Job Type: 4-month Part-time Contract
Location: Remote (client is located in Calgary, AB); MUST be able to work MST time zone
Hours per week: up to 20 hours per week
Start Date: ASAP
Rate: $90/hr
Overview
Our client is seeking an experienced Data Center Architect to join a large, ongoing enterprise infrastructure project supporting an O365 tenant-to-tenant migration and Active Directory migration for an Oil & Gas organization based in Calgary.
This resource will join an active project already in progress, where the initial discovery phase, high-level design, and high-level implementation planning have already been completed. The selected architect will build upon these existing artifacts and play a critical role in designing, planning, and supporting the execution of all data center components impacted by the Active Directory transformation.
The role requires broad enterprise data center expertise, particularly across VMware environments, Windows Server infrastructure, Active Directory architecture, storage, backup, and infrastructure monitoring. The architect will collaborate closely with the broader project team to ensure the infrastructure design and implementation plan align with the AD migration strategy and overall platform modernization objectives.
Key Responsibilities
- Design and architect enterprise data center infrastructure components impacted by an Active Directory and O365 tenant-to-tenant migration.
- Build upon existing high-level architecture and discovery outputs to produce detailed infrastructure design documentation.
- Develop and document detailed implementation plans that guide infrastructure changes required for the AD migration.
- Architect VMware-based infrastructure environments, including multi-site data center design and vSphere/vCenter architecture.
- Analyze dependencies between Active Directory, identity services, infrastructure platforms, and enterprise applications to ensure migration readiness.
- Design and plan Active Directory architecture, including organizational structure, Group Policy design, identity dependencies, and infrastructure integrations.
- Assess and align storage infrastructure with the new architecture, including environments leveraging IBM and NetApp platforms.
- Design and integrate backup and recovery solutions aligned to the new infrastructure architecture, including Rubrik-based backup environments.
- Ensure monitoring and management tooling integration across infrastructure platforms.
- Support infrastructure components such as NTP, SNMP, and related enterprise services required for data center operations.
- Contribute expertise in Quest ODM tools and scripting where applicable to support migration and infrastructure transition activities.
- Collaborate with engineering and migration teams to support execution and implementation planning across impacted systems.
- Produce high-quality technical documentation and architecture artifacts for client review and implementation teams.
- Work closely with project stakeholders to ensure infrastructure architecture aligns with the AD migration strategy and overall project timeline.
Deliverables
The Data Center Architect will be responsible for producing the following project deliverables:
- Detailed Data Center Design Document (DOCX, VSDX)
- Detailed Infrastructure Implementation Plan (XLSX)
Required Experience
- 8–12+ years of experience in enterprise infrastructure architecture or senior infrastructure engineering roles.
- Extensive experience designing and supporting enterprise data center environments.
- Strong expertise in:
- VMware vSphere and vCenter architecture
- Multi-site data center design
- Windows Server infrastructure
- Active Directory architecture and identity design
- Group Policy (GPO) design and management
- DNS and enterprise directory services
- Experience designing infrastructure to support large-scale Active Directory transformations or migrations.
- Strong understanding of enterprise storage platforms, including IBM and NetApp environments.
- Experience architecting backup and disaster recovery solutions, including Rubrik platforms.
- Experience integrating infrastructure monitoring and management tooling within enterprise environments.
- Familiarity with Quest ODM tools, scripting, NTP, and SNMP within enterprise infrastructure environments.
- Proven ability to produce clear architecture documentation, infrastructure diagrams, and structured implementation plans.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience supporting large-scale Microsoft 365 or tenant-to-tenant migrations.
- Experience working within complex enterprise environments undergoing directory services transformations.
- Background supporting large infrastructure transformation projects in regulated or enterprise environments.