Openshift SME

OpenShift SME (Product Specialist) Location: Remote (UK-based) Duration: 10 months initial contract Engagement: Inside IR35 Sector: Financial Services Overview We are seeking an experienced OpenShift Subject Matter Expert (SME) to join a leading financial services organisation on an initial 10-month contract. This role is fully remote (UK-based) and sits inside IR35. The successful candidate will act as the technical lead and product specialist for the OpenShift platform, working closely with the Product Owner to provide technical direction, architectural guidance, and platform oversight within a highly regulated enterprise environment. Key Responsibilities • Act as the OpenShift technical lead and SME for the platform • Support the Product Owner from a technical perspective, translating business requirements into technical solutions • Provide architectural guidance and best practice recommendations for OpenShift platform design and implementation • Oversee platform stability, scalability, resilience, and performance • Lead technical decision-making and roadmap planning for the OpenShift estate • Collaborate with engineering, infrastructure, security, and DevOps teams • Ensure compliance with enterprise security, governance, and regulatory standards (financial services environment) • Support automation and CI/CD best practices • Troubleshoot complex platform and infrastructure issues • Provide documentation, knowledge transfer, and technical leadership to internal teams Required Experience & Skills • Strong, hands-on experience with Red Hat OpenShift (design, build, run, and optimisation) • Experience acting as a technical lead or platform SME within enterprise environments • Deep understanding of containerisation and Kubernetes • Experience supporting product owners and contributing to platform strategy • Strong knowledge of enterprise infrastructure and IT environments Desirable / Beneficial Experience • Generalist infrastructure knowledge including: • VMware • Linux (RHEL preferred) • Windows Server • Networking (DNS, load balancing, firewalls, routing, segmentation) • Enterprise hardware environments • Automation and Infrastructure as Code (e.g. Ansible, Terraform) • CI/CD tooling and DevOps practices • Experience within financial services or other regulated industries • Understanding of security best practices in container platforms Candidate Profile • Strong communicator capable of working with both technical and non-technical stakeholders • Able to operate autonomously in a remote environment • Comfortable working in structured, regulated enterprise settings • Strategic thinker with hands-on technical depth • Proactive and solution-oriented Additional Information • Initial 10-month contract • Inside IR35 • UK-based remote role • Financial services client