Role Description: Cloud Architect –

Google Distributed Cloud & Sovereign

Infrastructure

Google Cloud Consulting (GCC) | External Flex Resource Specification

Program: PSO Flex (Extended Workforce) | Domain: Australian Defence & National Security | Clearances: NV1 / NV2

(Australian Citizen) | Locations: Canberra / Melbourne, Australia

Role Purpose: Google Cloud Consulting (GCC) is engaging an external Cloud Architect via the PSO

Flex program to lead the design, deployment, and operationalization of Google Distributed Cloud

(GDC) and sovereign container platforms for Australian Defence customers. This role requires

active NV1 or NV2 security clearance, deep Australian Defence domain knowledge, proven

bare-metal/edge infrastructure experience, and mandatory, production-grade Google Kubernetes

Engine (GKE) container orchestration expertise.

1. Engagement Summary & Position Overview

The architect will be deployed to support high-assurance customer engagements across sovereign

cloud and defence initiatives, including the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) GDC

deployment, Army LAND 4140 Future C4, and naval/joint sovereign cloud pilot programs.

Parameter Specification

Role Title Cloud Architect – Google Distributed Cloud &

Sovereign Infrastructure

Hiring / Sourcing Model External Flex Resource (PSO Flex / Vendor Model)

Practice Group Google Cloud Consulting (GCC) – Defence &

National Security Practice

Target Customer / Engagement Commonwealth Department of Defence / DSTG

Sovereign Cloud Platform

Required Security Clearance Negative Vetting Level 1 (NV1) mandatory; NV2

preferred / in progress

Citizenship Requirement Australian Citizenship (Mandatory for AGSVA

Clearance & Defence ITAR/DISP compliance)

Target Locations Canberra, ACT or Melbourne, VIC (with on-site

customer facility presence as required)

Engagement Allocation Full-time equivalent (minimum 80% to 100%

utilization / 32–40 hours per week)

2. Key Responsibilities

The Cloud Architect will operate under Google PSO delivery oversight to execute post-sales

architecture, engineering design, implementation, and assurance activities. Specific day-to-day

responsibilities include:

Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) Architecture & Deployment

● Design and implement Google Distributed Cloud (GDC Hosted and GDC Air-Gapped)

infrastructure patterns across bare-metal compute, software-defined storage, and

high-performance physical networking.

● Establish resilient edge and disconnected deployment topologies capable of operating in

Degraded, Intermittent, and Low-bandwidth (DDIL) operational environments.

● Integrate GDC appliances and hardware footprints with existing Defence data centres,

deployed field environments, and secure tactical nodes.

● Formulate and execute comprehensive Disaster Recovery (DR),



Business Continuity (BC),

and High Availability (HA) strategies for sovereign infrastructure.

Container Platform Engineering & Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

● Must Have: Architect, configure, harden, and manage enterprise Google Kubernetes Engine

(GKE) and GDC-based Kubernetes clusters across multi-tenant and air-gapped topologies.

● Implement declarative GitOps and configuration management workflows utilizing Anthos

Config Management (ACM) / Config Sync, Helm, and Kustomize.

● Develop and maintain automated infrastructure-as-code (IaC) deployment pipelines using

Terraform to provision Kubernetes platform resources, namespaces, role-based access

controls, and network policies.

● Troubleshoot complex container networking, service mesh (Anthos Service Mesh / Istio),

ingress/egress controls, storage classes, and persistent volume integration within GKE.

Defence Domain Systems Integration & Operational Alignment

● Translate customer operational Defence concepts, mission partner requirements, and

Commonwealth ICT standards into practical, supportable technical designs.

● Facilitate integration between GDC/GKE workloads and legacy Defence platforms, including

VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), hyperconverged infrastructure, and enterprise identity

fabrics.

● Author High-Level Designs (HLD), Low-Level Designs (LLD), Architecture Decision Records

(ADRs), interface specifications, and operational runbooks conforming to Defence

Architecture Framework standards.

● Participate in customer architecture working groups, engineering review boards, and

technical sprint retrospectives alongside Google and customer engineering teams.

Security Assurance, Governance & Compliance

● Incorporate Australian Government Information Security Manual (ISM) security controls and

Defence Security Principles Framework (DSPF) guidelines into all architectural designs.

● Support Infosec Registered Assessors Program (IRAP) assessment preparation, vulnerability

mitigation, and security documentation up to SECRET classification levels.

● Enforce strict Identity and Access Management (IAM), Privileged Access Management

(PAM), mutual TLS (mTLS), and cryptographic key management standards across

containerized applications.

3. Qualifications & Experience Standards

Following Google job posting and candidate qualification standards, applicants must strictly satisfy

all Minimum Qualifications (MQs)



to be eligible for consideration. Preferred Qualifications (PQs)

represent advanced capabilities that enhance project delivery success.

Minimum Qualifications (MQs) — Non-Negotiable

● Citizenship & Clearance: Australian Citizenship with an active Australian Government

Security Clearance: Negative Vetting Level 1 (NV1) mandatory; NV2 eligibility or active NV2

highly regarded.

● Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information

Technology, Computer Systems, or equivalent practical industry experience.

● Defence Domain Experience: Minimum 5 years of demonstrated architecture, engineering,

or systems integration experience within the Australian Department of Defence, Australian

Defence Force (ADF), or Commonwealth national security environments.

● Mandatory Kubernetes / GKE Expertise: Demonstrated production experience designing,

deploying, and administering container orchestration environments with Google

Kubernetes Engine (GKE) or Anthos/GDC-based Kubernetes platforms.

● Hybrid & Edge Infrastructure: Proven experience architecting and implementing

on-premises, software-defined data centre (SDDC), hyperconverged, or distributed edge

infrastructure (e.g., bare-metal Linux, VMware, HCI, or enterprise networking).

● Stakeholder Communication: Proven track record authoring formal enterprise architecture

documentation, technical designs, and presenting complex solutions to government and

Defence stakeholders.

Qualifications () — Strongly Desired

● Certified Google Cloud Professional: Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect,

Skilled Cloud Security Engineer, or Professional Cloud Network Engineer.

● Kubernetes Certifications: Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), Certified Kubernetes

Application Developer (CKAD), or Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS).

● Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) Expertise: Direct experience with Google Distributed

Cloud (GDC Hosted, GDC Air-Gapped, or GDC Edge) hardware appliances, management

planes, and disconnected operations.

● Defence Edge & Tactical ICT: Specialized background in deployed ICT, tactical

communications, fleet/deployed mission partner networks, or environments operating

under DDIL constraints.

● Military / Ex-Service Background: Prior service in the Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy,

Royal Australian Air Force, or Defence civilian intelligence organizations.

● Security Compliance Acumen: Familiarity with IRAP assessments, PSPF, ISM controls, DISP

governance, and defence export control frameworks (e.g., ITAR).

● Modern Automation & IaC: Advanced proficiency in Terraform, Ansible, Python, Bash, and

enterprise CI/CD toolchains in secure or disconnected bastions.

📌 Cloud Architect (Sydney)
🏢 DWS
📍 Sydney