Senior OpenShift Platform Engineer - WebSphere Modernization

Client is undertaking a strategic Modernization 3.0 initiative to
migrate legacy WebSphere Application Server workloads onto a modern OpenShift
Container Platform. We are seeking a Senior OpenShift Platform Engineer with
deep Red Hat platform engineering expertise and a strong DevOps/SRE background
to lead containerization and migration efforts in a mission-critical government
tax environment. The ideal candidate brings hands-on experience building and
operating enterprise-grade OpenShift clusters, automating infrastructure
delivery with Terraform and GitOps tooling, and guiding application teams
through container-native transformation. This is a high-impact engagement where
your platform engineering skills will directly enable them deliver faster, more
resilient processing capabilities.

Key
Responsibilities

• Lead the design, build, and
  operationalizing of Red Hat OpenShift clusters to host modernized
  WebSphere workloads, ensuring high availability, security, and compliance
  with government standards.
  
• Drive the containerization and
  migration of legacy WebSphere Application Server (WAS) applications to
  OpenShift-native deployments, leveraging tools such as IBM Transformation
  Advisor where applicable.
  
• Define and implement GitOps-based
  deployment pipelines using ArgoCD and GitHub Actions to automate
  application delivery across Our Client development, staging, and
  production environments.
  
• Author and maintain reusable
  Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) modules using Terraform and Ansible to
  provision and manage OpenShift platform components and supporting cloud
  infrastructure.
  
• Perform SRE-aligned platform
  operations including performance tuning, capacity planning, incident
  response, and software lifecycle management for OpenShift environments.
  
• Engage Client application and
  architecture teams to define container migration strategies, establish
  deployment standards, and support onboarding of WebSphere-based services
  to the OpenShift platform.
  
• Implement and manage observability
  stacks (Prometheus, Grafana, Thanos, Datadog) to provide end-to-end
  monitoring, alerting, and SLO/SLA visibility across modernized Our Client
  tax system components.
  
• Establish and enforce OpenShift
  platform security posture including RBAC, network policies, image
  scanning, and secrets management in alignment with Our Client and
  government compliance requirements.
  
• Collaborate with IBM delivery
  leads and Client stakeholders to track modernization progress, manage
  risks, and communicate platform health and migration milestones.
  
• Contribute to internal capability
  building by mentoring junior engineers, documenting platform run books, and
  sharing Red Hat OpenShift best practices within the Our Client engagement
  team.
  

Requirements

Required
Skills & Experience

• Red Hat OpenShift Container
  Platform - cluster deployment, configuration, upgrades, and day-2
  operations in enterprise environments
  
• Kubernetes administration with
  CKA-level proficiency, including workload management, Helm/Kustomize
  packaging, and namespace governance
  
• CI/CD pipeline engineering using
  GitOps patterns with ArgoCD, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or equivalent
  tooling
  
• Infrastructure-as-Code delivery
  using Terraform and Ansible across cloud or on-premise environments
  
• Containerization of enterprise
  Java applications, with an understanding of WebSphere or equivalent
  application server migration pathways
  
• Observability and monitoring
  platform management using Prometheus, Grafana, Thanos, or Datadog in
  production SRE contexts
  
• Cloud platform experience across
  at least one of IBM Cloud, AWS, or Azure including networking, storage,
  and identity fundamentals
  
• Stakeholder engagement and
  technical consulting skills, with experience working in regulated or
  government sector environments
  

Preferred
Skills

• Hands-on experience with IBM
  WebSphere Application Server modernization tools such as IBM
  Transformation Advisor or WebSphere Liberty migration
  
• Exposure to IBM Cloud Paks and
  OpenShift-based middleware deployments in financial services or government
  contexts
  
• Experience with Kafka or
  event-driven architecture patterns supporting microservices decomposition
  from monolithic Java applications
  
• Familiarity with Our Client, South
  African government IT governance frameworks, or equivalent public sector
  compliance and procurement standards
  
• Scripting and automation
  proficiency in Python or Java to support tooling integration and platform
  customization
  
• Knowledge of VMware vSphere or
  on-premise virtualization platforms relevant to hybrid cloud and
  lift-and-shift migration scenarios