AWS Cloud Architect Job Description: Guide, Sample Template & More

Job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed have made recruiting Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud architects easier and faster than ever. But choosing the right hire for your company is still a challenge. 

With so many companies shifting to the cloud, AWS cloud architects have become hot commodities. 🔥 This means that you have to compete with thousands of other companies for top AWS talent.

Intimidated? 😨 We understand — competing against so many companies for a niche talent pool is an uphill battle. It’s especially daunting when many competitors offer luxurious salaries and benefits packages.

Luckily, there’s a quick and easy way to find and hire AWS cloud architects for your team — by writing a compelling AWS cloud architect job description (JD).

Read our guide to learn how to write the best AWS cloud architect JD. We’ve included everything you need to get started, including:

• An AWS cloud architect job description example.
• A guide for writing a JD.
• Tips for getting AWS cloud architects to apply to your job.

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Sample AWS Cloud Architect Job Description Template

Before we dive into how to write a JD from scratch, let’s take a look at our sample AWS cloud architect job description template. Feel free to use it as a reference.

Remote AWS Cloud Architect — WeGo Bank

About Us

Founded in 1970, WeGo Bank has grown to become one of the largest banks on the East Coast. We currently boast over 6,000 branches across the U.S. Our mission is to provide technology-driven financial products for the general public.

Learn more about us on our website, www.wegobank.com.

What You'll Do

As an Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud architect, you'll assist in implementing and supporting large-scale cloud implementations on Amazon AWS. Other duties include architecting and implementing cloud solutions for different applications, automating cloud operations and cloud deployment, and programming. 

This position will also give you a chance to work with project teams that focus on developing and deploying cloud solutions for data platforms, architecting, machine learning (ML)/artificial intelligence (AI), cloud integration, and mobile apps. 

We'll pay for your training in AWS, Azure, Ansible, and Python. This role is open to remote AWS cloud architects in the following time zones:

● Pacific Standard Time (PST)
● Eastern Standard Time (EST)
● Central Standard Time (CST)
● Mountain Standard Time (MST)

Responsibilities

● Enhance our cloud capability by creating and implementing cloud application patterns
● Develop and implement ways to move apps and workloads to the cloud
● Work closely with business leads and product owners to understand solution requirements and identify architectural patterns
● Write and develop cloud automation playbooks for managing and scaling containers, hosts, cloud services, and applications
● Monitor compliance of cloud resources to see if they fit industry guardrails and best practices
● Help other development and engineering teams resolve application to platform integration issues for Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) services
● Research and propose solutions for AWS data transformation, data connections, operational frameworks, and application integration
● Work closely with lead architects and engineers to create and maintain architectural templates and build/operational documents
● Work with DevOps and engineering teams to develop service catalogs

Must-Have Qualifications

● Strong knowledge and practical experience with AWS
● Strong programming skills with experience in Webhook and API development using Node.js, Ruby, Python, Shell, and PowerShell
● Familiarity with modern cloud application architecture
● Exposure to cloud managed services and microservices like Function as a Service, Containers, and managed databases
● Thorough understanding of ML, data analysis, data visualization, and event-driven architecture
● Familiarity working with large systems
● Experience with setting up load balancers, cloud networks, and virtual servers
● Strong oral and written communication skills
● Self-motivated with the ability to work in a team or independently
● Capable of working under tight deadlines

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

● Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Telecommunications, Information Technology, or other related fields
● AWS cloud certification

Compensation and Benefits

● Competitive base salary of $95,000–$135,000 depending on experience
● Five weeks of paid vacation
● Remote work stipend
● Bonus pay
● Paid parental leave
● Medical and dental insurance
● Paid career development courses 

Schedule

● 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM EST
● Monday to Friday

Remember that this is only one way to write an AWS cloud architect job description. Depending on your needs, your AWS solution architect job description may be shorter or longer than our sample.

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How to Write an AWS Cloud Architect Job Description

Now that you know what a sample AWS cloud architect job description looks like, let’s look at our pointers for writing each section.

Before we start, keep in mind that you don’t have to follow the order of the sections below. You also don’t have to include every section outlined below. Let your job position and company guide you — there’s no standard way to write an AWS architect job description.

However, your JD should include the following at a minimum:

• Job title
• Company description
• AWS cloud architect duties
• Required experience and skills
• Compensation and benefits
• Working schedule and location

1. Job title

Your JD’s job title is the first thing that applicants see. So, it needs to be concise and eye-catching. ✨

But don’t get too creative. It’s tempting to use non-traditional job titles like “Ninja AWS Cloud Architect” or “Badass AWS Cloud Architect,” but these titles are likely to confuse candidates and discourage them from applying. 

