Certifications

• VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization (VCP-DCV) required; VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) strongly preferred.
• Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration required; Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) strongly preferred.
• Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenStack Administration -required or clearly demonstrated equivalent experience.
• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) -beneficial.

Adjacent Technical Skills (Beneficial, Not Required)

Depth in the specialist area above is mandatory. Experience in the following adjacent domains is a strong plus and will be valued in candidate evaluation, since it enables broader solution ownership across engagements.

• Public cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), particularly hybrid and cloud-adjacent private cloud designs.
• Networking (routing/switching, data center fabric) given the tight coupling with NSX/OVN-Kubernetes design.
• Storage architecture beyond vSAN/Ceph, including traditional SAN/NAS platforms.
• Security architecture, particularly micro-segmentation and platform hardening.
• AI infrastructure exposure, as GPU-enabled virtualization and OpenShift AI are an increasing share of client demand.
• Backup and DR platforms (Veeam, Rubrik, or equivalent).

Leadership & Delivery Expectations

• Leads technical delivery independently and acts as the final technical authority on virtualization platform decisions for an engagement.
• Mentors other engineers and architects across both VMware and Red Hat platform domains.
• Navigates vendor and licensing complexity confidently, translating commercial constraints into sound technical roadmaps for clients.
• Communicates platform trade-offs clearly to both hands-on engineering teams and infrastructure leadership.
• Comfortable owning migration cutover windows and the associated risk management.