Principal Cloud Architect

Calix provides the cloud, software platforms, systems and services required for communications service providers to simplify their businesses, excite their subscribers and grow their value.

This is a remote position that could be based anywhere in the United States or Canada

As a Principal Cloud Architect, you will lead the architectural design of next-generation cloud solutions across our GCP infrastructure. You will define technical strategy, create architectural standards, and guide the implementation of large-scale distributed systems. Your expertise in cloud architecture patterns, AI/ML systems design, and modern observability frameworks will be critical in shaping Calix's technical direction and enabling our transformation toward intelligent cloud-native solutions.

At Calix, purpose runs deep—we’re driven by the conviction that bridging the digital divide can change lives. Here, you’ll thrive in a vibrant, collaborative culture that champions creativity, celebrates out of the box ideas, and fuels continuous personal and professional growth. Working with us means joining hands—virtually or side by side—with industry leaders and subject matter experts, all passionate about building a more inclusive digital future. Together, we spark a culture of relentless innovation and belonging where your contributions don’t just matter—they make a lasting difference.

Over the past three years, Calix’s unwavering commitment and relentless pursuit of excellence have been recognized with 145 awards for product superiority, innovation, and workplace culture from renowned organizations such as Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Digiday, Great Places to Work, and Comparably.

Build a meaningful career. Drive impact. Help us transform society—one community at a time.

Key Responsibilities:

Cloud Solution Architecture

• Design and architect enterprise-scale cloud solutions on Google Cloud Platform for telecommunications workloads
• Create technical blueprints for microservices architectures, API gateways, and distributed system patterns
• Define cloud migration strategies and modernization roadmaps for legacy telecommunications systems
• Architect multi-tenant, multi-region solutions with focus on scalability, security, and cost optimization

AI/ML Systems Architecture

• Design cloud infrastructure for AI/ML workloads including model training, inference pipelines, and MLOps frameworks
• Architect agentic AI systems and LLM-powered applications with focus on performance and reliability
• Create technical specifications for intelligent automation and self-healing infrastructure systems
• Define data architecture patterns for AI/ML pipelines and real-time analytics

Technical Strategy & Standards

• Establish cloud architecture standards, patterns, and best practices across engineering teams
• Lead technical decision-making for cloud technology selection and architectural trade-offs
• Create and maintain architectural documentation, reference architectures, and design guidelines
• Collaborate with security and compliance teams to ensure architectural adherence to industry standards

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner with product teams to translate business requirements into scalable technical architectures
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to senior engineers and architecture team members
• Lead architecture review boards and ensure architectural consistency across multiple projects
• Drive innovation initiatives and evaluate emerging cloud technologies for potential adoption

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, with 15+ years of experience architecting and delivering customer-centric technology solutions.
• Experience working as a hands-on enterprise application architect implementing architecture integration roadmaps through all phases of the project lifecycle.
• Knowledge and experience designing solutions with the GCP suite of products as well as using containerization frameworks such as Docker and Kubernetes .
• Experience in designing solution with NATS
• Proven success creating business-enabling technology roadmaps.
• Experience in building ML and AI frameworks
• Hands-on engineer who can collaborate with the team from the ground-up.
• History of introducing new/emerging technology to disrupt business models.
• Proven success creating business-enabling technology roadmaps

#LI-Remote

The base pay range for this position varies based on the geographic location. More information about the pay range specific to candidate location and other factors will be shared during the recruitment process. Individual pay is determined based on location of residence and multiple factors, including job-related knowledge, skills and experience.

San Francisco Bay Area:

182,900 - 310,500 USD Annual

All Other US Locations:

159,000 - 270,000 USD Annual

As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for a bonus. For information on our benefits click here

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