These titles are also discriminatory. A 2011 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology study revealed that the inclusion of masculine words like “rockstar” and “ninja” discouraged women from applying to positions. The study also found that masculine terms led to lower levels of anticipated belongingness in women. In other words, they made women feel unwelcome.

Accordingly, you should use simple and specific job titles that everyone in your industry can understand. Make sure to include specifics such as:

• Seniority level (e.g., entry-level, junior, or senior)
• Location (e.g., remote, on-site, or hybrid)
• Company name

Here’s a great example of an AWS cloud architect job title:

Junior Remote AWS Cloud Architect — AMIX

Read More: How to Find Software Engineers: 21+ Expert Tips & Essential Strategies

2. Company description

Once you’ve picked a job title for your AWS solutions architect job description, you need to write a short “lead” paragraph to tell readers why you’re a good company to work for. Include your vision, values, and mission. Be sure to blow your own horn by including awards, recognitions, and anything else that makes you stand out from competitors!

This section shouldn’t be too long — at most, it should only be six or seven sentences. Remember, your goal is to tell candidates what makes your company unique. Readers will lose interest in your JD if this section is too long. 

Here’s an excellent company description from Slalom via LinkedIn:

Slalom is a modern consulting firm focused on strategy, technology, and business transformation. In 40 markets around the world, Slalom's teams have autonomy to move fast and do what's right. They are backed by regional innovation hubs, a global culture of collaboration, and partnerships with the world's top technology providers. 

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Seattle, Slalom has organically grown to over 10,000 employees. Our local model enables our consultants to get off the road and make a large impact to local clients in their own communities. We strive to always go above and beyond in everything we do, and it shows in our results:

● Glassdoor Best Places to Work 2016-2021
● Consulting Magazine Best Firms to Work For 2015-2021
● Human Rights Campaign Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality 2015-2021
● Best Workplaces for Women 2017-2020
● Forbes Top Place to Work for Consulting Professionals 2019
● Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For 2016-2019

Learn more at slalom.com.

3. Role description

Next, you need to answer the question, “What does an AWS solutions architect do?”

Like the company description, your role description should be short and sweet. Write three or four sentences about the following:

• Expected expertise and skills: Highlight the core skills for this position, such as cloud deployment experience and experience with AWS APIs and scripting languages.
• Core duties of the position: Include one to two sentences about the most important duties. Save the details for the next section.

Here’s a great JD role description from Black Knight via LinkedIn:

JOB FAMILY DESCRIPTION

Responsible for AWS cloud architecture design and development. Creates the cloud vision, strategy, and roadmap for the design governance and processes that will allow Black Knight to drive forward innovative solutions design and architecture creating a more flexible, integrated systems environment for the business.

Read More: 10+ Software Engineer Interview Questions to Find Top Candidates

4. Duties

Now’s your chance to create a bulleted list of your job’s duties and responsibilities. 

Typical AWS solution architect roles and responsibilities include:

• Designing and developing in AWS environments
• Executing and implementing microservices architecture
• Moving large databases from on-premises to cloud platforms
• Using Docker and Kubernetes to visualize servers for development 
• Testing environments with Docker and Kubernetes containers
• Creating AWS cloud formation templates for subnets, security groups, EC2 instances, and more
• Providing cloud design recommendations based on business goals
• Planning, designing, and developing complex cloud solutions
• Utilizing appropriate software engineer concepts and processes to execute projects
• Assisting in solving support problems
• Recommending development standards, programming, procedures, and cloud architecture for code reuse
• Researching and maintaining knowledge in emerging technologies 

Check out a great example from Cognizant’s Amazon solutions architect job ad via LinkedIn:

Responsibilities

● Review and validate application’s technology stack, infrastructure (compute, memory, storage, network), dependencies, compliance, security, and DR requirements
● Understanding and validation of the details with respect to infrastructure, application and Integrations of Upstream/Downstream
● Finalize solution design and deployment architecture for Cloud Foundation
● Connectivity requirements between On-premises Corporate Network and respective AWS Regions
● Coordinate with application teams for Application dependency mapping and integrations
● Coordinate with teams for LDAP, AD Integration, Antivirus and Malware Protection Integration
● Coordinate with Network teams for Firewall Configurations for Application / Infra Services Integrations
● Coordinate with project team for secure data transfer from on-premises environments
● AWS Deployment Architecture/design validation and prepare/maintain Blueprint Documentation
● Design security, compliance and other governance models for AWS recommended approach
● Perform architecture / design reviews with Security teams
● Verify Implementations

5. Required experience and skills

Once you’ve listed out the duties, create a bulleted list of AWS cloud architect experience and skills that candidates are required to have.

