Solution Architect - Cloud Engineering

Costco IT is responsible for the technical future of Costco Wholesale, the third largest retailer in the world with wholesale operations in fourteen countries. Despite our size and explosive international expansion, we continue to provide a family, employee centric atmosphere in which our employees thrive and succeed.

This is an environment unlike anything in the high-tech world and the secret of Costco’s success is its culture. The value Costco puts on its employees is well documented in articles from a variety of publishers including Bloomberg and Forbes. Our employees and our members come FIRST. Costco is well known for its generosity and community service and has won many awards for its philanthropy. The company joins with its employees to take an active role in volunteering by sponsoring many opportunities to help others.

Come join the Costco Wholesale IT family. Costco IT is a dynamic, fast-paced environment, working through exciting transformation efforts. We are building the next generation retail environment where you will be surrounded by dedicated and highly professional employees.

Solution Architects create IT architecture & design solutions based on business requirements, industry trends, and technology options. Solution Architects are responsible and accountable for the solution architecture in partnership with enterprise architects, domain architects, and engineering teams. Solution Architects partner with the delivery team for solution planning, delivery, detailed design and implemented solutions. Solution Architects ensure the implemented solutions are consistent with the approved architecture. Solution Architects communicate, mentor, and lead teams based on program or project needs for solution delivery.

The Costco Cloud team is on a mission to build a hybrid multi-cloud platform that is so simple and automated it becomes the path of least resistance for all engineering teams. We are accelerating business value delivery in a cost-effective and secure way. We are seeking a Solution Architect to lead the architectural vision for our next-generation cloud platform. This role has evolved beyond standard infrastructure design; you will be the bridge between complex cloud capabilities and simplified developer consumption. The ideal candidate will drive the strategy for AI enablement, FinOps integration, and Platform Engineering, ensuring our "Global Foundations" are secure, observable, and scalable.

The successful candidate will move seamlessly between high-level strategic "storytelling" to gain executive alignment and deep-dive technical engineering to unblock value streams. This position will architect solutions that allow Costco to leverage Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and AI/ML workloads with valid governance and zero-touch automation.

If you want to be a part of one of the worldwide BEST companies “to work for”, simply apply and let your career be reimagined.

ROLE

Designs and implements architectural standards for AI/ML workloads, including governance for Generative AI, Agentic AI (e.g., Overwatch), and low-code/no-code AI solutions.

Aligns architectural decisions with the C3E strategic pillars: global foundations, operational excellence, simplified experience, and investing in people.

Creates standard reference patterns (Blueprints) for Azure, GCP, and Hybrid On-Prem Container platforms.

Ensures, designs, and adheres to the Enterprise Hosting Decision Matrix, prioritizing &"Container & API First" and "Zero Trust" guiding principles.

Champions the move toward immutable infrastructure using Terraform.

Designs and promotes a Private Module Registry that allows teams to consume "No-Code" infrastructure modules.

Partners with Enterprise Architecture (EA) and InfoSec to co-author Cloud Security Assessments (CSA) and define guardrails that ensure security-by-design without sacrificing developer velocity.

Reduces friction for onboarding teams by designing self-service flows, improving intake forms, and automating repository/subscription creation via GitHub Enterprise Cloud (GHEC).

Designs comprehensive monitoring solutions (e.g., Cisco ThousandEyes, Azure Connectivity Monitor, Splunk/Bindplane) to ensure visibility into network performance and rapid triage capabilities.

Integrates cost transparency into architectural designs. Evaluate tooling and processes to maximize the value of cloud spend and minimize waste (e.g., Reserved Instances, waste reduction automation).

Analyzes the Business-IT environment (run, grow, and transform the business) to detect critical deficiencies, and recommend solutions for improvement (systems of record, differentiation, and innovation).

Provides failover guidance for regional expansion and ensures "Self-Healing" capabilities are built into the platform core.

Translates complex architectural concepts into clear narratives for stakeholders ranging from junior engineers to VP-level executives.

Organizes and leads "Cloud Office Hours," create demo reels, and develop curriculum (e.g., Udacity cohorts) to upskill the broader engineering organization.

Acts as the trusted advisor for Value Streams, providing guidance on migrations, modernization (monolith to microservices), and selecting the "Right-Size Architecture".

REQUIRED

10+ years of experience in IT, with at least 5+ years as a Senior Solutions Architect in a large enterprise environment.

Deep, practical architecture experience with Microsoft Azure (AKS, App Service, Networking) and Google Cloud Platform (GKE, BigQuery, Vertex AI).

Expert-level knowledge of Terraform (HCL), specifically experience scaling Terraform Cloud/Enterprise across multiple development teams.

Strong background in Kubernetes (AKS/GKE) and container orchestration patterns.

Experience designing architectures that meet regulatory standards (SOX, PCI, HIPAA, GDPR) and implementing controls via Policy-as-Code.

Demonstrated ability to "story tell" architecture—using diagrams, presentations, and written documentation to gain consensus across conflicting stakeholder groups.

Recommended

AI/ML Integration: Experience architecting platforms for AI workloads, vector databases, or LLM integration.

Observability Tools: Experience with observability stacks (ThousandEyes, Dynatrace, Splunk).

FinOps Experience: Familiarity with cloud cost management strategies and tooling.

Development Background: Experience with software development (GoLang, Python, C#) to better empathize with and build for software engineers.

Certifications:

o Azure Solutions Architect Expert / DevOps Engineer Expert

o Google Professional Cloud Architect

o HashiCorp Terraform Associate

Proficient in Google Workspace applications, including Sheets, Docs, Slides, and Gmail.

Required Documents

Cover Letter

Resume

California applicants, please review the Costco Applicant Privacy Notice.

Pay Ranges:

Level 2 - $120,000 - $155,000, Bonus and Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) eligible

Level 3 - $145,000 - $180,000, Bonus and Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) eligible

Level 4 - $175,000 - $230,000, Bonus and Restricted Stock Unit (RSU) eligible

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, health benefits - medical/dental/vision/hearing aid/pharmacy/behavioral health/employee assistance, health care reimbursement account, dependent care assistance plan, short-term disability and long-term disability insurance, AD&D insurance, life insurance, 401(k), stock purchase plan to eligible employees.

Costco is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Costco is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or any other legally protected status. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request to [email protected]
If hired, you will be required to provide proof of authorization to work in the United States. In some cases, applicants and employees for selected positions will not be sponsored for work authorization, including, but not limited to H1-B visas.