Principal Private Cloud Architect
About The Position
We are seeking a technically deep and architecture-minded Private Cloud Architect to lead the design of our next-generation OpenStack-based IaaS platform. This role will focus on enabling enterprise-grade scalability, elasticity, and AI computing support across secure, multi-tenant private cloud environments. You will work with global teams to build highly automated, interoperable, and resilient infrastructure platforms serving both general-purpose and AI-native workloads. This role offers the flexibility to be home-based anywhere in the U.S. If you're near our Chicago or Raleigh offices, we follow a friendly hybrid model with three days a week in the office - great for collaboration and connection!
Requirements
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
- 15+ years of experience in cloud infrastructure architecture, with 5+ years specifically on OpenStack-based private cloud platforms.
Nice To Haves
- Deep expertise in designing and implementing large-scale distributed backend systems, with experience building public cloud or hyperscale cloud platforms preferred.
- Deep understanding of virtualization (KVM, SR-IOV), storage backends (e.g., Ceph, iSCSI, NFS), SDN concepts, and overlay networking.
- Familiarity with GPU virtualization (vGPU, passthrough), AI infrastructure needs, and integration with model serving or data platforms.
- Hands-on experience with automation tools (Ansible, Terraform), CI/CD for infrastructure delivery, and configuration management.
- Knowledge of security and compliance frameworks relevant to private cloud operations (e.g., PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, internal control systems).
- Proficient in system troubleshooting, capacity planning, and architecture documentation.
- Strongly preferred: experience delivering or operating OpenStack-based platforms in mission-critical enterprise or government scenarios.
Responsibilities
- Own the end-to-end architecture of the OpenStack-based private cloud, including: Core Service Design – scalable deployment of Nova, Neutron, Cinder, Glance, Keystone, and Horizon across HA zones and availability domains.
- AI Infrastructure Enablement – GPU passthrough/virtualization, quota isolation, and elastic AI workload scheduling on OpenStack compute nodes.
- Multi-Tenant & Self-Service Architecture – RBAC, project-based quota control, automated provisioning pipelines, and extensible service catalog.
- Security & Compliance Controls – integration with identity federation (e.g., LDAP, SSO), key management (Barbican), Neutron firewall policies, and audit trail systems.
- Storage & Networking Architecture – software-defined storage (Ceph, external backends), and L2/L3 overlay networking, BGP/GRE tunneling.
- Hybrid/Edge Integration – support for hybrid Kubernetes stack (e.g., Magnum, OpenShift), S3-compatible storage federation, and cloud bursting scenarios.
- Monitoring & Operational Visibility – design telemetry, metering (Ceilometer/Gnocchi), centralized logging, alerting, and visual dashboards.
- Automation & CI/CD – integration of Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform, Heat templates), and GitOps-style workflows for platform rollout/updates.
- Define architectural patterns, system blueprints, and technical guardrails to ensure maintainability, resilience, and cost efficiency.
- Lead design reviews, troubleshoot performance/scalability bottlenecks, and provide high-level guidance to engineering teams.
- Collaborate with security, DevOps, product, and data center operation teams across multiple geographies.
- Stay current with OpenStack upstream innovations, OpenInfra ecosystem projects, and hybrid cloud best practices.
Benefits
- Lenovo’s various benefits can be found at www.lenovobenefits.com
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