Most companies require their AWS cloud architects to have the following experience and skills:

• Hard skills: Like all software architects and engineers, AWS cloud architects are expected to have proven ability and experience with a broad range of hard skills. These include:
  • Creating and implementing cloud application platforms
  • Implementing ways to move workloads and apps to the cloud
  • Using containerization platforms like Kubernetes and Docker
  • Fluency in one or more of the following programming languages: C#, Node.js, Python, Go, and/or Ruby
  • Researching and proposing solutions for AWS data connections, application integration, data transformation, and operational frameworks
  • Using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform, Ansible, Chef, or Salt
  • Troubleshooting application performance issues using tools like New Relic APM, Datadog APM, and Dynatrace
• Soft skills: Besides hard skills, the best AWS hire should also have top-notch soft skills, including: 
  • Teamwork and people skills: AWS cloud architects don’t work in a vacuum — they need strong teamwork and people skills to collaborate with other developers and departments in your company. Specifically, they need to know how to listen and communicate with others. 
  • Decisiveness: An efficient AWS cloud architect should be able to present robust solutions to stakeholders with confidence.
  • Analytical skills: Besides conducting analysis of cloud systems, AWS cloud architects need to know how to construct solutions for business objectives. They should also know how to analyze and design scalable and usable solutions for project requirements.

Try to be reasonable when writing this section. Although it’s good to be specific, you should avoid including skills or years of experience that aren’t necessary for this role. 

For instance, if your AWS cloud architect role only requires two years of experience in Kubernetes and Docker, don’t write, “At least five years of experience.” In the same vein, don’t include degrees and certifications if they’re not required.

Check out this example from Networkers’ AWS cloud architect job post via LinkedIn:

Requirements:

● 7 or more years’ experience with at least two disciplines including network management, application development, Kubernetes, containers, software architecture, virtualization, Internet/CDN
● 3 or more years working experience with AWS – designing for cost, resiliency
● Strong understanding of services-based software architecture and good practices with implementing on cloud providers – working with external teams
● Understanding of CI/CD systems, automation technologies like terraform, ArgoCD, harness, gitlab
● Good experience with systems thinking and systems design
● Able to discuss technical concepts with low technical or non-technical personnel as well as senior leadership
● Strong ability to listen, perform active listening skills in order to understand and refine requirements from stakeholders and communicate effectively with technical team members
● Bachelor’s degree in computer science, math or a related study, or have equivalent experience
● Excellent communication and writing skills

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6. Nice-to-have experience and skills

Are there any skills and expertise that aren’t required for the job but would make a nice addition? 😀 Mention them here.

Here’s an example from Deloitte via LinkedIn:

Preferred Qualifications

● AWS Certification (AWS Solution Architect Associate, AWS Developer, AWS DevOps)
● Other cloud certifications nice to have (GCP, Azure)

7. Required certification and education

List out the required degrees and certifications for your job.

Many companies require AWS cloud architects to have at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or another related field. However, a degree shouldn’t influence your hiring choices. Some of the best AWS architects have no degrees but ample experience working on cloud projects for big-name companies like Facebook and Google.

As such, you should consider job seekers who are self-taught or graduates of non-traditional educational paths such as coding boot camps. This will help you hire faster and give more opportunities to deserving job seekers.

If you only have a few points for this section, fuse this section with the “Required experience and skills” section. We did this for the sample AWS cloud architect job description template at the beginning of this article.

Read More: 10+ Things to Consider BEFORE Hiring a Freelance Software Developer

8. Compensation and benefits

This section is for listing out the position’s company compensation and benefits. 

Here are the most common compensation, perks, and benefits for AWS cloud architects:

• Annual, monthly, or hourly salary range
• Health coverage, including vision, medical, dental, and mental health
• Performance bonuses
• Paid time off (PTO) policy
• Parental leave policy
• Subscriptions for magazines, gyms, and courses
• Ownership, stock, and equity options
• Referral bonuses
• Retirement accounts like 403(b)s and 401(k)s
• Team bonding activities and events
• Software and hardware
• Spending accounts such as FSA and HSA
• Flexible working schedules
• Remote work stipends
• Educational assistance such as tuition reimbursement and assistance

9. Working schedule and location

Mention whether your job takes place in meatspace or cyberspace. 

If your AWS cloud architect position is in-office, mention where the job is located at the very top of the JD. If your position is hybrid or remote, you need to specify that in the job title and at the top of the job description.

You should also cover the following:

• Work schedule: When are your architects expected to work? Monday to Friday, 8:30 PM EST to 4:30 PM EST? If your position is remote or hybrid, make sure to include preferred or required timezones.
• Overtime hours: You also need to mention whether hires are expected to overtime, such as on-call or on weekends.
• Work authorization: If your company only hires AWS cloud architects with proper work authorization in your country, mention that here.

