The Cloud Architect (RHEL & Hybrid Cloud Specialist)is a senior-level technical leadership role designed for a visionary engineer who excels at the intersection of enterprise Linux stability and modern cloud agility. As organizations in 2026 increasingly move toward sophisticated hybrid-cloud models to balance performance, cost, and data sovereignty, this role serves as the primary architect and governor of our foundational technology stacks. 1.1 Position SpecificationsAttributeDetailsOfficial Job TitleCloud Architect (RHEL & Hybrid Cloud Specialist)LocationRemoteRequired ExperienceMinimum 5+ years in Cloud Architecture or Senior Systems EngineeringLanguage RequirementsPortuguese and EnglishKey Technology FocusRHEL, Ansible, Kubernetes, Hybrid Cloud (AWS/Azure/GCP)1.2 Strategic Role Mission The core mission of the Cloud Architect is to design, implement, and govern a world-class hybrid-cloud infrastructure that prioritizes the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)ecosystem as its operational backbone. In the current landscape, where financial and technological sectors demand extreme reliability and automated scalability, this role is responsible for ensuring that our infrastructure is not just a collection of servers, but a cohesive, self-healing platform. By treating infrastructure as code (IaC) and leveraging high-level automation via Ansible, the Cloud Architect will bridge the gap between legacy virtualization (KVM/VMware) and public cloud hyperscalers. The incumbent is expected to move the organization away from manual interventions toward an autonomous, policy-driven environment that supports rapid product iterations without compromising security or performance. Strategic Importance: In 2026, Cloud Architecture is defined by the ability to manage complexity through automation. This role is pivotal in reducing "Toil" across engineering teams, optimizing cloud spend through intelligent resource orchestration, and maintaining compliance with data privacy regulations through strict RHEL-based security hardening. 1.3 Key Objectives The successful candidate will be evaluated on their ability to achieve the following high-level objectives: Architectural Governance: Establish and enforce best practices for RHEL deployments across hybrid-cloud environments (AWS, Azure, and GCP).Automation Leadership: Drive the 100% automation goal for server provisioning, configuration management, and patching using Ansible.Modernization Orchestration: Lead the transition of legacy workloads into containerized environments (Docker/Kubernetes) while maintaining deep-level OS integrity.Efficiency Optimization: Proactively identify and resolve system inefficiencies, performance bottlenecks, and resource waste to drive a lean infrastructure culture.DevOps Integration: Seamlessly integrate infrastructure pipelines with application CI/CD workflows (Jenkins/GitLab) to facilitate a true DevSecOps model.1.4 Candidate Profile We are seeking a proactive technologist who refuses to accept manual work as the status quo. The ideal candidate possesses the analytical depth to troubleshoot a kernel panic on a RHEL instance and the architectural breadth to design a multi-region failover strategy. As a senior member of the team, you will act as a mentor to engineers and a strategic advisor to leadership, ensuring our technology choices align with the long-term scalability requirements of the target markets. 2. Key ResponsibilitiesThe Cloud Architect (RHEL & Hybrid Cloud Specialist) is tasked with the strategic design and technical oversight of the organization's infrastructure. This role requires a blend of high-level architectural vision and deep-dive technical implementation to ensure that our cloud ecosystems are resilient, automated, and high-performing. The responsibilities are categorized into the following strategic domains: 2.1 Hybrid-Cloud Infrastructure Design & StrategyThe Architect is responsible for the end-to-end design of scalable and secure hybrid-cloud solutions across major hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, or GCP). Architectural Blueprints: Develop and document robust high-level and low-level designs (HLD/LLD) that integrate on-premise data centers with public cloud environments.Security by Design: Implement rigorous security architectures, including VPC/VNet segmentation, IAM policy governance, and encryption standards, ensuring compliance with global and local (POPIA) security frameworks.Multi-Cloud Orchestration: Evaluate business requirements to determine the optimal placement of workloads, facilitating seamless portability between different cloud providers and on-premise virtualization stacks.Disaster Recovery: Design high-availability and disaster recovery (DR) strategies that leverage cloud-native services to ensure business continuity for mission-critical RHEL workloads.2.2 Enterprise Automation & RHEL OrchestrationA primary focus of this role is the elimination of manual configuration through enterprise-grade automation solutions, specifically optimized for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Ansible Framework Development: Architect and maintain a scalable Ansible automation framework to handle provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment across the RHEL estate.RHEL Lifecycle Management: Design automated workflows for OS patching, kernel tuning, and security hardening (STIG/CIS benchmarks) to ensure all RHEL instances remain performant and compliant.Self-Healing Infrastructure: Implement automated remediation scripts using Python and Ansible to detect and fix common system issues without manual intervention.Standardization: Establish "Golden Image" pipelines for RHEL, ensuring consistency across development, staging, and production environments.2.3 Systems Optimization & Proactive Problem Resolution: Beyond standard maintenance, the Cloud Architect is expected to be a proactive agent of change. You must continuously monitor the ecosystem to identify systemic inefficiencies and performance bottlenecks. This involves designing architectural interventions—such as right-sizing cloud resources, optimizing network latency, or re-architecting underperforming components—before they impact business operations. 