Cloud Solution Architect (Early in Profession)

Job description

**Overview** At Microsoft, we're empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As a Cloud Solution Architect, you'll help customers accelerate their digital transformation journey through cloud, data, analytics, AI, and modern application technologies. This role is designed for individuals who have **2 to 4 years of experience** and are **passionate about technology, curious about AI, and excited to solve real business challenges using innovative solutions**. Working alongside experienced architects and technical specialists, you will build your expertise in Azure, cloud architecture, data and analytics, application development, security, and emerging AI technologies. You'll partner with customers to understand their goals, support solution design and deployment activities, and help them realize value from Microsoft's technology platform. We're looking for someone who combines **strong problem-solving skills, a growth mindset, and the ability to translate technical concepts into customer outcomes**. Experience with **SQL, Power BI, Python, cloud technologies, automation, APIs, and security** will help you succeed in this role. As part of Microsoft's Customer Success organization, you'll collaborate across teams, learn from industry experts, and contribute to delivering secure, scalable, and innovative cloud solutions that empower organizations to achieve more. **This is an excellent opportunity for someone who is excited by the future of AI and cloud technologies and wants to build hands-on experience helping customers adopt innovative solutions at scale.** **Multiple Opportunities Available** **Location:** We are actively hiring multiple positions across Australia. Candidates may be based in **Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra or Perth.** **Target Start Date:** November to December 2026 **Please note:** Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and we expect the recruitment process to move quickly. We encourage interested candidates to apply as early as possible. *Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees, we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.* **What You'll Bring** We're particularly interested in candidates who demonstrate: - Curiosity about AI and a willingness to learn - Foundational data and analytics skills using SQL, Power BI and Python - Cloud fundamentals, including Azure certifications or hands-on experience - The ability to build or automate simple solutions - Understanding of modern application development and APIs - Awareness of security, governance, and data protection principles - Strong problem-solving skills - A customer and business outcome mindset - Clear communication and collaboration skills - Growth mindset and learning agility **Responsibilities** **Business Impact** - Supports team in identifying new opportunities for **Consumption, Usage & Unified expansion (especially Enhanced Solutions)** at scale, based on customer business value and a clear understanding of the **Microsoft value proposition** to empower cloud success, strengthen security and resiliency, and drive **AI innovation**. - Learns how to **actively listen**, respectfully challenge customers and partners, build trust, and advocate for alternative architectures, solutions, and approaches that enhance customer requirements. - Assists team members in identifying industry trends, gathering customer and partner insights, and mapping architecture and digital transformation solutions to customer business outcomes. - Proactively captures opportunities in appropriate systems, processes, and tools, working collaboratively across Microsoft to execute opportunities aligned with the **Customer Engagement Model**. - Learns how to deliver solutions in line with company methodologies, including **Value-Based Deliverables (VBDs)**, training, technical validation, and advisory services, while following proven practices that help customers achieve operational readiness and business goals. - Begins to leverage change management practices and support customer deployment and long-term organizational adoption to increase customer satisfaction and drive consumption and usage. - Supports team efforts in guiding customers toward **well-architected, secure, resilient, AI-enabled, cost- and performance-optimized solutions** that increase retention and expansion opportunities. - Supports more experienced peers in providing feedback to the Unified Delivery Team to refine and improve Value-Based Deliverables (VBDs). - Learns how to operate according to **operational excellence standards** throughout all sales stages, activities, and systems of record. - Supports collaboration across Microsoft and customer or partner teams to achieve business objectives and improve customer satisfaction. - Learns how to manage **business and technical risks**, adapting methodologies and applying governance principles to identify, communicate, and minimize risk. - Executes work in compliance with industry and Microsoft guidelines and procedures while learning how to prioritize competing demands and align work to business priorities. - Learns how to identify, escalate, and mitigate blockers to accelerate **solution deployment, value realization, and usage/consumption**. - Develops business, technical, industry, and enterprise knowledge and learns how to apply it to architecture and support projects that address customer requirements and constraints. **Customer Centricity** - Develops the capability to deliver a **seamless and connected customer experience** while building an understanding of customer goals and addressing customer or partner dissatisfaction. - Learns how to identify and translate customer and partner challenges into industry solutions aligned with Microsoft's product and platform strategy. - Begins to demonstrate how proposed solutions support customer outcomes and **return on investment (ROI)** through approaches such as proof of concepts, minimally viable products (MVPs), and rapid prototypes. - Learns how to help customers adopt Microsoft product and platform strategy-aligned solutions across solution areas. - Supports team members in building relationships with **Technical Decision Makers (TDMs)**. - Learns how to **act as the voice of the customer**, sharing feedback, insights, success stories, and strategic or technical recommendations with Engineering, Product Offerings, and internal communities. - Supports the identification of patterns across customers, partners, territories, and industries and contributes ideas that can be turned into actionable insights. - Learns how to present business cases to program managers. **Partner Specialization** - Provides assistance to partners in identifying opportunities that align with their capabilities and revenue goals. - Assists partner and sales teams with opportunities through **proof of concept engagements** and technical pre-sales support. - Begins to understand solution area-specific market opportunities and contributes ideas to programmatic initiatives with support from peers and leadership. - Supports partners in developing offerings, practices, products, and solutions. - Assists partners in growing their portfolio of solutions and technical capabilities. - Supports the delivery of technical enablement and provides assistance during initial customer implementations. **Technical Leadership** - Begins to leverage market insights and demand signals to identify opportunities for **upskilling, accreditations, and technical readiness**. - Develops technical readiness aligned to solution area priorities and broader Customer Success Unit (CSU) initiatives, including **security, resilience, and AI**. - Participates in team and organizational readiness activities, learning technical and non-technical concepts and proven practices. - Identifies delivery gaps and communicates improvement opportunities to more experienced colleagues. - Begins to connect patterns across business and technology areas that may drive improvements to products, intellectual property (IP), technologies, and scalable solution practices. - Learns structured frameworks and methodologies and may contribute to their development. - Participates in virtual teams (v-teams) focused on technologies and customer challenges while developing an understanding of Microsoft architectures and the competitive landscape. - Develops industry knowledge and contributes to presentations, materials, and engagements for internal and external audiences, including events such as **Tech Connect, Build, and Ignite**. - Learns how to contribute to Intellectual Property (IP) development and identify scalable opportunities, including **Copilot and AI scenarios**. - May participate in external technical and professional communities, conferences, seminars, meetups, webcasts, blogs, and hackathons that help strengthen the Microsoft brand and share learnings across the team. **Qualifications** **Required Minimum Qualifications** - Bachelor's Degree or Master's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical field AND **a minimum of 2 years of related experience** in cloud/infrastructure technologies, IT consulting/support, systems administration, network operations, software development/support, technology solutions, practice development, or architecture. **Preferred Qualifications** - Bachelor's Degree or Master's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical field AND **2 to 4 years of of related experience** in cloud/infrastructure technologies, IT consulting/support, systems administration, network operations, software development/support, technology solutions, practice development, or architecture. This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. --- Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about [**requesting accommodations.**](https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html)