IonQ

Principal Cloud Architect

IonQ$167K — $219K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Information Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • 7+ years in IT infrastructure, software engineering, or systems architecture; 3 years in a cloud-focused role.
  • Deep expertise in a major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud).
  • Strong understanding of cloud networking, identity and access management, and security best practices.
  • Experience designing scalable, resilient, and secure distributed systems.
  • Proficiency with infrastructure-as-code tooling (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation).
  • Experience with containerization and orchestration (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).

Responsibilities

  • Design and document cloud architectures for various services.
  • Define cloud reference architectures and technical standards for teams.
  • Lead migration efforts to transition workloads to the cloud.
  • Evaluate and recommend cloud services based on fit and cost.
  • Implement infrastructure-as-code for version control and auditability.
  • Build security and compliance into architectures from the outset.
  • Develop strategies for high availability and disaster recovery.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans.
  • Matching 401(k) contribution.
  • Unlimited PTO and paid holidays.
  • Parental/adoption leave.
  • Legal insurance coverage.
  • Home technology stipend.
Full Job Description
Location: This position can work onsite or hybrid from one of our offices in the US or fully remote.
Travel: Up to 5%Job ID: 1735

The Role:

We are looking for a Cloud Architect to lead the design, implementation, and governance of our cloud infrastructure. In this role, you will define the technical strategy for how we build and operate workloads in the cloud, translate business requirements into scalable architectures, and serve as the technical authority on cloud platforms across the organization. You will partner closely with engineering, security, and operations teams to ensure our cloud environment is reliable, secure, cost-effective, and aligned with long-term business goals.

Responsibilities:
  • Design and document end-to-end cloud architectures spanning compute, storage, networking, identity, and data services.
  • Define and maintain cloud reference architectures, design patterns, and technical standards that engineering teams build against.
  • Lead cloud migration efforts, including assessment, planning, and execution of moving on-premises or legacy workloads to the cloud.
  • Evaluate and recommend cloud services, tools, and third-party solutions based on technical fit, cost, and operational impact.
  • Implement infrastructure-as-code practices to ensure environments are repeatable, version-controlled, and auditable.
  • Build security and compliance into architectures from the start, including identity and access management, encryption, network segmentation, and adherence to relevant regulatory frameworks.
  • Develop strategies for high availability, disaster recovery, scalability, and performance optimization.
  • Establish cloud cost management and governance practices, identifying opportunities to optimize spend.
  • Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineering teams, conducting architecture reviews and guiding implementation decisions.
  • Stay current with emerging cloud technologies and assess their potential value to the organization.
  • Collaborate with stakeholders across the business to align cloud strategy with organizational objectives.

Requirements:
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • 7+ years of experience in IT infrastructure, software engineering, or systems architecture, with at least 3 years in a cloud-focused role.
  • Deep, hands-on expertise with at least one major cloud platform (AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform).
  • Strong understanding of cloud networking, identity and access management, and security best practices.
  • Proven experience designing scalable, resilient, and secure distributed systems.
  • Proficiency with infrastructure-as-code tooling (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, Bicep, or Pulumi).
  • Experience with containerization and orchestration (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
  • Solid grasp of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Experience architecting across multiple cloud providers or in hybrid-cloud environments.
  • Relevant certifications such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect (Professional), Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Google Professional Cloud Architect, or TOGAF.
  • Familiarity with monitoring, observability, and logging platforms.
  • Experience with scripting or programming languages (e.g., Python, Go, PowerShell).
  • Background working in regulated or compliance-driven industries.
  • Experience leading or mentoring technical teams.


The approximate base salary range for this position is $167,808 - $219,704. The total compensation package includes base, bonus, equity, and a range of benefit options found on our career site.

Compensation will vary based on individual factors such as education, qualifications, and experience of the final candidate(s), specific office location, and calibration against relevant market data and internal team equity. Posted base salary figures are subject to change as new market data becomes available. Our benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans, matching 401(k), unlimited PTO and paid holidays, parental/adoption leave, legal insurance, and a home technology stipend. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided when a candidate receives an offer of employment.

About IonQ

IonQ is a quantum computing company that is developing a general-purpose, full-stack quantum computer based on trapped ion technology. The company was founded in 2015 by Chris Monroe and Jungsang Kim. IonQ's quantum computer is designed to be scalable, error-corrected, and fault-tolerant, and is expected to be able to solve problems that are intractable for classical computers. The company has partnerships with Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and others. IonQ has raised over $225 million in funding to date.
Learn more about IonQ
Size
100 employees
Market Cap
$633 million
Industry
Founded
2016
NASDAQ

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