Senior Google Cloud Platform Architect

Description:
On-site in Washington, DC

Our client seeks a Senior Google Cloud Platform Architect to serve as the principal technical authority for enterprise cloud architecture, DevSecOps, and platform automation across multi-tenant environments. The role provides governance over Google Cloud Platform landing zones, zero-trust patterns, and continuous authorization practices spanning Commercial, FedRAMP Moderate, and FedRAMP High enclaves. The architect will standardize Terraform-based automation, integrate CI/CD and continuous compliance, and lead portal-to-API orchestration for self-service provisioning. The role also defines secure integration patterns for enterprise AI services and enforces ethical AI controls.

This is a contract to hire opportunity. Applicants must be willing and able to work on a w2 basis and convert to FTE following contract duration. For our w2 consultants, we offer a great benefits package that includes Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits, 401k with company matching, and life insurance.

Rate: $90.00 to $100.00/hr. w2

Responsibilities:

• Design, maintain, and govern multi-folder Google Cloud Platform landing zones using Assured Workloads for FedRAMP Moderate and High compliance with organizational policy, data residency, and CMEK via Cloud KMS.
• Define and enforce boundaries between shared services management and tenant application workloads, including firewalls, HA VPN, DNS, Infoblox, and connectivity hubs.
• Author and standardize modular Terraform with JSON/YAML parameters for landing zone vending, subnet allocation, and zero-trust IAM roles.
• Implement VPC Service Controls, Workload Identity Federation, service account governance, and fine-grained RBAC.
• Architect CI/CD with GitHub Actions and Jenkins, including SAST, DAST, and dependency scanning in PR workflows.
• Establish continuous authorization baselines aligned to NIST SP 800-53 and FedRAMP with automated compliance validation and drift detection.
• Design centralized logging and monitoring with Cloud Logging sinks, Pub/Sub, Dataflow, and downstream platforms such as Elastic Cloud or Splunk.
• Lead integration between user-facing portals and backend Google Cloud Platform APIs for self-service provisioning with standardized orchestration, state tracking, and error handling.
• Implement cross-boundary authentication using SAML 2.0, Entra ID, Keycloak, and OIDC federation.
• Define enterprise AI architecture standards for Vertex AI and Gemini, including PSC, VPC-SC, and CMEK for secure datasets and interactions.
• Oversee ethical AI controls, DLP, prompt security, and continuous monitoring of AI payloads.

Experience Requirements:

• 8+ years in cloud engineering, IT infrastructure, and DevSecOps with 4+ years as Lead Google Cloud Platform Engineer or Cloud Architect in complex multi-tenant environments.
• Proven Google Cloud Platform architecture with Shared VPC, Interconnect or HA VPN, Palo Alto NGFW, VPC-SC perimeters, and GKE governance.
• Practical understanding of FedRAMP Moderate/High, Assured Workloads, DoD Iron Bank, and continuous monitoring practices.
• Preferred multi-cloud awareness across AWS or Azure for identity federation and hybrid networking.
• Preferred Terraform expertise in modular design, remote state, plan/apply automation, dynamic data parsing, and drift resolution.
• Advanced knowledge of GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and branching strategies for immutable deployments.

Education Requirements:

• Must possess or be eligible for a Public Trust clearance.
• Preferred certifications: Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect and Professional Cloud Security Engineer.

Recruitment Transparency Notice



Eliassen Group values transparency in our recruitment practices. Please be advised that Eliassen Group utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) tools as part of its initial application screening and hiring process. You may receive email and SMS notifications from the Eliassen Virtual Recruiting Team (, ) inviting you to complete a brief voice screening as part of your application process. These tools assist our hiring teams in different ways, including but not limited to, assistance in reviewing application materials to help identify candidates whose qualifications most closely match the requirements of the position. All AI-assisted evaluations and responses are reviewed by human recruiters before any hiring decisions are made. The use of AI in our process is intended to support fairness, efficiency, and consistency, and Eliassen Group takes measures to prevent bias or discrimination in connection with its hiring practices. By proceeding, you acknowledge, agree, and consent to Eliassen Group's use of these tools, including AI tools, as part of the application and hiring process.

Skills, experience, and other compensable factors will be considered when determining pay rate. The pay range provided in this posting reflects a W2 hourly rate; other employment options may be available that may result in pay outside of the provided range.

W2 employees of Eliassen Group who are regularly scheduled to work 30 or more hours per week are eligible for the following benefits: medical (choice of 3 plans), dental, vision, pre-tax accounts, other voluntary benefits including life and disability insurance, 401(k) with match, and sick time if required by law in the worked-in state/locality.
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About Eliassen Group:

Eliassen Group is a strategic consulting firm that helps organizations reach further and achieve more through our technology, business advisory, and life sciences solutions. For nearly 40 years, we have combined exceptional people, deep domain expertise, and intelligent capabilities to expand our clients' capacity and accelerate meaningful outcomes. We are driven by a purpose to positively impact the lives of our employees, clients, consultants, and the communities we serve.

Eliassen is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team from a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We are an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer and all employment decisions are based on merit, performance, and business needs. Eliassen does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender identity or expression, sexual preference or orientation, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), marital status, creed, religion, physical or mental disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, age, ancestry, national origin, citizenship status, prohibited criminal record inquiries of applicants and employees, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local laws.

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