Principal cloud architect

About Northern Trust:

Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889.

Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world’s most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Job Summary

Northern Trust is seeking a visionary and highly experienced Principal Cloud Architect to lead the design, development, and implementation of scalable, secure, and resilient cloud solutions. This role is pivotal in shaping our cloud strategy, driving innovation, and ensuring alignment with business goals. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in cloud architecture, a strong understanding of enterprise IT, and a passion for mentoring and guiding technical teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect and Design: Lead the design of cloud-native and hybrid architectures that meet business, security, and compliance requirements.
• Strategy & Roadmap: Define and evolve the enterprise cloud strategy, standards, and best practices.
• Leadership: Serve as a technical leader and advisor across multiple teams, influencing cloud adoption and modernization efforts.
• Innovation: Evaluate emerging technologies and trends to drive continuous improvement and innovation.
• Governance: Establish cloud governance frameworks, cost optimization strategies, and operational excellence.
• Collaboration: Work closely with engineering, security, DevOps, and business stakeholders to deliver end-to-end solutions.
• Mentorship: Coach and mentor architects, engineers, and developers on cloud best practices and architectural patterns.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in IT, with at least 5 years in cloud architecture roles.
• Deep expertise in one or more major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Strong knowledge of cloud security, networking, DevOps, and automation.
• Experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and serverless architectures.
• Proven track record of leading large-scale cloud transformation initiatives.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Cloud certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect).
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, ARM, CloudFormation).
• Familiarity with multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments.
• Strong coding ability in languages such as Python, Go, Java, or similar, with the ability to contribute to infrastructure tooling, automation, or proof-of-concept development.

Background in regulated industries (e.g., finance, healthcare, government) is a plus

Salary Range:

Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits. Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.

Working with Us:

As a Northern Trust partner, greater achievements await. You will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture in an organization where financial strength and stability is an asset that emboldens us to explore new ideas.

Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to assisting the communities we serve! Join a workplace with a greater purpose.

We’d love to learn more about how your interests and experience could be a fit with one of the world’s most admired and sustainable companies! Build your career with us and apply today. #MadeForGreater

Reasonable accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at

[email protected]

We hope you’re excited about the role and the opportunity to work with us. We value an inclusive workplace and understand flexibility means different things to different people.

Apply today and talk to us about your flexible working requirements and together we can achieve greater.