Job Description
We are seeking a
Microsoft Foundry Architect to lead the architecture, design, and hands-on implementation of enterprise AI solutions using Microsoft Foundry (formerly Azure AI Foundry).
This is a hands-on technical role embedded within a cross-functional delivery team. The successful candidate will establish the Foundry platform foundation and design secure, scalable, and reusable patterns for AI agents, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications, model deployments, and AI-enabled business workflows on the Azure platform.
Responsibilities
- Design and document the Microsoft Foundry target-state architecture, including Foundry resources and projects, environment segregation (development, test, production), and integration with existing Azure landing zones.
- Define reference architectures, design standards, and reusable patterns for AI agents, copilots, RAG applications, and AI-enabled workflows built on Foundry.
- Design and implement agents using Foundry Agent Service, including prompt, workflow, and hosted agents.
- Integrate AI agents with tools and services such as Azure AI Search, Azure Functions, Logic Apps, OpenAPI, and MCP servers.
- Design multi-agent orchestration patterns using technologies such as Microsoft Agent Framework, Semantic Kernel, AutoGen, and LangGraph.
- Select, deploy, and manage models from the Foundry model catalog, including Azure OpenAI, Meta, Mistral, and open-source models.
- Manage model deployment types, quota and capacity planning, model versioning, and assess when to use fine-tuning, prompt engineering, or RAG approaches.
- Architect and optimize RAG pipelines and knowledge sources, including chunking, embeddings, indexing, retrieval, re-ranking, and vector storage.
- Implement enterprise security controls, including VNet integration, private endpoints, managed identities, Microsoft Entra ID, RBAC, Azure Key Vault, data residency, and audit logging.
- Embed Responsible AI and content safety controls, including Azure AI Content Safety, prompt shields, groundedness detection, and human-in-the-loop review.
- Design and execute AI evaluation processes using Foundry evaluations and the Azure AI Evaluation SDK, including groundedness, relevance, safety metrics, red-teaming, regression testing, and continuous production evaluation.
- Implement AI observability and tracing using OpenTelemetry, Azure Monitor, and Application Insights, including token consumption, latency, failure analysis, and trace correlation.
- Establish cost management and capacity practices for model endpoints, provisioned throughput, and Azure AI Search.
- Automate provisioning and deployment of Foundry resources, models, connections, and agents using Terraform, Bicep, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, and/or Azure Developer CLI.
- Integrate Foundry solutions with enterprise applications and channels, including .NET and Python applications, APIs, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, and Microsoft Teams.
- Review solution designs and implementations against architecture principles and production-readiness requirements.
- Produce architecture documentation, including architecture decision records (ADRs), runbooks, operating procedures, reference architectures, and reusable templates.
- Provide technical knowledge transfer and mentorship to engineering and platform teams.
Qualifications
- Undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related STEM discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- 8+ years of experience in cloud architecture, software engineering, or platform engineering, including 2+ years designing and delivering AI/LLM solutions.
- Demonstrated hands-on experience architecting, designing, and implementing solutions using Microsoft Foundry / Azure AI Foundry or predecessor technologies such as Azure AI Studio and Azure OpenAI Service.
- Experience delivering at least one enterprise AI solution into production.
- Experience designing LLM, RAG, and/or agentic AI solutions while balancing quality, latency, cost, security, and privacy.
- Hands-on experience with Foundry Agent Service and agent frameworks such as Microsoft Agent Framework, Semantic Kernel, AutoGen, or LangGraph.
- Strong knowledge of Azure AI Search, embeddings, vector-based retrieval, and RAG patterns.
- Strong Azure architecture experience, including VNets, private endpoints, Microsoft Entra ID, managed identities, RBAC, Azure Key Vault, and Azure Monitor.
- Proficiency in Python and/or C#/.NET, with experience using Foundry/Azure AI SDKs and REST APIs.
- Experience with Infrastructure as Code using Terraform or Bicep, CI/CD pipelines, Git, and Agile delivery practices.
- Ability to communicate complex architecture decisions clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Strong collaboration and communication skills within cross-functional teams.
Nice to Have
- Microsoft certifications such as Azure AI Engineer Associate (AI-102), Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305), or equivalent.
- Experience with Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, tool integration, and agent-to-agent (A2A) patterns.
- Experience deploying containerized or hosted agents using Azure Container Apps or Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
- Experience with model fine-tuning, distillation, and provisioned throughput (PTU) capacity planning.
- Experience with AI evaluation, red-teaming, and content safety tooling such as Azure AI Evaluation SDK, PyRIT, and Azure AI Content Safety.
- Experience integrating AI solutions with Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, or Power Platform.
- Familiarity with the Azure Well-Architected Framework, Cloud Adoption Framework AI guidance, and Microsoft Responsible AI practices.
- Experience working in regulated or compliance-focused environments such as insurance, healthcare, government, or financial services.
- Demonstrated ability to define and document engineering standards, playbooks, ADRs, runbooks, and reference architectures.
Affinity Earn
Know someone who’s great for this, or any of our open roles? Earn up to $4,000/year for each successful referral through Affinity Earn. You can also earn up to $50,000 for helping us find new clients. Learn about our referral program at https://affinity-group.ca/earn/ or browse our jobs & follow us at https://www.linkedin.com/company/affinity-staffing/jobs/
About Affinity
Affinity Group is a technology and business consulting and services company. We believe in creating long term relationships between clients and consultants that foster a mutually beneficial partnership. Affinity is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need.
For more information on Affinity, please visit www.affinity-group.ca
Job Number: 14151
