VMware Cloud Architect / Consultant
head-huntress.com, San Francisco, CA, United States
Job Description
VMware Consultant - Platform Strategy & Architecture
Role Overview
VMware consultant who can shape platform strategy, own end-to-end architecture, and lead complex transformations across private, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.
The ideal candidate blends deep hands-on expertise (vSphere, vSAN, NSX, Aria/vRealize, SRM, HCX, VMware Cloud on AWS/Azure/GCP, Tanzu) with strong consulting acumen. This individual will advise executives, develop strategic roadmaps, build target-state reference architectures, and guide delivery teams from discovery through steady state.
Key Responsibilities 1. Strategy & Advisory Lead assessment workshops to baseline current state (infrastructure, operations, cost, risk) Define target-state SDDC and cloud strategy Build business cases (TCO/ROI), migration waves, and investment plans Present to senior leadership and architecture review boards Define governance, landing zones, guardrails, and operating models for enterprise VMware platforms 2. Architecture & Design Create high-level and low-level designs (HLD/LLD) Develop capacity and resilience models (HA/DR patterns, RPO/RTO) Define security reference architectures (micro-segmentation, zero-trust, segmentation policies) 3. Delivery Leadership Lead discovery, proofs of concept (POCs), pilots, and phased migrations Support data center consolidations and application modernization initiatives Direct cross-functional teams (network, security, storage, platform, DevOps) Coach engineers on best practices and automation Establish Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and automation patterns (PowerCLI, Terraform, Ansible) Integrate automation with CI/CD pipelines where applicable 4. Operations, Reliability & Security Define SRE/operational runbooks and best practices Implement monitoring and observability (Aria Operations / Operations for Logs) Manage capacity planning, patch baselines, and lifecycle management Implement disaster recovery and business continuity (SRM runbooks, test plans) Integrate backup and recovery solutions Drive cost optimization (rightsizing, consolidation, reserved capacity planning) Manage licensing posture Partner with security, audit, and compliance teams (SOX, PCI, FFIEC, HIPAA as applicable) 5. Stakeholder Engagement & Pre-Sales Support Translate technical decisions into business outcomes and risk trade-offs Develop C-level presentations, design documentation, and decision logs Support RFP/RFI responses, solution sizing, and estimation Requirements
Additional Requirements
Strong scripting and automation skills:
Required:
PowerCLI Preferred:
Terraform, Ansible, Python
Proven ability to produce:
HLD/LLD documentation Migration plans Executive-level presentations
Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and consulting skills
VMware consultant who can shape platform strategy, own end-to-end architecture, and lead complex transformations across private, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.
The ideal candidate blends deep hands-on expertise (vSphere, vSAN, NSX, Aria/vRealize, SRM, HCX, VMware Cloud on AWS/Azure/GCP, Tanzu) with strong consulting acumen. This individual will advise executives, develop strategic roadmaps, build target-state reference architectures, and guide delivery teams from discovery through steady state.
Key Responsibilities 1. Strategy & Advisory Lead assessment workshops to baseline current state (infrastructure, operations, cost, risk) Define target-state SDDC and cloud strategy Build business cases (TCO/ROI), migration waves, and investment plans Present to senior leadership and architecture review boards Define governance, landing zones, guardrails, and operating models for enterprise VMware platforms 2. Architecture & Design Create high-level and low-level designs (HLD/LLD) Develop capacity and resilience models (HA/DR patterns, RPO/RTO) Define security reference architectures (micro-segmentation, zero-trust, segmentation policies) 3. Delivery Leadership Lead discovery, proofs of concept (POCs), pilots, and phased migrations Support data center consolidations and application modernization initiatives Direct cross-functional teams (network, security, storage, platform, DevOps) Coach engineers on best practices and automation Establish Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and automation patterns (PowerCLI, Terraform, Ansible) Integrate automation with CI/CD pipelines where applicable 4. Operations, Reliability & Security Define SRE/operational runbooks and best practices Implement monitoring and observability (Aria Operations / Operations for Logs) Manage capacity planning, patch baselines, and lifecycle management Implement disaster recovery and business continuity (SRM runbooks, test plans) Integrate backup and recovery solutions Drive cost optimization (rightsizing, consolidation, reserved capacity planning) Manage licensing posture Partner with security, audit, and compliance teams (SOX, PCI, FFIEC, HIPAA as applicable) 5. Stakeholder Engagement & Pre-Sales Support Translate technical decisions into business outcomes and risk trade-offs Develop C-level presentations, design documentation, and decision logs Support RFP/RFI responses, solution sizing, and estimation Requirements
Additional Requirements
Strong scripting and automation skills:
Required:
PowerCLI Preferred:
Terraform, Ansible, Python
Proven ability to produce:
HLD/LLD documentation Migration plans Executive-level presentations
Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and consulting skills