VMware vSphere Consultant - VCF 9 Workload Migration (Contract)

Overview: Stafford Gray is seeking an experienced VMware consultant to support the virtualization team of a global financial services client in Jersey City, NJ. The environment runs vSphere at significant scale (no other VCF suite components), with automation handled through an in-house marketplace and monitoring via Grafana. You'll support day-to-day IaaS operations, then assist with workload migration to VMware Cloud Foundation 9 once the migration design — owned by a separate VMware team — is validated. Engagement: Full-time (5 days/week), starting ASAP, running through October 31, 2026 Responsibilities: Support the IaaS team's daily operational activities across a large-scale vSphere environment Troubleshoot and maintain virtualization infrastructure, working within established automation (internal marketplace) and monitoring (Grafana) tooling Assist with workload migration to VCF 9 following validation of the migration design and roadmap Coordinate with the client's dedicated VMware migration team during the migration phase Document operational procedures and migration activities Required Qualifications: 5+ years of hands-on VMware vSphere administration/engineering in enterprise environments (inferred — confirm with client) Experience executing large-scale VM workload migrations Familiarity with VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) concepts and architecture Ability to work on-site in Jersey City, NJ at least 50% of the time Strong communication skills for a client-facing, embedded-team role Preferred Qualifications: Direct VCF 4.x/5.x/9.x migration or deployment experience Experience in financial services / regulated environments Grafana or comparable monitoring stack familiarity Exposure to custom automation/self-service provisioning platforms VMware certifications (VCP-DCV or higher)