Enterprise Architect - Virtualization in City of Westminster

Overview

Own end-to-end technical delivery of virtualization and private cloud engagements: architecture definition, low-level design, build/migration oversight, and go-live validation. Host and chair Architecture Review Board (ARB) and Technical Design Authority (TDA) sessions for virtualization engagements, owning governance gates, decision records, and design sign-off. Architect and validate VMware environments: vSphere/ESXi cluster design, vCenter, vSAN, NSX-T/NSX-V network virtualization, and VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) deployments. Architect Red Hat platforms: OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) design and installation (IPI/UPI), OpenShift Virtualization (KubeVirt) for VM-to-container consolidation, and Red Hat OpenStack Platform (RHOSP) design and deployment. Lead VMware-to-Kubernetes and VM-to-container migration strategy engagements, including workload assessment, sequencing, and risk mitigation—particularly relevant given ongoing VMware/Broadcom licensing changes driving client re‑evaluation. Design software‑defined storage and networking as applied to virtualization platforms: vSAN, Ceph/OpenShift Data Foundation (ODF), and NSX. Define disaster recovery and business continuity architectures for virtualized estates, including Site Recovery Manager and equivalent DR orchestration. Lead technical design workshops, present architecture options and trade‑offs to infrastructure leadership, and own resulting low-level design documentation. Champion infrastructure‑as‑code and automation (Ansible, Terraform, GitOps/ArgoCD) to reduce manual platform operations. Mentor other virtualization and platform engineers, and contribute to WWT's private cloud reference architectures. Define migration strategies, lead technical delivery independently and act as the final technical authority on virtualization platform decisions for an engagement. Communicate platform trade‑offs clearly to both hands‑on engineering teams and infrastructure leadership. Comfortable owning migration cutover windows and the associated risk management.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end technical delivery of virtualization and private cloud engagements.
• Host and chair Architecture Review Board (ARB) and Technical Design Authority (TDA) sessions for virtualization engagements.
• Architect and validate VMware environments: vSphere/ESXi cluster design, vCenter, vSAN, NSX‑T/NSX‑V, and VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) deployments.
• Architect RedHat platforms: OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) design and installation (IPI/UPI), OpenShift Virtualization (KubeVirt), and OpenStack Platform (RHOSP).
• Lead VMware‑to‑Kubernetes and VM‑to‑container migration strategy engagements, including workload assessment, sequencing, and risk mitigation.
• Design software‑defined storage and networking for virtualization platforms: vSAN, Ceph/OpenShift Data Foundation (ODF), and NSX.
• Define disaster recovery and business continuity architectures for virtualized estates, including Site Recovery Manager and equivalent DR orchestration.
• Lead technical design workshops, present architecture options and trade‑offs to infrastructure leadership, and own low-level design documentation.
• Champion infrastructure‑as‑code and automation (Ansible, Terraform, GitOps/ArgoCD) to reduce manual platform operations.
• Mentor other virtualization and platform engineers, and contribute to private cloud reference architectures.
• Define migration strategies, lead technical delivery independently, and act as the final technical authority on virtualization platform decisions.
• Navigate vendor and licensing complexity, translating commercial constraints into sound technical roadmaps for clients.
• Communicate platform trade‑offs clearly to both hands‑on engineering teams and infrastructure leadership.
• Comfortable owning migration cutover windows and the associated risk management.

Qualifications

• 8‑10+ years in virtualization, private cloud, or infrastructure architecture roles.
• Demonstrated ownership of technical delivery for enterprise‑scale virtualization or private cloud transformation programmes.
• Direct hands‑on experience with VMware‑to‑Kubernetes or VM‑to‑container migration engagements strongly preferred.

Core Platform Expertise

• VMware Platform (Expert Level): vSphere/ESXi cluster design, vCenter architecture, resource pools, DRS/HA tuning, vSAN design and sizing, stretched clusters, storage policy‑based management, NSX‑T/NSX‑V network virtualization, micro‑segmentation, distributed firewall design, VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) deployment and lifecycle management, Site Recovery Manager design, Horizon VDI architecture a plus.
• RedHat Platform (Expert Level): OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) architecture and installation (IPI/UPI), cluster networking (SDN/OVN‑Kubernetes), multi‑cluster design, OpenShift Virtualization (KubeVirt) VM‑to‑container consolidation, OpenStack Platform (RHOSP) architecture, deployment, and lifecycle operations, RedHat Satellite and Ansible Automation Platform for lifecycle and configuration management.
• Containers & Cloud‑Native Fundamentals: Kubernetes architecture fundamentals, control plane design, networking (CNI, Multus, SR‑IOV), storage (CSI, ODF/Ceph), operator framework familiarity and experience packaging or consuming Kubernetes operators.
• Software‑defined storage: Ceph/OpenShift Data Foundation design and sizing for both block and object workloads.
• Migration, DR & Commercial Strategy: private/hybrid cloud design principles, capacity planning, workload placement, migration methodology (P2V/V2V, VM‑to‑container), disaster recovery and business continuity architecture for virtualized and containerized environments, fluency in VMware/Broadcom and RedHat subscription/licensing models.
• Automation & Delivery: Infrastructure‑as‑code proficiency (Ansible, Terraform), GitOps experience (ArgoCD or equivalent) for OpenShift/Kubernetes application and platform delivery.

Certifications

• VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization (VCP‑DCV) required; VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) strongly preferred.
• RedHat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration required; RedHat Certified Architect (RHCA) strongly preferred.
• RedHat Certified Specialist in OpenStack Administration required or clearly demonstrated equivalent experience.
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) beneficial.

Adjacent Technical Skills (Beneficial, Not Required)

• Public cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), particularly hybrid and cloud‑adjacent private cloud designs.
• Networking (routing/switching, data center fabric) given the tight coupling with NSX/OVN‑Kubernetes design.
• Storage architecture beyond vSAN/Ceph, including traditional SAN/NAS platforms.
• Security architecture, particularly micro‑segmentation and platform hardening.
• AI infrastructure exposure, as GPU‑enabled virtualization and OpenShift AI are an increasing share of client demand.
• Backup and DR platforms (Veeam, Rubrik, or equivalent).

Company Statement

World Wide Technology is looking for an Enterprise Architect who lives and breathes virtualization and private cloud platforms—someone equally fluent architecting a VMware vSphere/NSX estate and a RedHat OpenShift or OpenStack platform, and who can lead clients through the platform decisions reshaping this space, including VMware‑to‑Kubernetes migration. This role owns technical delivery for virtualization and private cloud engagements end to end: architecture and low‑level design, build oversight, migration execution, and operational handover. The candidate will be the final technical authority on virtualization platform decisions for their engagements, while mentoring the wider delivery team. Given how tightly virtualization now intersects with containers, storage, networking, and even AI infrastructure, strong adjacent technical breadth is a real advantage for this role, even though platform depth in VMware and RedHat remains the core requirement.