Senior GCP Operations Architect

540 is seeking a Senior GCP Operations Architect to support a mission-critical aviation platform that helps enable the safe and efficient operation of the nation’s airspace. The platform modernizes how time-sensitive safety information is managed and distributed through secure, near-real-time data exchange. Working alongside Google technical advisors and customer operations teams, you will provide architectural guidance and day-two operational expertise across GCP infrastructure, security, resiliency, automation, and DevSecOps. This highly visible role requires a proactive technical leader who can resolve complex issues, strengthen operational readiness, and help ensure the reliability and availability of a platform that directly supports aviation safety. Location : Remote within the continental United States Citizenship & Clearance Requirement : Per client requirements, candidates must be U.S. Citizens and currently hold or be eligible to obtain and maintain an FAA Public Trust Education Requirement: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related field (preferred) 540 Internal Thrive Level: Senior Platform Engineer WHY 540? 540 is a forward-thinking company that the government turns to in order to #getshitdone. We don’t just talk about innovation – we deliver it. We break down barriers, build impactful technology, and solve mission-critical problems. HOW YOU’LL DRIVE IMPACT Provide expert guidance on the architecture and operation of GCP networking, compute, security, storage, and supporting platform services Partner with customer operations teams to identify and introduce new tools, operational patterns, and cloud best practices that improve team productivity, platform reliability, and operational efficiency Serve as a primary point of contact for infrastructure and operations questions and technical escalations, providing Tier 3 troubleshooting across cloud infrastructure, Terraform deployments, and DevSecOps pipelines Quickly develop expertise and take ownership of unfamiliar technical or operational areas, providing guidance to customer and delivery teams as new challenges emerge Participate in Agile delivery ceremonies and technical forums, including daily stand-ups, sprint planning and reviews, technical syncs, scrum-of-scrums, operational reviews, postmortems, and technical retrospectives Review system metrics and logs to identify performance bottlenecks, stability concerns, and emerging risks; support root cause analysis and define sustainable, long-term remediation actions Assess and strengthen day-two operational readiness, including troubleshooting procedures, escalation paths, support-team preparedness, backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery protocols, and high-availability configurations Provide guidance on Terraform module development, state management, infrastructure automation, and CI/CD integration, and review GitOps and DevSecOps workflows to troubleshoot critical pipeline and deployment issues Support release-management activities, including the application and rollback of database releases Review and guide the development of runbooks, SOPs, troubleshooting materials, and other operational artifacts to ensure they are accurate, complete, consistent, and aligned with the current architecture and recommended practices Review the Technical Design Document every two weeks, advise customer stakeholders on required revisions and document governance, and develop supporting materials for technical and architecture reviews Conduct weekly office hours for Infrastructure, DevSecOps, and Release Management processes Engage with the customer’s Change Control Board and Architecture Review Board to evaluate proposed configuration and architectural changes Research relevant GCP services and architectural components to inform technical recommendations and customer decision-making Maintain accurate and detailed activity, status, and task information in Jira Reduce technical and operational ambiguity by clarifying requirements, establishing a path forward, and maintaining momentum when requirements or direction are not fully defined Demonstrate proactive ownership and confident technical leadership across the broader project, helping maintain architectural cohesion, operational standards, and delivery quality while representing Google and 540 in customer-facing engagements Reduce technical and operational ambiguity by clarifying requirements, establishing a path forward, and maintaining momentum when requirements or direction are not fully defined Demonstrate proactive ownership and confident technical leadership across the broader project, helping maintain architectural cohesion, operational standards, and delivery quality while representing Google and 540 in customer-facing engagements REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE 8+ years of relevant experience Extensive experience designing, operating, or supporting production environments in Google Cloud Strong knowledge of GCP networking, compute, storage, identity, access management, and core security services Experience translating cloud architecture into practical day-two operations and support processes Hands-on experience with Terraform, including reusable modules, remote state management, deployment troubleshooting, and CI/CD integration Experience supporting GitOps, CI/CD, or DevSecOps workflows in production environments Experience with infrastructure monitoring, logging, system-health analysis, and operational risk identification Strong understanding of high availability, disaster recovery, backup and recovery, and platform resiliency Experience conducting root cause analysis and developing long-term corrective and preventive actions Ability to troubleshoot complex cloud infrastructure and deployment issues at a Tier 3 level Experience creating and reviewing technical design documents, runbooks, SOPs, troubleshooting guides, and operational procedures Experience supporting release-management and rollback processes Working knowledge of Agile delivery practices and task-management tools such as Jira Strong customer-facing communication, facilitation, and technical advisory skills Ability to communicate architectural concepts and operational recommendations to both technical teams and customer leadership Proactive ownership mindset with the confidence to identify risks, recommend improvements, and drive issues toward resolution NICE TO HAVE Google Cloud professional-level certification Experience supporting mission-critical government or regulated cloud environments Experience with Apigee architecture, deployment, or operations Experience participating in formal Change Control Board or Architecture Review Board processes Experience supporting database release and rollback activities Familiarity with site reliability engineering and production operations practices Experience supporting large-scale modernization or cloud-transformation programs Familiarity with aviation, transportation, or other high-availability operational systems BENEFITS & PERKS Flexible PTO + all Federal holidays off Health, dental and vision insurance plans Flexible Spending Account (FSA) 401k with employer match Company-sponsored life insurance, short- and long-term disability Professional development (training, certifications, conferences) Paid cloud developer accounts Referral bonuses HQ office perks (parking / metro reimbursement, nitro coffee & lunches) Annual social events (540 Week, hackathon, charity golf tournament, etc.) Access to 540’s Washington Capitals & Nationals tickets EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY (EEO) 540's policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.