The Enterprise OpenShift Architect owns the design, implementation, and governance of a production-grade Red Hat OpenShift platform running on Azure Virtual Machines (self-managed OpenShift on Azure IaaS). The role spans platform architecture, networking, storage, security, multi-cluster governance (ACM), automation, HA/DR, the operations model, and application onboarding. This is a senior technical leadership role combining architecture ownership with strong hands-on delivery. The architect provides strategic direction for multi-cluster, multi-environment OpenShift deployments supporting enterprise workloads at scale, and works alongside platform engineers to turn that architecture into running infrastructure.

Platform Architecture

• Define the OpenShift platform strategy and target-state architecture.

• Design enterprise clusters across Production, Non-Production, DMZ, and DR environments.

• Define cluster segmentation and workload isolation strategies.

• Establish an ACM-based multi-cluster management architecture.

Azure Infrastructure Design

• Design the OpenShift hosting architecture within Azure Landing Zones.

• Define subscriptions, VNets, peering, security zones, and private connectivity.

• Design integration with enterprise security and identity platforms (Microsoft Entra ID).

OpenShift Platform Design

• Design Master, Infra, and Worker node architecture and sizing.

• Define control-plane, application-plane, and shared-services architecture.

• Design ingress, routing, registry, observability, and (where required) service-mesh frameworks.

• Define cluster capacity-planning and scaling models.

Multi-Cluster Governance

• Implement Red Hat ACM governance and policy management.

• Establish centralised lifecycle management for all clusters.

• Define cluster onboarding and compliance frameworks.

Security Architecture

• Design Entra ID integration and SSO architecture.

• Define RBAC, namespace governance, SCC policies, and pod-security controls.

• Implement RHACS / ACS security frameworks.

• Establish image governance and vulnerability-management processes.

Storage & Data Services

• Define the storage strategy using Azure native storage, Azure Files, Azure NetApp Files, or OpenShift Data Foundation (ODF).

• Design persistent-storage architecture and disaster-recovery strategies with defined RTO / RPO targets.

• Implement backup and restoration capabilities.

Automation & Platform Engineering

• Design the GitOps operating model (Argo CD / OpenShift GitOps).

• Implement Terraform and Ansible-based platform automation.

• Standardise cluster deployment and lifecycle automation.

• Establish Platform-as-Code methodologies.

Operations & Production Readiness

• Define monitoring, logging, backup, patching, and upgrade models.

• Develop operational runbooks and support procedures.

• Lead production-readiness reviews and operational handovers.

• Coordinate with Red Hat support and manage the subscription / entitlement model.

Desired Candidate Profile

Experience

• 8+ years of infrastructure and platform-engineering experience.

• 4+ years in OpenShift / Kubernetes architecture or senior platform engineering.

• Proven delivery of at least one production-grade enterprise OpenShift platform.

• Hands-on experience running OpenShift on Azure (self-managed on VMs strongly preferred; ARO experience considered with willingness to ramp on self-managed).

• Strong background in Kubernetes, automation, security, and platform operations.
  

Certifications (preferred)

• Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration (EX280) or equivalent.

• Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) — a strong plus.

• Microsoft Azure certification (AZ-104 / AZ-305) — advantageous.