Principal Infrastructure Architect – Data Center Stabilization

Engagement Type: Contract (Fixed‑Scope Phase Assessment)

Duration: – Weeks Intially

Location: Hybrid onsite to do assessment. (possible limited travel)

We are seeking a senior, battle‑tested infrastructure operator to lead a rapid stabilization assessment of an enterprise data center environment consisting of systems across ~ cages.

The environment includes mixed legacy and new hardware, database‑heavy workloads, relocation‑driven instability, and IO‑level performance issues.

This is not a design‑only architecture role.
This individual will walk into operational ambiguity, diagnose both technical and process failures, and produce a clear executive‑ready stabilization blueprint.

This is a single‑architect engagement. You will operate independently and report directly to CTO‑level leadership.

• Assess enterprise‑scale data center operations end‑to‑end
• Evaluate compute, storage, networking, virtualization, and Linux systems
• Diagnose IO‑level performance bottlenecks and hardware instability
• Identify root causes of missed deadlines and execution breakdowns
• Analyze operational workflows, escalation paths, and on‑call structures
• Distinguish technical failures from process and accountability failures
• Produce a clean current‑state architecture diagram
• Deliver a structured, prioritized stabilization roadmap
• Present findings directly to executive stakeholders

• + years leading enterprise infrastructure or data center environments
• Hands‑on experience with + server on‑prem environments
• Strong background in Linux systems, storage, networking, and virtualization
• Experience diagnosing IO bottlenecks, hardware failures, and database‑heavy workloads
• Experience operating in / mission‑critical environments
• Proven ability to conduct structured root cause analysis across both systems and teams
• Demonstrated experience presenting findings to CTO or C‑level leadership
• Strong documentation and architecture diagramming skills

• Can assess enterprise‑scale operations holistically — not just individual systems
• Comfortable diagnosing both technical instability and operational dysfunction
• Operates with executive credibility and direct communication style
• Produces clean, concise, executive‑ready deliverables
• Moves quickly without requiring heavy oversight
• Structured thinker who converts ambiguity into action

• Pure cloud architects without large on‑prem data center experience
• Staff augmentation engineers looking for embedded execution work
• Strategy‑only consultants without hands‑on operational depth
• Candidates uncomfortable operating independently in high‑stakes environments