Sr. GCP Cloud Migration Architect (m/f/d)

Job Title: Sr. GCP Cloud Migration Architect

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Job Type: 12-Month Contract (with potential for extension)

About the Role:

We are seeking a highly experienced and technically proficient Principal/Senior GCP Cloud Migration Architect to lead our large-scale enterprise migration initiatives in Riyadh. This is a critical leadership role requiring a seasoned professional with a proven track record of successfully planning, executing, and optimizing complex on-premises to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) migrations for hundreds to thousands of workloads. The ideal candidate will possess deep technical expertise across various domains, enabling them to architect holistic migration strategies and provide hands-on leadership throughout the entire migration lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities:

Migration Strategy & Leadership:

• Serve as the lead architect and subject matter expert for all GCP migration initiatives, defining technical migration strategies, methodologies (e.g., wave-based approaches), and best practices for large-scale enterprise environments.
• Lead the assessment of current on-premises IT landscapes, conducting in-depth analyses of existing infrastructure, applications (e.g., ERP, CRM, HR, Finance systems), databases, and data dependencies to determine optimal migration paths.
• Develop comprehensive migration roadmaps, including detailed technical designs, sequencing, dependency mapping, and risk mitigation strategies for heterogeneous workloads.
• Provide architectural oversight and technical governance throughout the migration process, ensuring adherence to GCP best practices, security standards, and enterprise architecture principles.
  
  

Technical Execution & Hands-on Contribution:

• Design and implement robust migration factories and automation pipelines leveraging GCP native tools and third-party solutions for efficient workload discovery, assessment, migration, and optimization.
• Drive hands-on technical implementation of complex migrations, including lift-and-shift, re-platforming, re-factoring, and re-architecting strategies.
• Architect and implement secure and scalable network connectivity solutions between on-premises environments and GCP, including VPNs, Interconnect, and Direct Peering.
• Lead the migration of diverse database systems (e.g., SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL) to GCP managed services (Cloud SQL, Cloud Spanner, BigQuery) or self-managed instances on Compute Engine.
• Develop and implement data migration strategies, ensuring data integrity, minimal downtime, and optimized data transfer mechanisms (e.g., Storage Transfer Service, Dataflow).
• Collaborate with DevOps teams to integrate migration processes with CI/CD pipelines, enabling automated testing, deployment, and validation of migrated workloads.
• Implement and enforce robust security controls and compliance frameworks (e.g., IAM, VPC Service Controls, encryption at rest/in transit) throughout the migration lifecycle.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues encountered during migration, demonstrating deep analytical and problem-solving skills.
  
  

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Mentorship:

• Collaborate extensively with cross-functional teams, including infrastructure, application development, security, operations, and business stakeholders, to ensure seamless migration execution.
• Provide technical leadership, guidance, and mentorship to junior architects and engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence.
• Present complex technical concepts and migration progress to executive leadership and technical teams.
  
  

Required Technical Skills & Experience:

• 10+ years of overall experience in IT architecture, with a strong focus on cloud computing and enterprise-scale migrations.
• Extensive hands-on experience (2-3 years directly leading) in migrating 100s to 1000s of diverse workloads (applications, databases, virtual machines, containers, business systems – e.g., Finance, HR, ERP, CRM) from on-premises data centers to Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
• Deep and demonstrable expertise in GCP services, including but not limited to:

• Compute: Compute Engine, GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine), Cloud Run, App Engine
• Networking: VPC, Cloud Load Balancing, Cloud DNS, Cloud Interconnect, Cloud VPN, Cloud CDN
• Storage: Cloud Storage, Persistent Disk, Filestore, Cloud SQL, Cloud Spanner, BigQuery, Datastore, Firestore
• Databases: Migration of various relational and NoSQL databases to GCP managed services.
• Migration Tools: Migrate for Compute Engine (Velostrata), Database Migration Service, Storage Transfer Service.
• Identity & Security: IAM, VPC Service Controls, Cloud Armor, Security Command Center, Cloud Key Management Service.
• Operations: Cloud Monitoring, Cloud Logging, Cloud Trace, Cloud Audit Logs.
• DevOps: Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines, Terraform, Cloud Deployment Manager, Ansible.
• Proven experience leading large-scale, complex production migrations with a strong understanding of wave-based migration approaches and cutover strategies for minimizing downtime.
• Solid understanding of enterprise networking principles (TCP/IP, routing, firewalls, network security groups, VPNs) in both on-premises and cloud environments.
• Proficiency in scripting languages (e.g., Python, Bash) for automation and infrastructure as code.
• Experience with various operating systems (Linux, Windows Server) and virtualization technologies (VMware, Hyper-V).
• Ability to analyze and define the scope of migration projects, including discovery, assessment, planning, execution, and optimization phases.
• GCP Professional Cloud Architect certification is highly preferred. Additional relevant GCP certifications (e.g., Professional Cloud Network Engineer, Professional Cloud Security Engineer) are a significant plus.
  
  

Qualifications:

• Minimum of Bachelor's in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Strong leadership capabilities with a proven ability to lead technical teams and drive successful project outcomes.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
  
  

Halian Group:

With over 28 years of experience, we have come to understand that innovation is the only way to provide agile, practical solutions that transform businesses and careers.

Our resourcing and smart services help you to realize tomorrow’s potential. Discover the amazing things possible when you bring the right people and the right technologies together.

At Halian, we recognize that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are essential to building high-performing teams for our clients. We are committed to connecting organizations with top talent from all backgrounds, ensuring that every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of race, gender, disability, or any other characteristic that makes them unique. By fostering diverse and inclusive workplaces, we help our clients drive innovation, enhance collaboration, and better reflect the communities they serve.

Sr. GCP Cloud Migration Architect in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia