Enterprise Architect - Virtualization

Enterprise Architect -Virtualization

Practice Area

Enterprise Architecture -Virtualization & Private Cloud

Reports To

Manager, ES&A

Location

Remote / Client site as required

Travel

Up to 30%, dependent on engagement portfolio

Role Summary

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 Red Hat 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 Red Hat remains the core requirement.

Key Responsibilities

• 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 migrations strategies

Required Technical Skills & Experience Experience Baseline

• 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.

VMware Platform (Expert Level)

• Core platform: vSphere/ESXi cluster design, vCenter architecture, resource pools, DRS/HA tuning.
• Storage: vSAN design and sizing, stretched clusters, storage policy based management.
• Networking: NSX T/NSX V network virtualization, micro segmentation, and distributed firewall design.
• Platform: VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) deployment and lifecycle management.
• DR & VDI: Site Recovery Manager design; Horizon VDI architecture is a plus.
• OpenShift: OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) architecture and installation (IPI/UPI), cluster networking (SDN/OVN Kubernetes), and multi cluster design.
• OpenShift Virtualization: KubeVirt based VM to container consolidation strategy and implementation.
• OpenStack: Red Hat OpenStack Platform (RHOSP) architecture, deployment, and lifecycle operations.
• Automation: Red Hat 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), and 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.
• Hands on experience with private/hybrid cloud design principles: capacity planning, workload placement, and migration methodology (P2V/V2V, VM to container).
• Disaster recovery and business continuity architecture for virtualized and containerized environments.
• Fluency in VMware/Broadcom and Red Hat subscription/licensing models sufficient to advise clients on cost and platform strategy.

Automation & Delivery

• Infrastructure as code proficiency: Ansible and Terraform for platform provisioning.
• GitOps experience (ArgoCD or equivalent) for OpenShift/Kubernetes application and platform delivery.
• Strong client facing design and delivery leadership skills; ability to run technical workshops and own low level design documentation to a professional services standard.

Architecture Governance & Design Authority

• Proven experience hosting and chairing formal Architecture Review Board (ARB) and Technical Design Authority (TDA) forums, including agenda ownership, decision logging, and stakeholder facilitation.
• Ability to define and operate governance gates across the engagement lifecycle: design authority sign off, change control, and exception/waiver management for virtualization and private cloud decisions.
• Experience producing and maintaining architecture decision records (ADRs), design standards, and reference architectures that are actively enforced through ARB/TDA governance.
• Comfortable presenting and defending architecture decisions to senior client governance bodies, including constructively challenging non compliant or high risk designs.

Certifications

• VMware Certified Professional - Data Center Virtualization (VCP DCV) required; VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) strongly preferred.
• Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration required; Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) strongly preferred.
• Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenStack Administration -required or clearly demonstrated equivalent experience.

Adjacent Technical Skills (Beneficial, Not Required)

Depth in the specialist area above is mandatory. Experience in the following adjacent domains is a strong plus and will be valued in candidate evaluation, since it enables broader solution ownership across engagements.

• 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).

Leadership & Delivery Expectations

• Leads technical delivery independently and acts as the final technical authority on virtualization platform decisions for an engagement.
• Mentors other engineers and architects across both VMware and Red Hat platform domains.
• Navigates vendor and licensing complexity confidently, translating commercial constraints into sound technical roadmaps for clients.
• Communicates platform trade offs clearly to both hands on engineering teams and infrastructure leadership.
• Comfortable owning migration cutover windows and the associated risk management.

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