Infrastructure & Cloud Architect

Job Title: Infrastructure & Cloud ArchitectExperience: 12+ years in IT infrastructure, including experience in infrastructure architecture, data centre transformation, hybrid cloud and automation.Role OverviewWe are seeking an Infrastructure & Cloud Architect to design, modernise and govern enterprise infrastructure across on-premises data centres and cloud environments.

The candidate must have strong hands-on expertise in VMware, Nutanix, operating systems, infrastructure automation and at least one major cloud platform.Key ResponsibilitiesAssess existing infrastructure and develop architecture blueprints, technology roadmaps and modernisation plans aligned with business requirements.Design highly available, scalable and secure solutions covering compute, virtualisation, storage, networking, backup and disaster recovery.Lead data centre consolidation, infrastructure refresh, workload migration and hybrid cloud integration initiatives.Architect and optimise VMware and Nutanix environments, including cluster design, capacity planning, resilience, upgrades and performance tuning.Design cloud infrastructure covering landing zones, connectivity, identity, security, governance, monitoring and cost optimisation.Define operating system standards, hardening baselines, patching strategies and lifecycle management for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Windows Server.Develop infrastructure automation using Ansible and scripting for provisioning, configuration management, patching, health checks and remediation.Establish backup and disaster recovery strategies with defined RPO/RTO requirements and validated recovery procedures.Produce high-level and low-level designs, bills of materials, implementation plans, migration approaches and operational handover documentation.Provide technical leadership to delivery teams and support complex incident resolution, root cause analysis and vendor coordination.Mandatory Technical SkillsData centre infrastructure: Enterprise rack and blade servers, hardware sizing, high availability, capacity management and familiarity with power, cooling, rack layout and physical redundancy requirements.Virtualisation and HCI: Strong hands-on experience with VMware vSphere, ESXi, vCenter and Nutanix infrastructure, including AHV and Prism.Operating systems: In-depth Red Hat Enterprise Linux administration and troubleshooting, including networking, storage, permissions, services, SELinux, performance and patching. Strong working knowledge of Windows Server.Storage: SAN, NAS, block, file and object storage; Fibre Channel, iSCSI, multipathing, replication and storage performance.Networking: TCP/IP, VLANs, routing, switching, DNS, DHCP, load balancing, firewalls and secure data centre-to-cloud connectivity.Cloud: Hands-on architecture and implementation experience with at least one major cloud platform—Microsoft Azure, AWS or Google Cloud.Identity and security: Active Directory, role-based access control, privileged access, certificates, encryption, vulnerability remediation and infrastructure hardening.Backup and recovery: Enterprise backup platforms, restore validation, ransomware recovery considerations and disaster recovery planning and testing.Ansible and automation: Practical experience developing playbooks, roles and inventories; managing credentials securely; and implementing controlled, repeatable automation through Ansible Automation Platform or AWX.Infrastructure as code and scripting: Experience with Terraform or equivalent tools, Git, and Bash, PowerShell or Python.Operations and monitoring: Infrastructure observability, alerting, logging, performance analysis, ITSM integration and CMDB dependencies.Required CertificationsRed Hat certification: RHCSA or RHCE, with RHCE preferred.At least one relevant certification in Microsoft Azure, AWS or Google Cloud, preferably aligned with cloud architecture or infrastructure administration.Preferred Skills and CertificationsAdditional certifications in VMware, Nutanix, Ansible or Terraform.Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShift and container infrastructure.Software-defined networking, micro-segmentation and zero-trust architecture.Automated provisioning, self-service infrastructure, event-driven remediation and integration with ServiceNow or other ITSM platforms.Cloud cost management, licensing optimisation and infrastructure total cost of ownership analysis.Experience supporting regulated environments and implementing audit and compliance requirements.Education and Professional SkillsBachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering or equivalent practical experience.Strong analytical, troubleshooting, documentation and stakeholder communication skills.Ability to translate business requirements into practical technical designs and lead implementation across multiple infrastructure teams.