Senior OpenShift Platform Engineer - WebSphere Modernization

Blue Pearl PTY; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1,500,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Our Client in Johannesburg, South Africa seeks a Senior OpenShift Platform Engineer to lead modernization efforts, deploying and operating OpenShift clusters and migrating WebSphere workloads to container-native deployments. You will implement GitOps pipelines and IaC with Terraform and Ansible, while aligning with government standards and SRE practices.

The role requires hands-on OpenShift expertise, Kubernetes administration, and experience guiding teams through complex modernization in

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building and operating enterprise OpenShift clusters.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, build, and operationalizing of Red Hat OpenShift clusters to host WebSphere workloads.
• Drive containerization and migration of WebSphere WAS apps to OpenShift-native deployments.
• Define and implement GitOps deployment pipelines using ArgoCD and GitHub Actions.
• Author and maintain IaC modules using Terraform and Ansible for OpenShift components.
• Perform SRE-focused platform operations including performance tuning and incident response.
• Collaborate with application teams to define migration strategies and onboarding of services.

Skills

OpenShift

Kubernetes

GitOps

Terraform

Ansible

Security

Job description

Senior OpenShift Platform Engineer - WebSphere Modernization

Johannesburg, South Africa | Posted on 07/30/2026

Client is undertaking a strategic Modernization 3.0 initiative tomigrate legacy WebSphere Application Server workloads onto a modern OpenShiftContainer Platform. We are seeking a Senior OpenShift Platform Engineer withdeep Red Hat platform engineering expertise and a strong DevOps/SRE backgroundto lead containerization and migration efforts in a mission-critical governmenttax environment. The ideal candidate brings hands-on experience building andoperating enterprise-grade OpenShift clusters, automating infrastructuredelivery with Terraform and GitOps tooling, and guiding application teamsthrough container-native transformation. This is a high-impact engagement whereyour platform engineering skills will directly enable them deliver faster, moreresilient processing capabilities.

KeyResponsibilities

• Lead the design, build, andoperationalizing of Red Hat OpenShift clusters to host modernizedWebSphere workloads, ensuring high availability, security, and compliancewith government standards.
  
• Drive the containerization andmigration of legacy WebSphere Application Server (WAS) applications toOpenShift-native deployments, leveraging tools such as IBM TransformationAdvisor where applicable.
  
• Define and implement GitOps-baseddeployment pipelines using ArgoCD and GitHub Actions to automateapplication delivery across Our Client development, staging, andproduction environments.
  
• Author and maintain reusableInfrastructure-as-Code (IaC) modules using Terraform and Ansible toprovision and manage OpenShift platform components and supporting cloudinfrastructure.
  
• Perform SRE-aligned platformoperations including performance tuning, capacity planning, incidentresponse, and software lifecycle management for OpenShift environments.
  
• Engage Client application andarchitecture teams to define container migration strategies, establishdeployment standards, and support onboarding of WebSphere-based servicesto the OpenShift platform.
  
• Implement and manage observabilitystacks (Prometheus, Grafana, Thanos, Datadog) to provide end-to-endmonitoring, alerting, and SLO/SLA visibility across modernized Our Clienttax system components.
  
• Establish and enforce OpenShiftplatform security posture including RBAC, network policies, imagescanning, and secrets management in alignment with Our Client andgovernment compliance requirements.
  
• Collaborate with IBM deliveryleads and Client stakeholders to track modernization progress, managerisks, and communicate platform health and migration milestones.
  
• Contribute to internal capabilitybuilding by mentoring junior engineers, documenting platform run books, andsharing Red Hat OpenShift best practices within the Our Client engagementteam.
  

Requirements

RequiredSkills & Experience

• Red Hat OpenShift ContainerPlatform - cluster deployment, configuration, upgrades, and day-2operations in enterprise environments
  
• Kubernetes administration withCKA-level proficiency, including workload management, Helm/Kustomizepackaging, and namespace governance
  
• CI/CD pipeline engineering usingGitOps patterns with ArgoCD, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or equivalenttooling
  
• Infrastructure-as-Code deliveryusing Terraform and Ansible across cloud or on-premise environments
  
• Containerization of enterpriseJava applications, with an understanding of WebSphere or equivalentapplication server migration pathways
  
• Observability and monitoringplatform management using Prometheus, Grafana, Thanos, or Datadog inproduction SRE contexts
  
• Cloud platform experience acrossat least one of IBM Cloud, AWS, or Azure including networking, storage,and identity fundamentals
  
• Stakeholder engagement andtechnical consulting skills, with experience working in regulated orgovernment sector environments
  

PreferredSkills

• Hands-on experience with IBMWebSphere Application Server modernization tools such as IBMTransformation Advisor or WebSphere Liberty migration
  
• Exposure to IBM Cloud Paks andOpenShift-based middleware deployments in financial services or governmentcontexts
  
• Experience with Kafka orevent-driven architecture patterns supporting microservices decompositionfrom monolithic Java applications
  
• Familiarity with Our Client, SouthAfrican government IT governance frameworks, or equivalent public sectorcompliance and procurement standards
  
• Scripting and automationproficiency in Python or Java to support tooling integration and platformcustomization
  
• Knowledge of VMware vSphere oron-premise virtualization platforms relevant to hybrid cloud andlift-and-shift migration scenarios