Cloud Infrastructure Architect

Columbia, MD

Cloud Infrastructure Architect

👋🏼 Hey!

Bitwise is a leading provider of mission-focused intelligence solutions that advance national security for the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense. We're a small and growing company, so you can expect to hop in on the ground floor with us and be a consequential member of the team. You'll be more than a contract performer for us — you'll also be asked for ideas to improve our company and improve your career, and you'll contribute to our team culture. We value growth and community above almost all else, so we gather regularly for game nights, happy hours, tech talks, and plenty more. We think you'll like it here!

Remember, Bitwise is not a cult. 🖖🏼

🎯 What We Look For

Bitwise hires talented engineers who are driven by purpose and who value a culture of technical excellence, growth, and overall wellness. We deliver new and innovative intelligence solutions to our customers at the very forefront of our country's national security missions. And we do it every single day. Our work matters, and so will you.

We ask that every new hire be able to:

Contribute meaningful thought leadership — if not right away, over time
Interact with our customers and earn their confidence in your abilities
Be detailed, even if that means taking a little more time to get it right
Contribute their ideas and ideals to improve all aspects of our company
Allow us to invest in their education so we both grow together
Know and live our core values every single day

💡 About this Role

This is a rare opportunity to be the technical pioneer on a mission that's just been greenlit: moving a CNO development environment from a patchwork of legacy infrastructure into a modern, cloud-native backbone. You won't be inheriting someone else's half-finished roadmap — you'll be building it. The work you do here will directly shape how CNO developers build, test, and collaborate for years to come, including enabling AI-assisted development and FVEY partner collaboration, all while keeping the mission running without interruption.

As the Cloud Infrastructure Architect, you'll own the technical strategy from end to end. You'll design the roadmap and reusable architecture patterns that give teams a clear, low-friction path to cloud adoption — think "easy button" templates and shared resources — while preserving the flexibility for organizations to keep managing on-premise infrastructure when the mission demands it. You'll start with high-ROI pilots and build from there, designing for incremental wins rather than a risky big-bang migration.

Your day-to-day will include architecting solutions for complex CNE services — tackling challenges like migrating 90%+ capacity workloads to cloud storage, creating integration patterns between legacy systems and cloud-native services, and ensuring every solution maintains rigorous security controls while improving performance and scalability. You'll conduct technical assessments of existing infrastructure, working with stakeholders to document dependencies, evaluate service utility, and build prioritization frameworks based on EOL timelines, mission impact, cost efficiency, and real user pain points.

You'll partner closely with cloud professional services teams to scope engagements, validate architectures, and ensure solutions are purpose-built for CNE development, testing, and collaboration requirements. You'll also reimagine how CNE developers experience their environment — from unified SSO across disparate clients to elegant solutions for large-scale datasets.

Above all, you're here to make this the best place for software development at the agency. The kind of environment that attracts top-tier talent and actually keeps them.

📋 Requirements

8 years of experience in systems engineering and cloud architecture, with a proven track record of building, breaking, and rebuilding complex enterprise infrastructure; a B.S. in a technical discipline is required, or 4 additional years of experience in lieu of a degree
At least 4 years of hands-on, production AWS experience, including serverless technologies such as AWS Lambda, AWS Fargate, Route 53, API Gateway, Amazon CloudWatch, and S3, as well as cloud storage tiers — this role is native cloud-focused, so deep AWS fluency is a must
Demonstrated experience leading infrastructure modernization efforts, specifically executing incremental, thoughtful migrations rather than lift-and-shift approaches
Familiarity with agency-specific cloud compliance requirements, including ATO processes and operations within the WANDS environment
Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills, including the ability to build ROI models and translate complex technical decisions for security teams, executives, and mission developers alike
Active NSYS clearance is required
Position is located in Emerson

Beyond the technical bar, we're looking for someone who brings:

A service-oriented mindset — you think of yourself as a customer-service professional first, and your technology choices always serve the mission, not the other way around
Mission-driven pragmatism — you can hold a long-term strategic vision in one hand and today's most pressing problem in the other, designing for optionality and rapid, incremental wins
A collaborative leadership style — you value knowledge-sharing and empowering teammates over individual heroics, and you thrive in embedded, cross-functional environments

🌟 Preferred Skills

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate or Professional
Experience working in CNO spaces or similar high-side environments
CNO development experience — understanding what developers actually need makes you a more effective infrastructure architect
Enclave experience — you understand the constraints of restricted environments and how security controls shape architecture decisions in meaningful ways
Cost optimization and FinOps experience — right-sizing cloud resources, building defensible cost models, and knowing when cloud actually saves money versus when managed service costs spiral out of control

🏝️ Benefits at Bitwise

Top salaries because we're top performers
Pick your PTO — Everyone values time and money differently, so we give you the flexibility to choose between 3 and 5 weeks of PTO with a corresponding adjustment to your pay. Your choice, your balance.
All 11 federal holidays, paid!
Up to 2 snow days, paid!
We'll quadruple (4x!) the first 6% you contribute to your 401(k), giving you up to a 24% company match. Contributing less than 6%? Unclaimed matches come right back to you as extra income, giving you a guaranteed 24% that goes to your retirement, to your paycheck, or both. C'mon now! 🚀
100% employer-paid medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurances. That's a lot. Already covered on health insurance? No problem — we'll trade you this benefit for a boost to your salary instead.
$5,250 annual education assistance for training, certifications, tuition, and even student loan repayments.
Spot bonuses for obtained certifications, customer recognition, and just about anything else that makes us go "Hot damn!". We hope to say that many times about you. 🔥

💰 Salary Range

$219,000 – $257,500

This range includes our flex income and depends upon your annual work hours.

Salary is determined on an individual basis following the interview process and considering various factors such as years of experience, skills, education, and certifications.

🛎️ What to Expect After Applying

You'll get an email from us right away to acknowledge your application. After that, we'll:

Send over additional company materials for you to review
Schedule a video call to talk about you, our company, and your place in it
Craft a delightful offer package for you and record a video walkthrough
Work closely with you through onboarding. We'll keep it joyful and easy.

ℹ️ Disclaimers

Bitwise is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs.

Compensation for this position, including all compensation options, will be determined on an individual basis following the interview process.

If you require accommodations at any stage of the application or interview process, please reach out to us.

Last updated: 3/2/26