2.4 CI/CD Strategy & Pipeline GovernanceThe Architect bridges the gap between infrastructure and application development by designing robust delivery pipelines. Pipeline Architecture: Design end-to-end CI/CD strategies using Jenkins or GitLab CI, focusing on Infrastructure as Code (IaC) deployment workflows.Deployment Guardrails: Integrate automated security scanning, unit testing, and compliance checks into the deployment pipelines to "shift-left" security and quality.Release Orchestration: Architect advanced deployment patterns such as Blue-Green, Canary, and Rolling updates to minimize downtime during application releases.2.5 Technical Governance & Organizational LeadershipAs a senior leader, the Cloud Architect provides the necessary governance to ensure all technology initiatives align with the broader organizational strategy. Mentorship: Provide technical leadership and hands-on guidance to DevOps and Infrastructure teams, uplifting the organization's overall RHEL and cloud competency.Architectural Standards: Define and enforce the organization's cloud and automation standards, participating in Architectural Review Boards (ARB) to vet new technologies.Vendor Management: Collaborate with partners like Red Hat and public cloud providers to stay ahead of technical roadmaps and leverage new features for competitive advantage.Cost Governance: Monitor cloud consumption metrics and architect cost-optimization strategies to ensure efficient utilization of the organizations technology budget.Strategic ObjectiveExpected OutcomeCloud Adoption maturityTransition from siloed infrastructure to a unified hybrid-cloud model.Automation coverageReduction of manual deployment errors by >90% through Ansible.System ResiliencyAchieving 99.99% uptime for RHEL-based core services.3. Required Technical Skills & QualificationsThe successful candidate must possess a deep and diverse technical background, combining traditional systems engineering excellence with modern cloud-native architectural patterns. This role requires the ability to navigate the entire stack, from low-level kernel tuning to high-level cloud service orchestration.3.1 Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) MasteryAs the foundational operating system for our hybrid-cloud strategy, expert-level knowledge of the RHEL ecosystem is mandatory. The architect must demonstrate:Advanced Administration: Expert proficiency in RHEL 7, 8, and 9, including lifecycle management, software packaging (RPM/DNF), and systemd orchestration.Enterprise Security & Compliance:In-depth experience with SELinux (policy management, troubleshooting, and enforcement), firewalld, and implementing OpenSCAP for automated compliance auditing.Performance Analysis & Tuning:Ability to diagnose and resolve complex system bottlenecks using tools such as top, iostat, vmstat, sar, and perf, alongside managing tunedprofiles for specific workloads.Infrastructure Services: Strong experience with Red Hat Satellite for content management and Red Hat Identity Management (IdM) / FreeIPA for centralized authentication.3.2 Automation, Scripting & Infrastructure as Code (IaC)The architect must be an automation-first professional, capable of abstracting complex manual tasks into repeatable, version-controlled code.Ansible Expertise: Expert-level capability in developing modular Ansible Playbooks, Roles, and Collections. Experience with Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) or AWX is highly desired.Advanced Scripting: Mastery of Python(3.x) for custom tooling and API integrations, and Bash for rapid system-level automation and diagnostic scripts.Terraform: Practical experience using Terraform for multi-cloud resource provisioning and managing state files across distributed teams.3.3 Cloud Platforms & Virtualization ArchitectureDomainMandatory Technical ProficiencyPublic CloudArchitectural experience with AWS (VPC, EC2, Transit Gateway, IAM), Azure (VNets, ExpressRoute, Entra ID), or GCP (Shared VPC, Cloud IAM). Must understand cloud-native networking and security primitives.VirtualizationHands-on experience with KVM/Libvirt for open-source virtualization and VMware vSphere (ESXi/vCenter) for enterprise-grade on-premise infrastructure.ContainerizationDeep understanding of Docker/Podman container runtimes and Kubernetes (K8s) architecture. Specific experience with Red Hat OpenShift is a significant advantage.3.4 CI/CD & DevOps ToolingExperience in designing and maintaining enterprise-scale CI/CD pipelines is critical for modern delivery cycles:Jenkins: Experience with Pipeline-as-Code (Groovy), shared libraries, and managing distributed build agents.GitLab CI: Proficiency in designing YAML-based pipelines, utilizing runners, and managing container registries.Version Control: Advanced knowledge of Git (branching strategies, merge requests, and hook management).3.5 Education and Professional Certifications While we value hands-on experience and a proven track record, the following qualifications are considered highly advantageous in our evaluation process: Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE).Cloud Provider Professional Certifications: AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, or Google Professional Cloud Architect. Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) or Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration.3.6 Minimum Years of ExperienceCandidates must have a minimum of five (5) years of demonstrable experience in a Cloud Architect, Solutions Architect, or Senior Systems Engineering role, with a clear focus on enterprise Linux and multi-cloud environments.4. Desired Soft SkillsTechnical prowess in RHEL and automation is…