Principal IT Engineer

Parvana; Cape Town; Hybrid; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,100,000; Full time

Job summary

Parvana is recruiting a Senior Infrastructure Architect to lead enterprise infrastructure, networking, cloud, and cybersecurity efforts from our Cape Town hub. You will spearhead architecture standards, guide large, distributed engineering teams, and ensure secure, scalable integration of new sites across the Group.

The role requires extensive leadership experience, deep knowledge of Azure, Entra ID, AD, and Windows Server, and a proven ability to drive Zero Trust and defense-in-depth programs

Qualifications

• 10+ years in enterprise infrastructure, networking, cloud, or cybersecurity.
• 5+ years in senior leadership or architecture roles across locations.
• Strong experience with Azure, Entra ID, AD and Windows Server.

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain enterprise infrastructure architecture, standards, and growth roadmaps.
• Review complex designs, manage technical debt, and provide senior technical direction and escalation.
• Lead, mentor, and develop globally distributed engineering teams.
• Oversee the integration of new business sites into standardised Group environments and practices.
• Act as senior technical lead during major infrastructure and cybersecurity incidents, directing containment, investigation, and recovery.

Skills

Azure

Entra ID

Active Directory

Windows Server

Fortinet

EDR/XDR

MDR/SOC

Job description

Cape Town, South Africa | Posted on 03/11/2026

Location: Cape Town | Work Type: Hybrid | Job ID: J107290

About our client:

Our client is a highly successful and purpose-driven group with a global shared services hub based in Cape Town. They are far more than a travel company; they act as a vital platform connecting world-class hospitality with large-scale environmental impact across Africa’s most iconic wilderness areas. The organization prides itself on a culture of continuous improvement and ethical behaviour, where the mission is to ensure that natural ecosystems and local communities thrive together. You will join a collaborative, friendly team that avoids rigid hierarchies and values individual contribution. While they "think big" and move fast to protect vulnerable landscapes, they are deeply employee-centric, offering unusually generous benefits and a genuine commitment to work/life balance. This is an opportunity to bring your expertise to a stable yet growing organization where profit meets a profound sense of purpose. They are looking for adaptable, long-term partners who are ready to help drive positive change at scale.

What you will be doing:

• Establish and maintain enterprise infrastructure architecture, standards, and growth roadmaps.
  
• Review complex designs, manage technical debt, and provide senior technical direction and escalation.
  
• Lead, mentor, and develop globally distributed engineering teams while fostering a collaborative culture.
  
• Oversee the integration of new business sites into standardised Group environments and practices.
  
• Act as senior technical lead during major infrastructure and cybersecurity incidents, directing containment, investigation, and recovery.
  
• Manage architecture oversight across Azure, Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Active Directory, and hybrid Microsoft environments.
  
• Define enterprise network and firewall standards, including segmentation, VPN, SD-WAN, and ZTNA.
  
• Lead technical security architecture across EDR/XDR, identity security, privileged access, and ransomware resilience.
  
• Collaborate with MDR/SOC providers to enhance detection coverage, logging, and incident response capabilities.
  
• Prioritise and remediate vulnerabilities, security risks, and penetration-test findings using Zero Trust and defense-in-depth principles.
  
• Provide architecture oversight for enterprise backup platforms, disaster recovery, and regular restore testing.
  
• Set technical vulnerability, patch-management, and endpoint/RMM standards while guiding remediation of end-of-life infrastructure.
  

What our client is looking for:

• 10 years in enterprise infrastructure, networking, cloud, or cybersecurity, including 5 years in senior leadership or architecture.
  
• Proven track record of leading geographically distributed technical teams across multiple locations.
  
• Strong architectural experience with Azure, Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Active Directory, and Windows Server.
  
• Expertise in enterprise networking, secure remote access, segmentation, and firewall platforms like Fortinet.
  
• Background in EDR/XDR, security monitoring, vulnerability management, and cybersecurity incident response.
  
• Strong capabilities in technical documentation, architecture design, infrastructure automation, and scripting languages such as PowerShell.
  
• Deep knowledge of Conditional Access, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and privileged access management.
  
• Familiarity with routing, switching, VLANs, SD-WAN, ZTNA, MDR/SOC, and SIEM concepts.
  
• Experience with Windows Server, immutable backups, disaster recovery, ransomware recovery, and RMM standards.
  
• Grounded in Zero Trust, least privilege, defense in depth, CIS Controls, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, and ISO 27001 principles.