Job Description
Powering the world’s payments ecosystem
ACI powers the payments ecosystem – globally, and you power ACI. You’ll innovate, collaborate, and grow – in an energetic technology culture with decades of proven success. ACIers – in all roles and levels – are truly your colleagues and many are your friends. Our size and reach allow you to see the global impact of your work. You are visible, your talents are valued, and you are empowered to shape the future of payments.
As a Principal Cloud Architect in Pune, you will join a diverse, passionate team, dedicated to powering the world’s payments ecosystem!
JOB PURPOSE
The Principal Cloud Architect defines and governs enterprise cloud architecture strategies across multi-cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP). This senior technical leader drives cloud adoption initiatives, establishes architecture standards, and provides technical leadership for complex cloud transformations to optimize scalability, security, and cost-efficiency.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Architecture & Strategy
- Define enterprise cloud architecture roadmap and reference architectures for multi-cloud environments
- Establish governance frameworks, standards, and architecture review processes
- Lead architecture design for mission-critical, high-availability systems
- Create technical documentation including HLDs, LLDs, and architecture decision records
Security & Compliance
- Design cloud security architecture following Zero Trust principles
- Architect IAM strategies, network security, and encryption solutions
- Ensure compliance with SOC 2, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, and FedRAMP requirements
Infrastructure & Operations
- Design IaC frameworks using Terraform, CloudFormation, or ARM templates with CI/CD pipelines
- Architect container orchestration platforms (Kubernetes/EKS/AKS/GKE) and observability solutions
- Lead cloud migrations using 6Rs framework and modernization of legacy systems
FinOps & Cost Optimization
- Establish FinOps practices, cloud cost governance frameworks, and chargeback/showback models
- Architect cost-efficient solutions leveraging rightsizing, reserved instances, savings plans, and spot instances
- Develop cloud cost budgets, forecasting models, and variance reporting
- Monitor spending patterns and drive continuous cost optimization initiatives
Other:
- Perform other duties as assigned
- Understand and adhere to all corporate policies to include but not limited to the ACI Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
QUALIFICATIONS
Education
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field; Master's preferred
- Equivalent experience (8+ years) may substitute for degree
Experience
- 8-12+ years in cloud architecture or enterprise architecture
- 15+ years related experience, including but not limited to technical product architecture and/or product development experience, design, architectural modeling
- 5+ years hands-on with AWS, Azure, or GCP; 3+ years in technical leadership roles
- Experience with large-scale cloud transformations and multi-cloud architectures
- Payments, financial services, or regulated industry experience preferred
Technical Skills
- Expert in AWS, Azure, or GCP services, architecture patterns, and Well-Architected Frameworks
- Strong proficiency in IaC (Terraform, CloudFormation), Kubernetes, and CI/CD platforms
- Advanced networking (VPCs, hybrid connectivity), security architecture, and IAM
- Experience with databases (relational/NoSQL), data warehousing, and migration tools
- Proficiency with FinOps tools, cloud cost management platforms, and financial modeling
- Scripting skills (Python, PowerShell, Bash) and observability platforms
Professional Skills
- Exceptional communication with ability to present to technical and executive audiences
- Strategic thinking, stakeholder influence, and cross-functional collaboration
- Technical mentorship and leadership capabilities
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- AWS Solutions Architect Professional, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, or GCP Professional Cloud Architect
- FinOps Certified Practitioner or FinOps Certified Professional
- CKA/CKAD, TOGAF, or security certifications (CISSP, CCSP)
- Experience at massive scale (PB-scale data, millions of transactions/day)
- Published thought leadership or open-source contributions
COMPETENCIES
Technical
- Cloud architecture mastery and multi-cloud expertise
- Security, compliance, and infrastructure automation
- FinOps, cost optimization, and cloud financial management
Professional
- Strategic vision and technical leadership
- Communication excellence and stakeholder management
- Continuous improvement and business alignment
WORK ENVIRONMENT
- 10-20% travel for client meetings, conferences, and architecture reviews
- On-call rotation participation; occasional off-hours work for critical implementations
Core Capabilities:
We seek colleagues who embody our core capabilities — these shape our culture and enable us to make a meaningful impact together:
- Ensure Accountability: holding self and others accountable to meet commitments.
- Drives Results: consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
- Customer Focus: building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
- Cultivate Innovation: creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
- Collaborates: building partnerships and working collaboratively with others.
- Courage: stepping up to address difficult issues, saying what needs to be said.
I n return for your expertise, we offer opportunities for growth, career development, and a competitive compensation and benefits package—all within an innovative and collaborative work environment.
Are you ready to help us transform the payments ecosystem? To learn more about ACI Worldwide, visit our web site at www.aciworldwide.com
#LI-AP
ACI Worldwide is a global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software Our proven, secure and scalable software solutions enable leading corporations, fintechs and financial disruptors to process and manage digital payments, power omni-commerce payments, present and process bill payments, and manage fraud and risk We combine our global footprint with a local presence to drive the real-time digital transformation of payments and commerce.
