OpenShift Architect

GAMA-1 is seeking an experienced OpenShift Architect to lead the design, implementation, and optimization of enterprise container platforms leveraging Red Hat OpenShift technologies. The successful candidate will be responsible for architecting scalable, secure, and highly available container platforms that support modernization initiatives across hybrid, multi-cloud, and on-premises environments. 

The OpenShift Architect will establish enterprise architecture standards, define operational best practices, and support application modernization efforts, including the migration of legacy applications and VMware virtual machines to containerized environments utilizing OpenShift Virtualization Engine (OVE). The resource will also support the design and deployment of OpenShift Kubernetes Engine (OKE) clusters to enable cloud-native application modernization and enterprise DevSecOps capabilities. 

Essential functions/responsibilities                                                                                                                         Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions. 

• Lead the architecture, design, and implementation of scalable, secure, and highly available Red Hat OpenShift platforms across hybrid, cloud, and on-premises environments. 

• Establish enterprise reference architectures, design standards, best practices, and governance models for containerized application platforms. 

• Design, deploy, and oversee lifecycle management activities for OpenShift clusters, including installation, upgrades, patching, scaling, and platform optimization for both OpenShift Virtualization Engine (OVE) and OpenShift Kubernetes Engine (OKE) environments. 

• Evaluate and recommend infrastructure architectures supporting hybrid, multi-cloud, and on-premises deployments to meet business and mission requirements. 

• Lead application modernization and migration strategies, including the migration of legacy applications and VMware virtual machines to OpenShift container platforms. 

• Architect and implement highly available, resilient, and secure Kubernetes and OpenShift environments supporting mission-critical workloads. 

• Ensure platform architectures comply with federal cybersecurity, compliance, and governance requirements, including NIST, FedRAMP, and agency-specific security standards. 

• Provide technical leadership and architectural guidance to engineering teams, DevOps personnel, program leadership, and Government stakeholders. 

• Develop and maintain architecture documentation, including high-level designs, low-level designs, implementation plans, roadmaps, and technical diagrams. 

• Establish and oversee platform observability, monitoring, logging, alerting, disaster recovery, and performance management strategies. 

• Serve as the technical escalation point for complex platform issues, architectural decisions, and enterprise container strategy initiatives. 

• Mentor engineers and facilitate knowledge transfer activities to Government personnel and program staff. 

Required Skills/Level of Experience: 

Required Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical discipline. Equivalent professional experience may be substituted for formal education requirements. 

• Minimum of ten (10) years of experience designing and implementing enterprise infrastructure, cloud, or platform architectures. 

• Minimum of seven (7) years of experience supporting Kubernetes and container orchestration platforms. 

• Minimum of five (5) years of hands-on experience architecting and administering Red Hat OpenShift environments. 

• Demonstrated experience leading large-scale platform modernization, cloud migration, and application modernization initiatives. 

• Experience supporting Federal Government environments and security requirements is highly preferred. 

• Strong verbal and written communication skills with demonstrated experience presenting technical solutions to executive leadership and Government stakeholders. 

• To be considered for work, a candidate must be either a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident Alien (No H-1B visa holders). 

Required Technical Skills 

OpenShift Expertise 

• Deep expertise in Red Hat OpenShift architecture, deployment, administration, and operations 

• Multi-cluster architecture and management 

• OpenShift upgrades, lifecycle management, and governance 

• Cluster sizing, capacity planning, and performance optimization 

• OpenShift Virtualization and container-native storage technologies 

• Platform observability, monitoring, logging, and alerting 

Kubernetes Expertise 

• Advanced understanding of Kubernetes architecture and internals 

• Networking, ingress controllers, DNS, and service mesh technologies 

• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), admission controllers, and policy enforcement 

• Stateful and stateless application architectures 

• Operators and Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) 

• High availability, resiliency, and disaster recovery architectures 

Cloud & Infrastructure 

Experience supporting one or more of the following environments: 

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) 

• Microsoft Azure 

• Google Cloud Platform (GCP) 

• VMware virtualization environments 

• Hybrid and multi-cloud architectures 

Additional infrastructure expertise: 

• Compute, storage, and networking technologies 

• Load balancers and firewalls 

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC) 

• Identity and Access Management (IAM) 

Security & Compliance 

• Zero Trust architecture principles 

• Container security and image scanning 

• Secrets management solutions 

• Network segmentation and policy design 

• Identity integration (LDAP, Active Directory, SSO) 

• Compliance frameworks including NIST, FedRAMP, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience supporting enterprise OpenShift Virtualization deployments. 

• Experience migrating VMware workloads to OpenShift Virtualization environments. 

• Experience implementing GitOps and DevSecOps practices within OpenShift environments. 

• Experience supporting Continuous Authority to Operate (cATO) initiatives. 

• Familiarity with Agile, Scrum, or SAFe development methodologies. 

Desired Certifications 

One or more of the following certifications is highly desirable: 

• Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) 

• Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration 

• Red Hat Certified OpenShift Administrator 

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) 

• Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) 

• AWS Solutions Architect – Professional 

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert 

• CompTIA Security+ or equivalent cybersecurity certification