Cloud Platform Engineer (Virtualization & SDN)  

Cloud Platform Engineer (Virtualization & SDN)

Location: Zurich, Switzerland

Start Date: 18 May 2026

End Date: 30 April 2027

About the Role:

We are seeking an experienced Cloud Platform Engineer to design, build, and operate a modern private cloud platform based on open-source virtualization and software-defined networking technologies. You will play a key role in delivering a scalable, secure, and highly available infrastructure, working closely with architecture, security, and operations teams.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and build a cloud platform leveraging open-source virtualization technologies, with a focus on compute, virtualization, and SDN
• Integrate and operate KVM/QEMU for the virtualization layer and OVN/Open vSwitch for networking, including tenant isolation, routing, and segmentation
• Automate provisioning, configuration, and day-2 operations using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and CI/CD pipelines
• Define and implement operational models for monitoring, alerting, logging, and incident/problem/change management
• Collaborate with internal teams and external vendors to ensure alignment with architecture and security standards
• Validate platform functionality through integration, failover, and acceptance testing
• Ensure high availability, scalability, and resilience of the platform

Education & Experience:

· Professional training in IT, Computer Science, or a related field

· Proven hands-on experience in system engineering and cloud/virtualization environments

Required Skills:

• Strong Linux/System Engineering experience in near-production environments
• Deep hands-on expertise with KVM, QEMU, libvirt, and OVN/Open vSwitch
• Excellent understanding of IP networking (L2/L3), overlay networks, routing, NAT, ACLs/security groups, load balancing, and tenant separation
• Experience building or operating private cloud/IaaS/virtualization platforms with high availability and scalability
• Strong automation and IaC skills using tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Python, and Bash
• Experience with Git-based workflows (GitLab/GitHub), CI/CD pipelines, and standardized deployment processes
• Solid knowledge of observability tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/OpenSearch) and root cause analysis (RCA)
• Experience with security hardening, secrets management, certificates, RBAC/IAM, and operational security practices
• Strong ownership mindset with the ability to work independently and reliably
• Fluent in English (written and spoken); German

Nice to Have:

• Experience with Ubuntu/Canonical, Proxmox, or comparable hypervisor/cloud platforms
• Knowledge of Kubernetes, KubeVirt, Kube-OVN, and VM/container networking integration
• Background in service provider, telco, or managed service environments
• Experience with cloud landing zones, IAM/network design, disaster recovery (DR), business continuity management (BCM), and service management processes
• Knowledge of storage integration, performance tuning, and capacity planning for virtualization platforms
• Relevant certifications in Linux, Networking, Kubernetes, or Cloud/IaC