Position: Lead Cloud and Systems Engineering – Full Time/Exempt
Department: Information Technology
Reports to: Vice President, Technology
Location: Arizona Cardinals (Tempe, AZ) NOTE: Starting 2028, this role will be based at the new Arizona Cardinals Training Facility in north Phoenix, AZ (https://www.azcardinals.com/news/new-arizona-cardinals-practice-facility-on-target-for-opening-in-2028).
Format: In-person
Note: Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of a student or employment Visas (including, but not limited to F-1, M-1, J-1, H-1B, OPT and/or CPT programs, etc.).
Cardinals Organizational Summary:
The Arizona Cardinals Football Club is a professional football team within the National Football League (NFL). We compete in the National Football Conference (NFC) West division and call State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, our home.
As one of the oldest pro football franchises in the U.S., the Club has established itself as a sport and cultural hallmark within Arizona, as well as a trailblazer for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives and firsts around the League. Our vision is to build a leading sports organization that competes for championships, drives business results, creates loyal fans, develops proud employees, and inspires hope in our community. We are relentless in our pursuit of greatness on and off the field, while positively impacting our people, our fans, and our community.
If you want to join an organization that values putting the team first, doing what is right, growing with positivity, valuing every voice, while driving performance, we would love for you to join our team. Learn more about the Arizona Cardinals and see what’s happening here (https://www.azcardinals.com/community/).
Job Summary:
The Arizona Cardinals are seeking a motivated, enthusiastic, passionate, and experienced enterprise applications lead with strong technology collaboration, development, migration, and integration experience. This position will be part of a dynamic and multifunctional technical team that supports Arizona Cardinals staff at the Tempe facilities and State Farm Stadium.
This position is a vital part of the technology department and will be based at the Tempe business office and will support all equipment and employees working at the Tempe Office, Tempe Headquarters, State Farm Stadium, and other locations as required. The main responsibilities for this position include planning and management enterprise systems such as Cloud, Hybrid cloud, Cloud applications and integrations on-premises server integrations, HRIS, Fintech, ERP, Legal, and other related computing technologies and systems. The Director of Cloud Engineering will also manage cloud systems and applications e.g. Azure, AWS, GCP and related integrations.
The role ensures enterprise architecture models and associated design components are maintained in a coherent manner and that appropriate considerations are made for extensibility, scalability, cybersecurity, and quality. The role ensures that the respective business application data, and technology perspectives are in line with the organization’s technology and cybersecurity governance strategies, policies, and standards. The role is expected to provide technology thought leadership addressing complex project issues by facilitating alignment across disparate teams.
Cybersecurity and network monitoring are high priorities of the Arizona Cardinals and the National Football League; thus, the network systems and related data and downstream applications must be safeguarded 24/7/365. This position is also responsible for support and troubleshooting for the Cardinals, related businesses, and vendors/partners with technology related issues.
This position will support day to day IT enterprise systems in addition to live events (Cardinal’s football games, concerts, activities, and events) at all sites. This role will be involved with many aspects of systems used by all staff and others if needed, potentially requiring 7 days a week and night schedules. Other responsibilities include event support, game day duties at games, training camp and extended trips. This position is primarily based at the Tempe, AZ business office, but will be required to work all home games and team functions at the State Farm Stadium located in Glendale, AZ.
Primary Job Duties:
The Lead Cloud and Systems Engineering position will have the daily responsibilities, without limitation, to include the following:
- Work with all departments and business leaders to define strategic and tactical needs for technology enabled business processes. Work with VP of Technology and other technology leaders to develop/enhance the technology roadmap for the organization.
- Understand and execute cloud engineering techniques and technology related to systems architecture, migration, integration and transformation.
- This role will manage the data systems team and provide leadership and support.
- Provide guidance on implementing controls to ensure data quality and security. Provide recommendations related to data security, retention and archival.
- Provide guidance in product, component, and vendor selection as appropriate for specific projects. This includes evolution of ERP and CRM systems and other enterprise applications.
- Own the maintenance, support, and continued enhancement of all applications within the organization.
- Develop and maintain relationships with vendor partners to provide support for outsourced applications.
- Define Enterprise Architecture strategies, principles, vision, standards, tools, and methodologies.
- Understand current enterprise application integration capabilities including the use of services-based frameworks and other data integration technologies and strive for continuous improvement.
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications/Requirements
- Education: Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, or equivalent experience
- Experience: At least eight (8) years working and/or leading efforts related to deployment and management of Cloud providers Microsoft Azure, AWS, GPC, ERP, financial, HRIS and CRM systems
- Experience: At least five (5) years of people and project management experience with full lifecycle of software development projects including business process design, requirements analysis, feasibility studies, software design, programming, testing, deployment, installation, and operational management
- Experience: At least six (6) years of experience architecting and deploying cloud-enabled solutions including use of serverless computing technologies for applications.
- Strong project management skills and experience implementing technical projects and systems migrations. A strong background in leading technical teams and vendors.
- Knowledge of enterprise architecture including cloud application architecture, database architecture, and technology architecture.
- Exposure to artificial intelligence (AI) concepts and initiatives.
- Strong experience with cloud application integration and frameworks. Blob storage, functions/hooks.
- Strong programming experience in Python, Java, Ruby and knowledge of cloud automation, API security, and infrastructure as Code (IaC).
- Strong experience with DevOps best practices including CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment), automated testing, release automation, application performance monitoring, production operations and software quality assurance.
- Prior experience as an IT systems administrator and/or server administrator ideal.
- Thoughtful practitioner of software engineering methodologies, frameworks and tools including structured software engineering methodologies such as Agile, Scrum, and RUP.
- Experience and commitment to leveraging the use of modeling and documentation approaches including the use of modeling standards like UML and visual modeling tools.
- Significant experience with managing environments with significant outsourced vendor supported functions.
- Ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality related to records and information.
- Ability to multi-task, work independently/collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
- Must be able to stand and exert well-paced mobility for periods of up to eight (8) hours in length including frequent bending, sitting, extensive walking that includes inclines and stairs.
- This role will require exposure to outdoor weather conditions and elements.
- Ability to lift 50+ pounds.
- Flexibility to work evenings, weekends, and holidays; hours will vary depending on business needs.
- Must complete all pre-employment forms and successfully pass a background check.
Cardinals Benefits/Perks Summary:
The Arizona Cardinals Football Club has developed a comprehensive benefits package that provides economic and inclusive benefits to full-time employees. The Cardinals benefits offer care, protection, and support for employees and their loved ones. The Cardinals organization encourages an environment that is conducive to living a healthy, productive, and flexible lifestyle.
Benefits and Perks include, but are not limited to:
- Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance options; effective the first day of hire
- 401 (k) retirement option with employer match contribution
- Paid Time Off Accruals (including sick time accruals)
- Paid Time Off for most Federal holidays
- Time off for Maternity, Paternity, Military, and Bereavement
- MDLIVE: 24/7 medical support
- Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) & Health Care Saving Account options
- Discounts on Cardinals gear & paraphernalia
- Tuition reimbursement & Professional Growth opportunities
- Daily free lunch
- Complimentary season tickets
- Subsidized gym memberships
The Arizona Cardinals Football Club is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.
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Equal Opportunity Employer
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights (https://www.eeoc.gov/poster) notice from the Department of Labor.
