{"id":777945,"url":"https://alion.io/job/staffordgray-principal-cloud-architect-vmware-vcf","title":"Principal Cloud Architect - VMware VCF","company":{"id":686809,"name":"Stafford Gray 2026","domain":"staffordgray.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/staffordgray","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workable","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":20,"ghost_share":0.5,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":4,"computed_at":"2026-11-09T06:03:00Z"}},"role":"DevOps","role_family":"DevOps","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"contractor","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Lake Angelus, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":80,"max":null,"currency":"USD","period":"hour","gross":null,"usd_annual":160000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"VMWare","optional":false},{"name":"Ansible","optional":true},{"name":"Terraform","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-05-20T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-05-20","last_verified_at":"2026-11-09T15:27:27Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":173,"trust":{"level":"ghost","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale","company_stale"],"days_open":173},"description":"Initial 30 day contract with likely extension\nAbout the Role\nWe are seeking an experienced Principal Cloud Architect to lead the design phase of a complex enterprise cloud transformation for a key client. In this role, you will work directly with the client's engineering team to define and document a complete VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF 9.1) solution - spanning virtualization, networking, storage, containers, and monitoring - and serve as the primary technical authority throughout the engagement.\nWhat You'll Do\nLead multiple design workshops with the client's engineering team over several weeks to define the full VCF solution architecture\nDesign an end-to-end VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 environment covering vSphere (virtualization), NSX (networking), vSAN (storage), VKS (containers), and the full Aria/vRealize monitoring stack (vROPS, vRNI, vRLI)\nDefine the integration architecture between VCF and the client's existing cloud services - including compliance, authentication, and security systems\nAdapt and design provisioning systems to enable automation aligned with VCF standards, covering VM and container creation workflows\nProduce detailed engineering and architecture documents to serve as deployment references for the implementation team\nInterface with client stakeholders to ensure the solution meets both technical and business requirements\nRequirements\nWhat You Bring\n7+ years of enterprise cloud infrastructure architecture experience\nHands-on VMware Cloud Foundation experience (VCF 4.x/5.x required; VCF 9.x strongly preferred)\nDeep expertise across two or more VCF pillars: vSphere, NSX-T, vSAN, VKS/Tanzu\nExperience with vROPS, vRNI, and/or vRLI monitoring platforms\nProven ability to lead technical workshops and produce architecture/engineering documentation\nStrong communication and client-facing skills\nMust be local to Michigan (hybrid engagement)\nNice to Have\nVMware certifications: VCDX, VCAP-DCV, VCP-VCF, or NSX specialist\nExperience with infrastructure automation (Terraform, Ansible, or similar)\nBroadcom partner network background\nBenefits\n$80/hr on a 1099 basis","description_format":"text","description_chars":2104,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["IT Consulting & Digital Transformation"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-11T23:41:27Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"adverts_offering_sponsorship_24m":0,"sanctioned_now":false,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 2","filings_12m":2,"filings_prev_12m":1,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":122500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-11-09T07:32:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":1}],"liveness":{"score":5,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.18,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":173,"expected_fill_days":4,"reasons":["conf:0","stale_co","velocity","ghost","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-11-09T06:03:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":160000,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/staffordgray-principal-cloud-architect-vmware-vcf","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/staffordgray-principal-cloud-architect-vmware-vcf.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-09T19:36:32Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":5683,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-10T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":686809},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=686809"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fstaffordgray-principal-cloud-architect-vmware-vcf"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fstaffordgray-principal-cloud-architect-vmware-vcf"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fstaffordgray-principal-cloud-architect-vmware-vcf"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/staffordgray-principal-cloud-architect-vmware-vcf\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fstaffordgray-principal-cloud-architect-vmware-vcf"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":777945}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"staffordgray.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":777945},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); 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