Senior DevOps and Cloud Architect GCP & Kubernetes

Summary

Seeking a Senior DevOps & Cloud Architect with 12+ years of experience to lead the design, automation, security, and optimization of scalable cloud-native infrastructure on GCP and GKE. The consultant will drive cloud modernization, Kubernetes platforms, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, observability, DevSecOps, reliability, and cost optimization across startup and enterprise environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement scalable, secure, and highly available cloud infrastructure on GCP.
• Lead cloud migration, modernization, and transformation initiatives.
• Architect and implement production-grade Kubernetes platforms using GKE.
• Build and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions using Terraform.
• Design, develop, and optimize CI/CD pipelines to accelerate application delivery.
• Automate infrastructure provisioning, deployment processes, and operational workflows.
• Implement monitoring, logging, alerting, and observability solutions.
• Establish DevSecOps practices across infrastructure and application delivery pipelines.
• Optimize cloud costs, system performance, and resource utilization.
• Troubleshoot complex production issues and drive reliability improvements.
• Design disaster recovery, business continuity, and high-availability architectures.
• Collaborate with application, security, and infrastructure teams to improve platform reliability and operational efficiency.
• Mentor engineering teams on DevOps best practices, automation, and cloud-native technologies.

Required Experience

• Minimum 12+ years of experience in DevOps, Cloud Engineering, Infrastructure Engineering, Platform Engineering, or Site Reliability Engineering.
• Proven experience designing and supporting production-scale cloud environments.
• Strong background in cloud architecture, automation, and infrastructure modernization.
• Experience supporting both startup and enterprise-scale platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex cloud and DevOps initiatives independently.

Technical Skills by Competency

Cloud Architecture

• Google Cloud Platform (GCP), multi-cloud, and hybrid-cloud architecture.
• Cloud migration and modernization.
• Infrastructure scaling and optimization.
• Cost optimization and governance.
• High availability and disaster recovery planning.

Kubernetes

• Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Docker, and containerized workloads.
• Kubernetes security and policy management.
• Cluster autoscaling and optimization.
• Service mesh and ingress management.
• Production-grade Kubernetes operations.
• Performance tuning and troubleshooting.

Infrastructure as Code and Automation

• Terraform-based infrastructure provisioning and automation.
• Environment standardization.
• Configuration management and infrastructure lifecycle management.

CI/CD

• GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, and deployment automation.
• Release engineering, pipeline optimization, and governance.
• Continuous integration and continuous delivery.

Observability

• Prometheus, Grafana, and Google Cloud Operations Suite.
• Alerting and incident management.
• Centralized logging, performance monitoring, and troubleshooting.
• Observability platform implementation.

Security and DevSecOps

• IAM and RBAC implementation.
• Secrets management, security hardening, vulnerability scanning, and remediation.
• WAF and network security, with policy enforcement using Kyverno.
• Compliance-focused infrastructure design, secure CI/CD pipeline implementation, and zero-downtime deployment strategies.

Automation & Scripting

• Python scripting, Workflow automation, Cron jobs and task automation.
• Reliability engineering

Networking & Infrastructure

• Networking & Infrastructure VPC and network architecture.
• Load balancers and ingress controllers.
• DNS and CDN configuration.
• VPN and secure connectivity.
• Cloud networking and routing.
• Infrastructure optimization and scalability.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading cloud transformation and modernization projects.
• Strong understanding of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles.
• Experience building self-service platform engineering capabilities.
• Deep expertise in Kubernetes and cloud-native ecosystems.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to mentor engineering teams and establish DevOps best practices.
• Experience working in regulated or compliance-driven environments.

What Success Looks Like

• Secure, scalable, and resilient cloud infrastructure.
• Highly automated deployment and operational workflows.
• Reliable and optimized Kubernetes platforms.
• Improved application performance and platform availability.
• Reduced operational overhead through Infrastructure as Code and automation.
• Strong observability and incident response processes.
• Optimized cloud spend without compromising performance or reliability.
• Improved security posture and compliance readiness.