AVP, Cloud Infra Architect

The Japan Research Institute (JRI) Limited is a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) Group. SMBC Group is a Tokyo-based bank holding company that is ranked among the largest 25 banks globally by assets under management. JRI provides comprehensive, highly value-added information services through the coordinated application of its 3 functions. i.e. information systems, consulting and think-tank. As a system integrator, JRI offers services in IT strategy planning, implementation and outsourcing to a broad range of industries and activities. JRI Singapore currently supports the overall IT functions of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) in Asia Pacific Region.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to IT service and cloud strategy by analysing business requirements and defining modern, scalable Azure cloud architecture solutions.
• Define and maintain target-state infrastructure architecture, principles, standards and reference patterns for on-premises and cloud environments.
• Design cloud foundation capabilities (e.g., landing zone, network connectivity, identity, key management, logging/monitoring) and ensure alignment with group standards.
• Lead architecture reviews and provide governance for infrastructure changes, ensuring security-by-design and operational readiness (runbooks, monitoring, SRE/ops handover).
• Architect compute and platform solutions (Windows/Linux, virtualization/containers), storage/backup, and endpoint management in line with security policies.
• Prepare and present architecture documents, project reports and stakeholder communications for regional management and Head Office counterparts.
• Monitor industry trends, emerging threats, and changes in regulatory landscapes to strengthen the organization’s cloud risk posture.
• Lead cloud migration efforts for applications and infrastructure, ensuring seamless transition, minimal business disruption, and optimal cost-benefit outcomes.
• Provide timely escalation and resolution support for major infrastructure issues/incidents, including root cause analysis and preventive actions.
• Work with Information Security, Risk/Compliance and Audit to address findings, implement controls and maintain evidence for infrastructure-related controls.
• Collaborate with engineering and operations teams to ensure best practices, automation, and cloud-native patterns are consistently applied.
• Partner with global architects, cybersecurity, application teams, vendors, and offshore delivery partners to ensure strategic alignment and integrated solution delivery.
• Translate business, regulatory and non-functional requirements (security, availability, performance, observability) into solution designs and architecture decision records.
• Manage vendor engagement and technical evaluation (RFP/RFQ, solution comparison, PoC), ensuring contracts/SOWs meet architecture and operational requirements.

Requirements

• Must-have
  • Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, Engineering or equivalent.
  • Strong knowledge of infrastructure architecture disciplines (network, compute, storage, identity, security, operations).
  • 7+ years of experience in infrastructure engineering/architecture in a financial institution or regulated environment.
    
  • Hands-on experience delivering infrastructure solutions across network, computing, storage, identity and security domains.
    
  • Experience designing and implementing hybrid-cloud connectivity and cloud foundation services.
  • Strong knowledge of infrastructure architecture for high availability and resiliency (HA/DR), including capacity and performance considerations.
    
  • Identity and access management fundamentals (e.g., Active Directory, federation, privileged access) and security-by-design practices.
    
  • Cloud platform knowledge (landing zone, network, governance, logging/monitoring) and ability to design hybrid architectures.
  • Capability to lead and drive the IT BAU related tasks with good time and stakeholder management skills and experience.
    
  • Proactively socialize with stakeholders and maintain good relationship to steer tasks.
    
  • Possess strong and assertive verbal, written communication skills and presentation skills.
    
  • Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with constantly changing priorities.
    
  • Good bi-directional and collaborative attitude in order to work as a professional in a team.
    
  • Willing to take an ad-hoc project as necessary.

• Good-to-have
  • ITIL Foundation (v3/v4).
    
  • Cloud certification (e.g., Microsoft Azure Administrator/Architect, AWS/Azure equivalent).
    
  • Security certification (e.g., AZ-500, CISSP/CCSP) or equivalent experience.
    
  • Experience supporting audit/compliance activities with strong understanding of IT controls, change management and incident/problem management.
    
  • Proven experience leading design reviews, coordinating stakeholders (including Japan HO) and driving delivery through project lifecycle.
    
  • Infrastructure automation skills (IaC concepts, scripting) and experience implementing standardisation to improve operational stability.
    
  • Project management certification (e.g., PMP, PRINCE2) or equivalent experience leading to infrastructure workstreams.
    
  • Experience with observability/SRE practices (monitoring, logging, incident response, postmortems) and service improvement.
    
  • Proficiency in both English and Japanese is preferred for reporting and stakeholder coordination with Head Office in Japan.