Datacenter Migration lead

Cognizant; Brussel; Hybrid; EUR 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking a Datacenter Migration Lead in Belgium to drive a complex, large-scale infrastructure migration and datacenter exit for a major bank. You will lead end-to-end migration activities, coordinating with executives, architects, and delivery teams to ensure a successful migration.

You will oversee discovery, planning, cutover, stabilization, and final sign-off, serving as the client’s primary accountability for migration delivery, with hybrid work expectations (2–3 days in

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in IT infrastructure and operations with end-to-end leadership of large datacenter migration programs.
• Proven experience delivering migrations involving thousands of workloads and cutover/stabilization ownership.
• Strong knowledge of datacenter tech: compute, virtualization, storage, networking, backup, DR, databases and middleware.
• Hands-on knowledge of migration methods/tools: P2V/V2V, VMware HCX, Zerto, cloud migration services.
• Strong client-facing/stakeholder management, able to communicate risks and decisions to leadership.
• Experience migrating core banking/payments/trading platforms within regulated financial institutions in EU/Belgium.
• Fluent in English; eligible to work in Belgium.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end datacenter migration programs including discovery, dependency mapping, and wave planning.
• Own migration runbooks, cutover plans, go/no-go criteria and post-migration validation.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams across application, infra, database, network, security and vendors.
• Act as trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders; manage governance, risks, schedules and budgets.
• Coordinate Cognizant architects across cloud, network, security, database, mainframe and app modernization.

Skills

Datacenter migration

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Migration tools

Cloud & network familiarity

Regulatory knowledge

Tools

VMware HCX

Zerto

Azure Migrate

AWS Application Migration Service

ServiceNow Discovery

Device42

Flexera

Job description

About the role

As a Datacenter Migration Lead, you will make an impact by leading a complex, large-scale infrastructure migration and datacenter exit program for a large bank in Belgium .

You will be a valued member of Cognizant’s infrastructure delivery organization, working closely with client executives, account leadership, Solution Architects, technical specialists, vendors and distributed delivery teams. From discovery and migration planning through cutover, stabilization and final sign-off, you will provide end-to-end leadership and serve as the client’s primary point of accountability for migration delivery.

In this role, you will:

• Lead end-to-end datacenter migration programs, including discovery, dependency mapping, migration strategy, wave planning, execution, stabilization and datacenter exit.
• Own migration runbooks, cutover and rollback plans, go/no-go criteria and post-migration validation, while coordinating application, infrastructure, database, network, security and vendor teams.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders, managing governance, risks, schedules, budgets, escalations and change control across multiple workstreams.
• Coordinate Cognizant architects and technical specialists across cloud, network, security, database, mainframe and application modernization to deliver an integrated migration plan.
• Establish scalable migration factory practices and reusable assets that improve delivery quality, operational stability and execution efficiency.

Work model

We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring 2 to 3 days per week in the client office near Brussels with occasional travel to client sites across Belgium and within the Benelux region.

Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various wellbeing programmes.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you are engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured, we will always be clear about role expectations.

What you need to have to be considered

• Extensive experience in IT infrastructure and operations, including significant end-to-end leadership of large datacenter migration, consolidation or exit programs.
• Proven experience delivering large-scale migrations involving at least 1,000 workloads, including direct responsibility for migration planning, cutover and stabilization.
• Strong knowledge of datacenter technologies, including compute, virtualization, storage, networking, backup, disaster recovery, databases and middleware.
• Hands-on knowledge of migration methods and tools such as physical relocation, P2V/V2V, storage replication, VMware HCX, Zerto, Azure Migrate, AWS Application Migration Service, ServiceNow Discovery, Device42, Flexera or comparable solutions.
• Strong client-facing and stakeholder-management experience, with the ability to communicate technical risks, decisions and trade-offs clearly to senior business and technology leaders.
• Experience migrating core banking, payments, trading, or customer-facing platforms within Belgian or European banks, insurers, or other regulated financial institutions.
• Working knowledge of the Belgian and EU regulatory landscape affecting infrastructure change, including DORA, EBA guidelines on ICT risk and outsourcing, and expectations from the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) and the ECB for supervised institutions.
• Fluency in English and eligibility to work in Belgium

These will help you stand out

• Experience delivering infrastructure migrations within banking, insurance or another regulated financial-services environment.
• Knowledge of European and Belgian regulatory requirements affecting technology and infrastructure change, including DORA, NIS2, GDPR and EBA guidelines.
• Professional proficiency in Dutch and/or French.
• Experience with IBM mainframe or midrange environments, including z/OS or AS/400.
• Relevant certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2, MSP, ITIL v4, AWS Solutions Architect, Azure Solutions Architect, Google Cloud Architect, CDCP or CDCS