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Cloud Architect Interview Guide

Cloud architects design and oversee an organization's cloud infrastructure strategy. They make high-level decisions about cloud services, multi-cloud or hybrid approaches, security posture, cost optimization, and ensure architectures meet scalability, reliability, and compliance requirements.

Salary Range

LevelSalary Range

Key Skills

AWS, GCP, or Azure in depth (ideally multi-cloud)Architecture patterns (microservices, event-driven, serverless)Networking (VPC, peering, DNS, CDN)Security architecture and complianceCost optimization and FinOpsHigh availability and disaster recoveryMigration strategies (lift-and-shift, re-architecture)Well-Architected Framework principles

Common Interview Questions

System Design

Cost Optimization

Strategy

Reliability

Migration

Security

A Day in the Life

You start the day reviewing a cloud architecture proposal from a product team, providing feedback on their service choices and identifying potential scaling bottlenecks. Mid-morning, you lead a cost review meeting, identifying unused resources and recommending Reserved Instance purchases. Afternoon involves drafting an RFC for migrating a legacy system to a serverless architecture and meeting with the security team about a new compliance requirement.

Career Path

1

Senior Cloud Engineer

2

Cloud Architect

3

Principal Cloud Architect

4

VP of Infrastructure / CTO

Related Roles

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