stay up to date with the Azure roadmap and emerging cloud technologies and translate relevant developments into architectural strategy.Required Skills & Experience 12+ years of overall IT experience.7+ years of experience in Azure Cloud / Solution Architecture.Strong expertise across Azure Compute, Networking, Storage, Identity, Databases, and Integration Services.Proven experience designing and implementing Azure Landing Zones and enterprise-scale Azure architectures.Strong architectural-level knowledge of Terraform, Bicep and/or ARM.Strong experience with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), containers, and microservices architecture.Deep understanding of Azure security, Zero Trust, Microsoft Entra ID, identity federation, and network security.Experience with hybrid and/or multi-cloud architectures, including Azure Arc, ExpressRoute, and VPN.Strong understanding of the Microsoft Azure Well-Architected Framework and its five pillars.Proven experience leading large-scale cloud migration and modernization programs.Good understanding of DevOps, CI/CD, automation, and Infrastructure as Code.Understanding of FinOps and cloud cost optimization principles.Excellent stakeholder management, presentation, communication, and influencing skills.Proven ability to lead and mentor cross-functional technical teams.Strong analytical, strategic, and problem-solving capabilities with a pragmatic business-outcome focus.Mandatory Language Requirement 🇳🇱 Native-level Dutch language proficiency is mandatory for this position. Candidates without native/fluent Dutch language capability will not be considered. Preferred Certifications Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)Microsoft Certified: Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400)Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert (SC-100)TOGAF CertificationWhat We Are Looking For We are looking for an architect who can combine strategic thinking with strong technical expertise, influence senior stakeholders, and take ownership of enterprise-wide cloud architecture and transformation initiatives. You should be comfortable operating across business, architecture, security, infrastructure, application, and engineering teams, while driving sustainable and scalable Azure solutions. Interested? If you are an experienced Azure Cloud Architect with strong enterprise architecture experience and native-level Dutch proficiency, we would be interested in hearing from you. 📍 Location: The Hague, Netherlands 💼 Permanent Position 🗣️ Native Dutch Mandatory