Engineer Systems

Position: Storage/Backup Engineer

Location: 100% Remote

Job Type: 3 Month Contract To Hire

JOB DESCRIPTION:

• 3 month Contract to Hire role. 100% remote role but will just need to be in Client approved states (MD, DC, VA, WV, PA, DE, NC, NY, NJ, GA, FL & TX)
• Looking for someone with strong storage/backup mgmt exp.. Looking for 5+ YOE.
• Storage infrastructure: Pure Storage and NetApp
• Backup infrastructure: Dell Avamar with Data Domain, Veeam or CommVault).. Does not need to have all 3.
• VMware is virtual environment. Must have Windows or Linux skills
• Monday to Friday 8-5 position. Two on-call rotations. patch mgmt rotation every 7 months (not a lot of heavy lifting just following SOPs and releasing updates at 5pm on one Saturday) and another on-call rotation every 15 weeks (any alerts from 6am - 6pm and then the second week is 6pm - 6am)
• Some VMware, Cloud storage and/or backup certs would be ideal.
• First interview with lead followed by team meeting with manager involved.
• Azure is primary cloud platform so any exp with Azure would be ideal. Small footprint in AWS as well but does not need any skills with AWS.

PURPOSE:

Platform Engineering is responsible for the implementation, 24x7 operational support, automation, availability, and performance management of the Client cloud platforms and the on-premise virtualization platforms and virtualization infrastructure.

The candidate is required to support engineering team projects and facilitate technical design discussions as well as troubleshooting activities. This candidate is also responsible to work with multi-disciplined IT technical teams to interface and manage infrastructure, automation, and applications in both the private and public cloud with a focus on (but not limited to) AWS and MS Azure. They need to contribute valuably to the evaluation of application and infrastructure cloud readiness, work on cloud migration plans to support on-premise moves/migrations to a cloud service (i.e. IaaS or PaaS) as well as the long-term management of the Cloud infrastructure associated with these applications.

Candidate must have a strong and broad foundational IT skillset including support of Azure server virtualization environments, Linux and Windows Operating Systems (in both on-prem and cloud deployments), server configurations and baselines (including networking, storage and security principals, automation tools (i.e., Ansible, Terraform). The candidate must also have a strong understanding and working knowledge with critical IT services such as Active Directory/Azure Active Directory, DNS, Virtualization (VMware/Hyper-V), IaaS, PaaS, Containers, Automation, Azure Marketplace.

Responsibilities include working with server teams as well as with other IT teams to collaborate on designing and implementing cloud infrastructure services. This is a highly technical cross-functional role that understands all components of IT infrastructure (operating systems, network, compute, storage, security, etc.), and knows how to integrate and automate each of the components using automation tools, like Ansible, and being able to integrate these with ServiceNow to build workflows for automated server/system/infrastructure builds/deliveries.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Public Cloud & Virtualization Services Management:

Storage and backup infrastructure specialist.

o Familiar with backup/recovery technologies

Familiar with software. We use Avamar, but familiarity with other software like Veeam, Commvault, Rubrik, Veritas or other, may be fine

Familiar with hardware deduplicating/compression storage. We use Data Domains (physical and virtual editions), but familiarity with others like ExaGrid, Quantum or other, may be fine.

o Working knowledge of storage technology. We use NetApp and PureStorage, but others including HPE, Dell/EMC (VNX, Unity, ExtremeIO), Infinidat, DDN or other, may be fine

o Familiarity with VMware. Must be able to troubleshoot snapshots, change block tracking and other nuances related to backup technologies and storage technologies. vCenter, ESXi, vROPS, Distributed vSwitches

o Familiarity with storage switch topology/technologies. We currently use Cisco and Brocade, but practically any other switching/networking knowledge (TCP/IP and OSI model) should work.

o Familiarity with Operating Systems including RedHat Linux and Windows. Must be able to manage, troubleshoot, deploy

o Familiarity with replication technology including SAN to SAN, Zerto, Site Recovery Manager, etc

Help to build and maintain a hybrid cloud infrastructure design incorporating the on-premises VMware Platform with large cloud providers such as Amazon Webservices (AWS) and MS Azure.

Collaborate with multi-disciplined technical teams to manage and monitor applications in large cloud environments.

Contribute to the evaluation of application cloud readiness while also working on migration plans and long-term management of applications.

Work with Architecture to design Cloud platforms to support the highest levels availability, performance, security, and agility.

Working knowledge of ITIL and change management practices

Implement process and procedures as well as the creation and maintenance of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) documentation enhancing and standardizing the support of the Cloud Platforms on documented best practices.

Focus on automation

Ensure that each cloud platform complies with well-established policies, standards, licensing agreements and configuration guidelines.

Administer/Support DNS infrastructure across all Client environments.

Assist in administering Active Directory for the highest levels of security and availability.

Understand and apply new technical skills through a combination of research, instructor lead training and self-training.

Lead the review, design and implementation of new technologies that improve infrastructure or reduce cost.

Provide excellent customer service to all customers, both internal and external. Exhibit poise and confidence when working with and communicating to our customers and vendors.

Act as an interface to members of the IT infrastructure team, keeping management and peers informed, and disseminating information as needed.

Utilize strong troubleshooting capabilities to diagnose and resolve problems and escalate to next level of support as necessary.

Working knowledge of agile-sprint and traditional waterfall project management methodologies. Ability to track and report on status of projects assigned.

Assist in problem management and root cause analysis.

Familiar with change management concepts/processes.

Work independently and cross-functionally with others to resolve problems. Teams may include internal associates as well as outside contractors/consultants

Ability to collaborate to solve technical problems across teams.

Excellent communication skills both written and verbal.

Must be able to effectively work in a fast-paced environment with frequently changing priorities, deadlines, and workloads that can be variable for long periods of time. Must be able to meet established deadlines and handle multiple customer service demands from internal and external customers, within set expectations for service excellence. Must be able to effectively communicate and provide positive customer service to every internal and external customer, including customers who may be demanding or otherwise challenging.

SCOPE:

Working hours

o General hours, 8-5

o Nights and weekend support/deployment

On shift rotations

o Escalation support on-call, 24x7 (2 week cycles)

o Monthly patch management rotation

Supporting

o New deployments/configurations

o Migrations

o Escalation

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY:

Individual Contributor - Position does not have direct reports but is expected to assist in guiding and mentoring less experienced staff as well as self-manage projects from inception to completion. May lead a team of matrixed resources.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education Level: Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology or Computer Science. In lieu of a Bachelor's degree, an additional 4 years of relevant work experience is required in addition to the required work experience.

Experience:

5 years software, hardware and/or systems engineering related experience

Preferred AWS/Azure/VMware certifications

Must have cross platform enterprise experience across IT (Server, Network, Storage, Security)

Additional Skills:

Backup (Avamar, Veeam, CommVault), Replication (Zerto, Recovery Point, etc), Virtualization (VMware), Storage (Data Domain, Quantum)