Forge the Future with CloudSmiths: Join Us as a Senior Google Cloud Architect!
CloudSmiths, a leading technology consultancy and part of the Dynamic Technologies group, is seeking an experienced and forward-thinking Senior Google Cloud Architect to join our team of experts. As DigiCloud Africa's Google Cloud Partner of the Year for 2024, we are at the forefront of cloud innovation, and we invite you to be a part of our journey.
This is a remote position open to either a contract or full-time engagement, with a negotiable start date.
Role Summary
We are looking for a Senior Google Cloud Architect to spearhead and support enterprise-level GCP Landing Zone implementations and cloud infrastructure modernization initiatives. The ideal candidate will have a profound knowledge of GCP organizational structure, identity and access management, networking, Terraform automation, and Kubernetes architecture. In this role, you will collaborate with security teams, engineering leads, and DevOps engineers to build secure, scalable, and repeatable Google Cloud environments. Your immediate mission will be to deliver Google Landing Zone infrastructure as code and guide multi-cloud migrations, adhering to enterprise governance and compliance standards.
Key Responsibilities
- Design and roll out GCP Landing Zones featuring centralized governance, billing, security policies, and networking.
- Lead infrastructure architecture discussions with cloud security and engineering teams to align on IAM, organizational policies, and project hierarchy.
- Champion Terraform-first deployments, including Project Factory modules, and enforce best practices for version control and CI/CD pipelines.
- Architect and deploy production-ready Kubernetes (GKE) clusters, incorporating service mesh, ingress, autoscaling, and observability integrations.
- Oversee Identity Federation with Azure AD or Okta using SAML/OIDC and define dynamic role mappings through Workload Identity Federation.
- Develop secure VPC networks utilizing Private Google Access, Cloud NAT, Interconnect/VPN, and hierarchical firewall rules.
- Work with internal security stakeholders on Zero Trust networking strategies, VPC Service Controls, and audit logging.
- Lead cloud migration cutovers, managing DNS coordination, traffic switching, and validating logging, alerting, and disaster recovery preparedness.
- Stay current with GCP Next releases and roadmaps to propose improvements and future-state enhancements.
Required Experience & Skills
- A minimum of 8 years in cloud infrastructure, with at least 5 years focused on GCP-specific architecture and implementation.
- Demonstrated experience in designing secure, production-grade GCP environments with automated provisioning and compliance controls.
- Extensive hands-on experience with:
- Terraform, including modular design and automation via GitHub Actions or Terraform Cloud.
- Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), including node pools, workload identity, network policies, autoscaling, and logging.
- Google IAM & Folder/Project Hierarchies, covering organizational policies, RBAC, service accounts, and federated identities.
- Networking, including Shared VPC, firewall rules, NAT, DNS, hybrid routing, and Private Service Connect.
- Monitoring & Logging with Cloud Logging, Monitoring Workspaces, Alerting, and Pub/Sub log sinks.
- Disaster Recovery strategies and automated backup solutions for Cloud SQL, GCS, and GKE volumes.
- Familiarity with FinOps cost optimization techniques, label/tagging enforcement, and budget alert configurations.
- Experience leading or supporting projects such as Google or Azure Datacenter migrations from the EU to ZA, Landing Zone deployments, and multi-cloud migrations.
Qualifications
- Mandatory: GCP Professional Cloud Architect certification.
- Preferred: GCP Professional DevOps or Security certification.
- Preferred: Experience with enterprise Active Directory integration via GCDS or Identity Federation.
- Preferred: Comfortable working in highly regulated industries.
About You
- You possess strong stakeholder communication skills, effectively engaging with business, security, and engineering teams.
- You can distill complex cloud concepts into clear, actionable steps.
- You are a proactive problem-solver who excels in a fast-paced delivery environment.
- You are highly collaborative but can execute tasks independently.
If you are passionate about building the future of cloud infrastructure and want to be part of a dynamic and growing team, we encourage you to apply!
