Website Cell C
At Cell C, we know that because change is inevitable, growth is up to us. While some see change as taking a step back, we see it as a chance to take two steps forward. We believe in embracing change, willing it and being it. That is why since 1999, Cell C Limited has been a proudly South African Lev… read moreel 2 BBBEE customer-first mobile operator that promotes digital inclusion to enhance lives. As an enabler committed to bridging the digital divide in South Africa and ensuring that everyone enjoys the benefits of a modern connected world, we strive to give you world-class products and services to help you change your world. In 2020, we ranked the 19th Most Valuable South African brand in the BrandZ analysis, and as a testament to our focus on service excellence, we have won the 2018/2019 Ask Afrika Orange Index Award. We are committed to playing our part in transforming our society through education, gender empowerment, and digital inclusion initiatives. Our commitment to gender empowerment through our flagship programme Take A Girl Child To Work Day® has netted three Standard Bank Top Women Awards.
Purpose of the Job:
To provide enterprise-level technical leadership and accountability for the design, governance, security, reliability, and cost-optimized operation of Cell C’s multi-cloud platforms, ensuring resilient, scalable, and compliant cloud services that enable business continuity, technology modernization, and sustainable growth.
The Principal Specialist plays a key role in driving platform modernization, automation, and optimization, embedding Infrastructure‑as‑Code, standardized provisioning, and observability practices to reduce operational risk, improve service reliability, and accelerate time‑to‑value.
The role also ensures that cloud environments are governed effectively, with appropriate security controls, cost management disciplines, and lifecycle management practices in place.
Main Responsibilities:
Cloud Architecture & Platform Strategy
Define and govern secure, scalable, and cost‑efficient cloud reference architectures across approved hyperscale’s
Act as the technical design authority for cloud standards, patterns, and architectural guardrails
Ensure alignment with enterprise architecture principles, security frameworks, and regulatory requirements
Platform Engineering & Automation
Lead Infrastructure‑as‑Code, automation, and standardized provisioning practices
Establish reusable modules, pipelines, and golden images to improve platform consistency and reliability
Security, Compliance & Governance
Implement and oversee cloud security controls including IAM, encryption, secrets management, network segmentation, and policy‑as‑code
Ensure audit readiness and compliance with internal and external regulatory requirements
Reliability, Observability & Incident Leadership
Own platform availability, resilience, monitoring, and operational readiness.
Provide senior technical leadership during major incidents and outages
Cost Management & FinOps
Drive cloud cost transparency, optimisation, and financial governance in partnership with Finance and Architecture teams
Stakeholder Management
Act as the senior technical authority in engagements with hyperscale’s, managed service providers, and internal stakeholders
Mentor senior and lead specialists, contributing to capability uplift across the Technology Group
Minimum Qualification
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related field
Advanced coursework or certification in enterprise architecture or strategic IT management (e.g. TOGAF training) is highly desirable
Cloud Certifications: AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional (strongly preferred)
Additional cloud certifications such as Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Google Cloud Certified Architect, and Huawei Cloud certifications (e.g., HCIP/HCIE-Cloud Solutions Architect) are an advantage
Experience
11-12 years extensive experience in enterprise cloud platforms and infrastructure engineering, including proven expertise in multi-cloud architecture, automation, security, and platform reliability within complex, large-scale environments
Extensive Architecture Experience: 8–10+ years of experience in IT infrastructure and solution architecture, including a proven track record in cloud architecture and design for large-scale systems with at least 5 years focused on designing and implementing solutions on AWS in a production environment is expected
Multi-Cloud & Hybrid Environments: Hands-on experience architecting solutions across multiple cloud platforms – primarily AWS, with exposure to Azure and GCP – and integrating these with on-premises or hybrid infrastructure. Experience with Huawei Cloud or other emerging cloud providers is an advantage, reflecting the ability to adapt in a multi-cloud, multi-vendor ecosystem
Telecommunications Domain: Industry experience in telecom or similarly high-availability, large-scale industries is highly desired. Familiarity with telecommunication IT systems and standards, for example, understanding of OSS/BSS systems, network functions virtualization (NFV), and 5G network architecture – will enable designing solutions suited to a mobile operator’s needs
Enterprise Projects & Strategy: Demonstrated experience leading complex architecture projects and cloud migration initiatives end-to-end. History of defining technology roadmaps or strategies that align with business objectives and delivering them in collaboration with cross-functional teams
Governance & Compliance: Experience ensuring solutions comply with security and regulatory requirements. Familiarity with South African regulatory environment (e.g., POPIA data protection laws, ICASA regulations) and relevant industry standards for IT governance and security
Financial Optimization: Practical experience with cloud cost management or FinOps practices, such as budgeting cloud spend, optimizing resource usage, and implementing cost-monitoring tools is important. This includes experience setting up tagging, monitoring cost reports, and making architecture decisions to optimize ROI on cloud investments
Special Requirements
Operating as a deep specialist rather than a people manager, the role influences strategic technology decisions, provides expert guidance to senior stakeholders, mentors other specialists, and leads technical resolution during high‑impact incidents. Decisions taken within this role have a material impact on service availability, security posture, compliance, and cost efficiency, directly supporting Cell C’s technology strategy, business continuity, and long‑term growth objectives
Cloud Architecture & Design
Multi-Tenant Architecture
Cloud Platforms & Tools
Enterprise Integration & On-Premises
Automation & DevOps
Security & Compliance
Frameworks & Best Practices
Cloud Financial Management
Telecom Technologies
Technical Competencies
ITIL
Cloud FinOps
Cloud Certifications: AWS Certified Solutions
Enterprise Architecture & ITSM: TOGAF
Additional cloud Certifications: Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Google Cloud Certified Architect, and Huawei Cloud certifications (e.g., HCIP/HCIE-Cloud Solutions Architect) are an advantage
Apply via company website ( N / A ) or
cellc.simplify.hr