Senior Azure Migration Engineer

About KData AI

KData AI enables organizations to fast-track their data and AI initiatives through expert consulting in platforms like Databricks, Snowflake, and Informatica. The company specializes in providing skilled talent and innovative tools that drive efficiency and innovation in data operations. KData AI is committed to helping enterprises leverage cutting-edge technology to unlock their full potential.

Role Description

We are looking for a Senior Azure Migration Engineer to join our team on a contract basis, supporting a large-scale VMware-to-Azure migration program for a major Canadian client. You will partner with client architects, infrastructure and network teams, and application owners. The individual will own the following responsibilities:

Responsibilities

• Act as a trusted advisor to our project teams and client stakeholders across architecture, infrastructure, and application teams.
• Own the application rationalization scorecard — methodology, weighting, scoring dimensions, and calibration — and produce defensible 6R treatment recommendations across the portfolio (rehost, replatform, refactor, rearchitect, repurchase, retire).
• Segment the portfolio into low, medium, and high complexity bands; define the appropriate migration pattern for each band.
• Facilitate stakeholder interviews with application and business owners to capture business context, criticality, and integration shape; reconcile tool-derived data with human input.
• Produce application-to-application, application-to-service, and application-to-infrastructure dependency maps; identify port, protocol, and service dependencies that discovery tooling routinely misses.
• Sequence applications into waves based on complexity, business value, dependency clusters, and change-window availability.
• Design and implement Azure hybrid network foundations: hub-and-spoke and Virtual WAN topologies, ExpressRoute circuits and peering, VPN gateways, Network Security Groups, Azure Firewall, Private Endpoint, Private Link, and Private DNS Zones.
• Configure and troubleshoot BGP, user-defined routes, route tables, asymmetric routing, and transit patterns between on-premises, hub VNets, and spoke VNets.
• Assess the existing Azure Landing Zone against Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework and Azure Landing Zone reference architecture; identify and remediate gaps before wave throughput scales.
• Partner directly with the client's managed network service provider on firewall, routing, and DNS changes — preparing change packages that fit constrained CAB windows and include clear rollback plans.
• Use Azure Network Watcher, Connection Monitor, NSG flow logs, and traffic analytics to diagnose post-migration connectivity issues.
• Mentor other migration engineers; contribute to the runbook library and migration factory artifacts.

How we'll define success for your role

• You demonstrate our core values through all aspects of your work: Integrity, Respect, and Collaboration.
• You understand your client's industry, challenges, and opportunities, and clients describe you as positive, professional, and delivering high-quality work.
• You identify, recommend, and are focused on effective service delivery to your clients.
• You share in an inclusive and engaging work environment that develops, retains, and attracts talent.
• You actively participate in the adoption of digital tools and strategies that drive an innovative workplace.
• You grow your expertise through learning and professional development.

Requirements

Your experience and education requirements

Azure and migration depth

• 5+ years of hands-on Azure infrastructure engineering, including at least two production-scale migration programs.
• Demonstrated experience migrating VMware workloads into Azure at enterprise scale - both rehost and replatform patterns.
• Deep familiarity with Azure Migrate and one or more of: RiverMeadow, Zerto, Carbonite / Double-Take, or equivalent.
• Working knowledge of Cloud Adoption Framework and Azure Landing Zone - able to assess, validate, and extend an existing ALZ.

Networking

• Expert-level Azure networking: hub-and-spoke and/or Virtual WAN, ExpressRoute (including peering and Global Reach), site-to-site and point-to-site VPN, NSGs, Azure Firewall, Application Gateway, Private Link, Private Endpoint, Private DNS Zones, and Route Server.
• Strong grounding in classical networking fundamentals: TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF or static routing design, subnetting, DNS (authoritative and recursive), DHCP, NAT, and firewall policy design.
• Proven experience troubleshooting asymmetric routing, MTU and fragmentation issues, overlapping address spaces, and transit routing between hubs and on-premises.
• Track record of operating alongside managed network service providers under formal change management - including CAB packages, rollback plans, and tight change windows.

Rationalization and dependency analysis

• Applied experience running an application rationalization exercise against a real portfolio - not just theoretical knowledge of the 6R framework.
• Demonstrated ability to design, populate, and defend a rationalization scorecard across complexity, business value, and technical fit dimensions.
• Hands-on dependency mapping using tooling output plus stakeholder interviews; comfort reconciling the two when they disagree.

Engineering practice

• Production-grade Infrastructure-as-Code in Bicep and/or Terraform.
• PowerShell and Bash scripting; Azure CLI fluency.
• Comfortable operating inside structured ITIL-style change management and controlled deployment windows.
• Strong written and verbal communication - this role interfaces directly with client architects, network engineers, application owners, and senior stakeholders.
• Post-secondary degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical field.

The following are considered assets:

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate (AZ-700) - strongly preferred given the networking focus of this role.
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305).
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104).
• VMware vSphere administration experience; VCP-DCV or equivalent VMware certification.