Platform Engineering Lead – Cloud Platform Architect (Azure)

Johannesburg, South AfricaFull-timeSeniorOn-sitePosted 26 Oct 2026

Job Overview

GoldenRule is recruiting a Cloud Platform Architect – effectively a Platform Engineering Lead across Azure, SRE, DevOps and performance engineering – in Johannesburg (CareerJunction 2646452; advert valid to 23 November 2026). The ideal profile combines Platform Architect, Cloud Engineer, SRE, Performance Engineer and DevOps leader, able to lead teams while remaining technically hands-on.

The incumbent leads the Platform Engineering function across Azure Cloud, DevOps, SRE, performance engineering, application modernisation and developer enablement; defines the platform architecture, engineering standards and technology roadmap for a scalable enterprise platform; establishes golden paths and self-service developer experiences; and drives CI/CD, DevSecOps, Infrastructure as Code, GitOps, SLI/SLO-based reliability engineering and end-to-end observability. The role moves fluidly from strategy and design reviews to troubleshooting complex production issues across APIs, AKS/Kubernetes, Azure infrastructure, databases and external dependencies.

Key Responsibilities

Lead Platform Engineering across Azure Cloud, DevOps, SRE, performance engineering, application modernisation and developer enablement
Define and drive platform architecture, engineering strategy, standards and technology roadmap
Provide hands-on expertise in Azure, AKS, Kubernetes, networking, API Management, databases, messaging and cloud-native services
Establish golden paths/paved roads, reusable platform capabilities and self-service developer experiences
Lead CI/CD, DevSecOps, Infrastructure as Code, GitOps and automated deployment practices
Drive SRE practices: SLI/SLO, incident management, RCA, resilience and disaster recovery
Own end-to-end performance and production troubleshooting from application/API through Kubernetes, infrastructure and databases
Establish observability (metrics, logs, distributed tracing, dashboards, alerting) and proactive performance monitoring
Define and enforce security, identity, secrets management, policy-as-code and compliance standards
Lead technical design reviews and mentor engineers across platform, DevOps, SRE and application teams

Required Qualifications

Senior track record as platform architect / cloud engineering lead in enterprise environments
Deep hands-on Microsoft Azure, AKS and Kubernetes expertise, including networking, API Management and cloud-native services
Strong CI/CD, DevSecOps, Infrastructure as Code and GitOps experience
SRE and performance-engineering experience: SLOs, incident management, RCA, resilience and DR
Observability tooling and distributed-tracing experience
Proven ability to lead and mentor engineering teams while remaining technically hands-on

Skills & Requirements

Microsoft AzureAKSKubernetesPlatform EngineeringSite Reliability EngineeringDevSecOpsCI/CDInfrastructure as CodeGitOpsObservabilityPerformance EngineeringAPI ManagementPolicy as CodeTechnical Leadership