Job Description

Job Title: Cloud Infrastructure & Platform Engineering (Hands on GCP)
Location: Germantown, MD (Onsite/Hybrid)
Duration: 12+ Months Contract
Employment Type: Contract

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Cloud Infrastructure & Platform Engineering professional to lead enterprise cloud modernization initiatives across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. This is a highly hands-on technical leadership role focused on designing, implementing, automating, securing, and operating enterprise infrastructure spanning on-premises data centers and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) .

The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in GCP, Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE), VMware, Kubernetes (GKE), Terraform, Ansible, Oracle Database migrations, NSX, Palo Alto Firewalls, networking, and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) . The successful candidate will also mentor engineering teams while driving automation, cloud transformation, and production reliability.

Key Responsibilities Cloud Infrastructure & Hybrid Cloud Engineering

• Design, implement, and manage enterprise hybrid cloud infrastructure across on-prem VMware and Google Cloud Platform.
• Administer Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE), VMware vSphere, and NSX-T environments.
• Lead enterprise cloud migration and modernization initiatives.
• Design highly available, scalable, and disaster recovery-ready cloud architectures.
• Build secure hybrid connectivity solutions using VPNs, load balancers, and firewalls.

Infrastructure Automation & DevOps

• Develop Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform and Ansible.
• Build reusable Terraform modules and automation frameworks.
• Automate:
  • Virtual Machine provisioning
  • Network deployment
  • SSH key management
  • Root password configuration
  • Oracle Data Guard deployment
  • Database failover
• Design and implement Blue/Green deployment automation.
• Integrate infrastructure automation into CI/CD pipelines.

Oracle Database Migration

• Lead Oracle database migration from on-premises to GCP and GCVE.
• Implement:
  • Oracle Data Guard
  • Cascaded Data Guard
  • Automated failover
  • Disaster recovery architecture
• Configure GCP Datastream integrations.
• Optimize database performance, availability, and resiliency.

Kubernetes & Platform Engineering

• Design and manage Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) clusters.
• Perform Kubernetes cluster upgrades and lifecycle management.
• Evaluate and implement new GKE features.
• Support production deployments using Blue/Green deployment strategies.
• Integrate Kubernetes networking, load balancing, and security policies.

Load Balancing & Traffic Engineering

• Configure and administer:
  • Google Cloud Load Balancers
  • AVI Load Balancer
  • NSX Load Balancing
• Lead migration from F5 Load Balancers to iptables-based routing.
• Implement production-grade traffic routing and failover strategies.
• Optimize application availability and performance.

Network Security

• Design and implement secure cloud networking architecture.
• Manage:
  • Palo Alto Firewalls
  • Cloud Armor WAF
  • GCP FQDN Firewall
  • NSX Security Policies
• Implement VPN connectivity using Infrastructure as Code.
• Apply Zero Trust architecture and least-privilege access controls.
• Govern firewall policies and security compliance.

API Platform Engineering

• Deploy and manage Apigee X API Gateway.
• Secure API integrations with enterprise backend systems.
• Ensure API platform scalability, performance, and security.

Virtualization & Storage

• Manage enterprise virtualization platforms including:
  • VMware vSphere
  • Google Cloud VMware Engine
  • NSX
  • AVI Load Balancer
• Support enterprise storage technologies:
  • Dell Storage
  • EMC Storage
  • Pure Storage
  • Brocade SAN Switches
• Ensure high availability and disaster recovery readiness.

Leadership & Mentorship

• Mentor junior and mid-level cloud engineers.
• Promote Infrastructure as Code and automation best practices.
• Conduct architecture reviews and technical design sessions.
• Lead production incident reviews and root cause analysis.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across cloud engineering teams.

Required Technical Skills Cloud Platforms

• Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE)
• Compute Engine
• Cloud Networking
• Cloud Armor
• Datastream
• Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

Virtualization

• VMware vSphere
• VMware NSX-T
• Google Cloud VMware Engine

Automation

• Terraform
• Ansible
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
• CI/CD
• Git

Kubernetes

• Kubernetes
• GKE
• Cluster Lifecycle Management
• Blue/Green Deployments

Databases

• Oracle Database
• Oracle Data Guard
• Cascaded Data Guard
• Oracle Migration
• AlloyDB
• MongoDB
• BigQuery

Networking & Security

• Palo Alto Firewalls
• Cloud Armor WAF
• GCP FQDN Firewall
• VPN
• Load Balancers
• AVI Load Balancer
• NSX Load Balancer
• F5 Migration
• iptables

Infrastructure

• VMware
• Cisco Switches
• Dell Infrastructure
• EMC Storage
• Pure Storage
• Brocade SAN Switches

API Management

• Apigee X

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field.
• 12+ years of Infrastructure, Cloud, or Platform Engineering experience.
• 7+ years of Google Cloud Platform (GCP) experience.
• Strong experience with GCVE and VMware virtualization.
• Expertise in Terraform and Ansible automation.
• Hands-on experience with Oracle database migration and Data Guard.
• Experience managing Kubernetes/GKE production environments.
• Strong knowledge of enterprise networking, VPNs, firewalls, and load balancing.
• Experience with DevSecOps practices and Infrastructure as Code.
• Excellent troubleshooting skills across infrastructure, networking, databases, and cloud platforms.

Soft Skills

• Strong leadership and mentoring abilities.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work in high-pressure production environments.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management.
• Collaborative mindset with cross-functional teams.
• Strategic thinker with hands-on technical execution.

Nice to Have

• Google Professional Cloud Architect Certification.
• Google Professional Cloud Network Engineer Certification.
• VMware VCP/VCAP Certification.
• Kubernetes (CKA/CKAD) Certification.
• Terraform Associate Certification.
• Experience with Site Reliability Engineering (SRE).
• DevSecOps implementation experience.
• Enterprise cloud migration experience.

Job Tags

Full time, Contract work, Part time, Seasonal work

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