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10. Other job description sections

Most AWS cloud architect JDs only have the sections covered above. 

But depending on your company and position, you may want to include additional sections for clarity. These include:

Company culture

You may have already mentioned that your company is an equal opportunity employer in your company description. But if you have more to share about how inclusive your workplace is, show it off! Use a bulleted list for awards and media appearances.

Screening

Does your company run pre-employment drug, criminal background, and credit checks? If so, list them out here.

Internal position title

Does your company use another title for the job? If so, mention it here. This will make onboarding less confusing for candidates.

Point of contact

Provide a human touch to the hiring process by leaving your name and contact information. This way, applicants can reach out if they have questions about the job or the application process.

Key dates

Give job seekers a better idea of how the application process works by adding dates for the following:

• When the job ad was posted
• When the job ad will expire
• When the job will start

Hiring process

Tell candidates what to expect in the coming weeks. Do they have to take a coding test? Will there be an in-person interview? How many interview stages are there?

Tips for Writing a Compelling Job Description for AWS Cloud Architects

Now that you know how to write an AWS cloud architect job description from scratch, here are our top tips for writing a good JD.

1. Pay attention to your JD text format

If your JD is excruciatingly long, you’re going to drive potential applicants away. Like you, job seekers have limited time and energy. As such, they will avoid long job descriptions even if the job is perfect for them.

If your JD must be long, break it up into readable sections so it won’t look like a wall of text. 

Here are some tips for formatting your AWS cloud architect job description:

• Use headings (H2s) and sub-headings (H3s, H4s, and H5s) 
• Use bullets for lists as long as they contain more than three items
• Add charts, images, and videos as needed
• Highlight or bold key dates, work location, and other important information
• Use anchor links

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2. Be inclusive

Next, you need to make sure that JD is open to everyone. Merely saying your company is an equal opportunity employer isn’t enough — you need to use inclusive language and remove words and phrases that might be unconsciously biased against people of color and women.

Follow these guidelines for removing bias from your AWS cloud architecture job description:

Use impartial and non-gendered language

Language plays a crucial role in the recruitment process. JDs containing subtly coded language can discourage some people from applying. 

As such, you should:

• Use gender-neutral pronouns like “you” instead of “he” and “she”
• Use the phrase “all genders” instead of “men” and “women”
• Use language tools like Gender Decoder and Textio to spot bias in your language and appeal to a more diverse talent pool

This will help all job seekers to see themselves in the position.

Focus on essential skills

Did you know that women are less likely to apply for positions unless they meet all of the requirements? In contrast, men are more likely to apply even if they don’t meet all of the requirements. 

In other words, the more skills you list, the less likely women will apply to your job. As a result, you should limit your post to only the skills you need the most.

Avoid overly industry-specific jargon

Every industry has technical words and phrases that only insiders can understand. Examples from the cloud industry include the following:

• Containerization
• API
• Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS)
• DevOps
• Hybrid cloud
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Try to cut down on the amount of jargon, especially if you’re writing a JD for entry-level AWS cloud architects. Fresh grads are more likely to be intimidated by this type of vocab.

3. Address job seekers directly

Many JDs address job seekers in the third person. However, the best way to engage applicants is to use the second person “you.” This will make your writing more engaging and allow applicants to envision where they would fit.

For example, instead of saying:

The ideal AWS cloud architect candidate should have...

You should say:

You'd make a great fit on our infrastructure team if you have...

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4. Include specific instructions for applying

If you don’t want to be overwhelmed with applications, consider adding specific instructions for filtering out candidates who don’t read JDs carefully. 

For instance, you could tell job seekers to:

• Send their resume and cover letter to a designated email address instead of using the apply button on the job platform.
• Include their GitHub URL along with their cover letter and resume
• Include three links to projects they’ve worked on in their cover letter

5. End your JD with a call-to-action

Finally, your JD needs to end with a call-to-action (CTA) that encourages AWS cloud architects to apply.

Here are some effective CTAs for converting eye-ballers to applicants:

• An eye-catching Apply button: Ideally, your Apply button should be at the top. Most companies place Apply buttons next to the job title or just under it. Wherever you decide to place yours, make sure applicants don’t have to scroll to see it.
• A “Join talent community” button: Some hires don’t have the experience, skills, or confidence to apply to your job. To capture these potential leads, ask them to join your talent community. You can send them frequent updates about your company and relevant AWS solutions architect jobs as they appear.
• Share buttons: Last but not least, your JD should give readers a simple way to share your job through email and social platforms. This will expose your JD to a larger network of people.

Read More: How to Implement a Welcoming Software Developer Onboarding Process

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