VMware VCF Automation Architect

Description and Overview

The VCF Automation Architect will design automation strategies, governance, and self-service models to streamline VCF 9 adoption and consumption. This role focuses on automation architecture, integration strategy, and customer enablement.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead workshops with customer stakeholders to define automation requirements, governance, and workflows.
• Architect VCF Automation integration with VCF 9, vSphere, NSX, vSAN, and other integration components as needed.
• Design self-service catalogs, approval policies, and role-based access models.
• Define automation blueprints for VM provisioning, lifecycle management, and infrastructure services.
• Integrate VCF Automation with CI/CD pipelines, configuration management tools, and APIs.
• Provide technical roadmap and operational model for automation maturity.
• Oversee consultants performing automation builds and validation.

Required Skills & Experience

• 8+ years VMware experience with deep expertise in automation.
• Hands-on experience architecting and deploying vRealize Automation / VCF Automation.
• Familiarity with VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2 and exposure to VCF 9.
• Strong knowledge of scripting and automation frameworks (VMware Orchestator, PowerShell, Python, YAML, REST APIs).
• Proven customer-facing consulting and solution design experience.
  • Experience with at least one hybrid cloud integrations (VMware/AWS/Azure/Google Cloud Platform).
  • Familiarity with DevOps practices and toolchains (Jenkins, GitHub, GitOps).

Certifications

• VMware Certified Professional – VMware Cloud Foundation Architect (2V0-13.25)

Skills Checklist

VCF Automation Design

• VCF Automation architecture and sizing
• Integration design with VCF 9, vSphere, NSX, vSAN
• Multi-tenancy and cloud zone strategy
• High availability and disaster recovery design
• Extensibility and custom resource design

Automation Strategy & Governance

• Define automation requirements and maturity roadmap
• Design governance models and approval workflows
• Role-based access control (RBAC) and security policies
• Self-service catalog design and user experience
• Cost management and resource allocation policies

Blueprint & Workflow Design

• Design automation blueprints for VM provisioning
• Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) templates and standards
• Lifecycle management workflows (Day-0, Day-1, Day-2)
• Custom resource actions and extensibility
• Multi-cloud blueprint strategies

Integration & API Development

• CI/CD pipeline integration (Jenkins, GitHub, GitLab)
• Configuration management tool integration (Ansible, Puppet, Salt)
• REST API design and custom integrations
• Third-party system integration (CMDB, ITSM, ticketing)
• Hybrid cloud integration (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform)

Customer Engagement & Workshops

• Lead automation discovery and requirements workshops
• Define self-service and governance requirements
• Present architecture to executives and technical teams
• Translate business requirements into automation strategy
• Facilitate operational maturity and adoption planning

Scripting & Automation Frameworks

• VMware Orchestrator (vRO) workflow development
• PowerShell and Python scripting expertise
• YAML/JSON template authoring
• REST API consumption and development
• Infrastructure-as-Code best practices

Cross-Workstream Collaboration

• Align with VCF Core Architect on infrastructure automation
• Coordinate with VCF Operations team on monitoring integration
• Work with VKS team on container automation
• Ensure consistency across automation workstreams
• Oversee consultants executing build and configuration

Architecture & Documentation

• Develop VCF Automation architecture artifacts
• Create integration specifications and workflow diagrams
• Document design decisions and tradeoffs
• Build automation runbooks and standards
• Capture functional and non-functional requirements

Operational Excellence

• Day-2 operations strategy for automation platform
• Automation lifecycle management and versioning
• DevOps practices and continuous improvement
• Knowledge transfer and enablement delivery
• Operational maturity progression roadmap

Technical Foundations

• VCF 5.2+ hands-on experience with VCF 9 exposure
• Deep knowledge of vSphere, NSX, vSAN components
• DevOps toolchains and GitOps workflows
• Multi-cloud architecture experience
• Enterprise automation frameworks and patterns