Senior Datacenter & Infrastructure Architect

Gazelle Global; Amsterdam; Hybrid; EUR 129,000 - 221,000; Full time

Job summary

Gazelle Global is seeking a Senior Datacenter & Infrastructure Architect to own the European Cyber Recovery Data Centre initiative in Amsterdam. The role requires extensive enterprise data centre design experience and deep knowledge of cyber recovery, storage, backup and regulatory requirements.

You will collaborate with enterprise architecture, security and IT leadership to define the high-level concept, business and technical requirements, and evaluate solutions for secure, resilient IT

Qualifications

• Minimum 7-10 years of experience in infrastructure or data centre architecture.
• Experience designing large-scale enterprise data centre infrastructure solutions.
• Knowledge of disaster recovery, business continuity and enterprise IT resilience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of the high-level architecture and concept design for the European Cyber Recovery Data Centre.
• Define scalable, secure and resilient infrastructure architectures for enterprise data centre environments.
• Evaluate architectural options for data centre infrastructure, storage, networking, backup and DR.
• Ensure alignment with enterprise architecture principles and governance.

Skills

Strong communication

Documentation

Stakeholder management

English fluency

Job description

Senior Datacenter & Infrastructure Architect - Cyber Recovery

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Contract: Initial 6 months, with potential extension of 6+ months
Start Date: 1 December 2026
Working Hours: 36 hours per week
Hybrid: Minimum 3 days per week onsite
Contract Type: Freelance (ZZP) or Payroll
Language: English required

About the Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced Senior Datacenter & Infrastructure Architect to join a major international financial services organisation based in Amsterdam.

This is a high-impact architectural role focused on designing a new European Cyber Recovery Data Centre as part of a wider global IT resilience and disaster recovery programme.

You will take architectural ownership of the initiative, defining the high-level concept design, establishing business and technical requirements, and evaluating infrastructure solutions to support secure, resilient and recoverable IT operations.

Working closely with enterprise architecture, infrastructure engineering, cybersecurity, risk management and senior IT stakeholders, you will help shape the organisation's long-term data centre and cyber resilience strategy.

The ideal candidate will combine extensive enterprise data centre architecture experience with deep technical knowledge of cyber recovery, disaster recovery, storage, backup technologies and regulatory requirements.

Key Responsibilities

Data Centre & Infrastructure Architecture

• Lead the development of the high-level architecture and concept design for a new European Cyber Recovery Data Centre.

• Define scalable, secure and resilient infrastructure architectures for enterprise data centre environments.

• Evaluate architectural options for data centre infrastructure, storage, networking, backup, replication and disaster recovery.

• Contribute to data centre feasibility assessments, site evaluations and infrastructure planning.

• Ensure architectural solutions align with enterprise technology standards, security policies and strategic objectives.

Cyber Recovery & IT Resilience

• Design cyber recovery architectures incorporating immutable backups, isolated recovery environments and air-gapped infrastructure.

• Develop architectural solutions supporting ransomware recovery, clean-room restoration and cross-region disaster recovery.

• Define recovery capabilities to ensure business-critical systems can be restored following major operational or cyber incidents.

• Collaborate with cybersecurity and IT resilience teams to strengthen enterprise recovery strategies.

• Ensure recovery architectures meet operational, security and regulatory expectations.

Enterprise Architecture & Governance

• Translate business needs into clearly documented functional and non-functional requirements.

• Produce high-level architecture documentation, technical requirements matrices, solution options and architecture decisions.

• Assess technical trade-offs, risks, dependencies and cost considerations.

• Provide architectural input into project business cases and strategic investment decisions.

• Ensure designs align with enterprise architecture principles and global target architecture standards.

• Support architectural governance and stakeholder approval processes.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Work with infrastructure engineering, platform teams, cybersecurity, IT operations and risk management.

• Engage senior stakeholders to communicate architectural recommendations and strategic decisions.

• Facilitate discussions around infrastructure resilience, recovery capabilities and future-state technology architecture.

• Support alignment across international IT teams and business units.

Essential Requirements

• Minimum 7-10 years of experience in Infrastructure Architecture, Data Centre Architecture or Enterprise Technical Architecture.

• Proven experience designing large-scale enterprise data centre infrastructure solutions.

• Strong knowledge of disaster recovery, business continuity and enterprise IT resilience.

• Hands-on architectural experience with backup, storage, replication and failover technologies.

• Deep understanding of cyber recovery architecture, including:

  • Immutable backup storage

  • Air-gapped and isolated recovery environments

  • Cyber Recovery Vaults

  • Ransomware recovery strategies

  • Clean-room recovery environments

  • Cross-region recovery solutions

• Experience developing high-level architecture designs and defining functional and non-functional requirements.

• Understanding of data centre transformation, migration or construction initiatives.

• Knowledge of enterprise architecture governance, standards and solution design methodologies.

• Experience working within highly regulated environments, ideally banking or financial services.

• Familiarity with regulatory and security frameworks including DORA, NIS2, ISO 27001, ISO 22301, ISO 22237 and NIST.

• Strong communication, documentation and stakeholder management skills.

• Professional fluency in English.

Desirable Skills & Certifications

• TOGAF or equivalent enterprise architecture certification.

• Certified Data Centre Design Professional (CDCDP).

• AWS Solutions Architect or Microsoft Azure Architect certification.

• VMware VCP / VCF certification.

• Cisco CCIE certification.

• CISSP certification.

• Experience with hybrid cloud and on-premises data centre architectures.

• Previous involvement in establishing a new data centre or dedicated cyber recovery facility.

• Experience delivering complex infrastructure transformation programmes within international banking environments.

Key Project Deliverables

During the initial six-month engagement, you will be expected to:

• Develop the High-Level Concept Design for the new European Cyber Recovery Data Centre.

• Produce a comprehensive Business and Technical Requirements Matrix.

• Define and assess architectural options, including technical feasibility, risks and cost considerations.

• Contribute architectural input to the programme's Business Case.

• Support data centre feasibility assessments and infrastructure evaluations.

• Contribute to the organisation's Enterprise Cyber Recovery Strategy and target-state architecture.

• Secure alignment across enterprise architecture, infrastructure, security, risk management and IT leadership.

Contract Information

This opportunity offers an initial six-month engagement with the potential for an additional six months or longer.

The position is based in Amsterdam, with a minimum requirement of three days per week onsite. Occasional international travel or work outside standard business hours may be required.

Freelance/ZZP professionals are welcome to apply.