Senior Virtualization Engineer

Who are we

Western National Insurance Group is a private mutual insurance company with over 120 years of experience serving customers property-and-casualty insurance needs in the Midwestern Northwestern and Southwestern United States. Known as The Relationship Company we define success as a measure of the relationships weve built over everything that we do we know that delivering a friendly and helpful interaction makes for a better experience for everyone involved. Thats the power of nice. At Western National nice is something we work to bring to every person and organization with whom we partner and serve.

Does this opportunity interest you

Western National is seeking a Systems Engineer III to join our team!

The individual in this role will have the opportunity to ensure that assigned systems are working at optimal levels and support the development of new technologies and system requirements.

What are the responsibilities and opportunities of this role

• Architects engineers and supports Citrix environments including virtual apps and desktops NetScaler StoreFront and PVS / MCS.
• Designs and maintains highly available scalable Citrix infrastructure that supports enterprise workloads.
• Leads upgrades migrations performance tuning and lifecycle management of all Citrix platforms.
• Troubleshoots complex Citrix and virtualization issues across networking storage and compute layers.
• Designs deploys and maintains VMware vSphere environments including ESXi vCenter clusters HA / DRS and SRM Site Recovery Manager.
• Optimizes VM performance capacity planning and resource utilization.
• Supports Windows server infrastructure that is hosted on VMware.
• Collaborates with backup disaster recovery and security teams to ensure resilient systems.
• Engineers and supports pure storage arrays that are integrated with VMware.
• Manages storage provisioning performance tuning snapshots and replication.
• Partners with infrastructure teams to ensure optimal storage design and performance.
• Makes decisions automatically on routine issues.
• Oversees responsibility for developing improvements and innovations to enhance performance.
• Recognizes problems or situations that are new or without clear precedent.
• Creates and maintains comprehensive documentation as it relates to server topology equipment and configurations.
• Participates in the creation maintenance testing and execution of the disaster recovery plan and oversees system backups and recovery plans.
• Assists in capacity planning activities including creating and presenting technical specifications and requirements for purchasing new servers.
• Functions as a subject matter expert on projects to implement or enhance enterprise systems and infrastructure.
• Performs complex configuration change management and testing activities to support designed architecture and integration between all systems and infrastructure.
• Identifies solutions using a systematic multi-step approach.
• Makes recommendations and solves complex problems.
• Consistently act according to our customer experience standards including responding quickly maintaining a positive attitude building rapport demonstrating empathy managing the customers expectations using the proper communication channel for the situation and taking ownership to ensure the customers issue is resolved.
• Performs special projects and other duties as assigned.

What are the must-have qualifications for a candidate

• Demonstrated aptitude toward problem identification and resolution.
• Proven aptitude for technical decision-ownership project planning and providing project / team direction.
• Demonstrated ability to develop test and support software applications.
• Proven ability to communicate clearly and effectively both verbally and in writing to technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Proficient use of various core systems office and computer equipment and software packages.
• At least seven years of experience in enterprise infrastructure or virtualization engineering.
• Deep expertise with Citrix virtual applications and desktops.
• Strong hands-on experience with VMware vSphere.
• Experience supporting pure storage environments.
• Advanced PowerShell scripting (e.g. automation functions modules error handling).
• Solid understanding of Windows server networking fundamentals and storage concepts.
• Bachelors degree in computer science; experience in lieu of degree acceptable.

What will our ideal candidate have

• Ability to identify system weaknesses and use various tools to mitigate the weakness.
• Proven ability to work in a team environment and collaborate / contribute to cross-functional teams.
• Flexibility and availability to support business projects and meet business needs.
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of the principles practices and standards of IT infrastructure.
• Ability to effectively coach and mentor team members.
• Experience in regulated or high-availability environments.
• Experience with NetScaler ADC administration and troubleshooting.
• Familiarity with PKI design and automation certification.
• Experience supporting large-scale Active Directory environments.
• Citrix VMware or Microsoft certifications are preferred.

Compensation overview

The targeted hiring range for this role is $104300 - $143440 annually. However the base pay offered may vary depending on the job-related knowledge skills credentials and experience of each candidate as well as other factors such as the scope and location of the role. Candidates looking for compensation outside of the posted range are encouraged to apply and will be considered based on their individual qualifications and / or may be considered for other positions.

Western National Insurance Group reserves the right to fill this position at a level above or below the level included in this posting.

Culture and Total Rewards

Western National has long been known as The Relationship Company and caring for our employees is part of that relationship commitment. We value connectiveness empowerment and accountability and we believe that our employees are our biggest asset.

Currently ranked as the 41st largest private company by revenue in Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal) Western National has earned accolades year-over-year as an employer of choice and garnered multiple awards for wellness in the workplace. Western National has also been named a Top Workplace by the Star Tribune for consecutive addition the Group is consistently recognized as a Wards 50 property-and-casualty insurance company for its outstanding financial results.

Western National offers full-time employees a significant Total Rewards Package including:

• Medical insurance plan options and other standard employee benefits including dental insurance vision benefits life insurance disability insurance and more!
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) Plan (participants are eligible for 100% matching on the first 6% of their contributions)
• Wellbeing Program including onsite fitness studio
• Paid Time Off including holiday vacation and volunteer
• 100% company-paid tuition reimbursement for approved job-relevant coursework and access to The Institutes (Risk and insurance education)
• Paid parental leave
• Bonus opportunities

Western National believes in supporting balance between work and life by providing a flexible work environment which includes a variety of hybrid and remote work arrangements designed to balance individual job department and company needs.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Western National provides employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race color religion age sex national origin disability status genetics protected veteran status sexual orientation gender identity or expression or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local laws.