Sr. Virtualization Systems Engineer/Architect

Overview:

• Tier One Technologies is seeking a Sr. Virtualization Systems Engineer/Architect to help our direct US Government client with design, configuration, deployment, integration, maintenance and support of the server virtualization and server infrastructure solutions.
• This Contract-to-Hire position can be also located in Eagan, MN.
• SELECTED CANDIDATES WITHOUT REQUIRED CLEARANCE WILL BE SUBJECT TO A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION TO RECEIVE IT.

• Act as a Subject Matter Expert on best practices for server virtualizations solutions and make recommendations.
• Specialize in building and managing virtual computing platforms.
• Play a critical role in data migration, virtual machine lifecycle management, troubleshooting, tuning and performance, and monitoring of the environment.
• Provide technical assistance and advice on complex activities. Formulate and define specifications, develop, modify and maintain complex systems and subsystems, using vendor engineering releases and utilities for overall operational systems.
• Apply analytical techniques when gathering information from users, defining work problems, designing technology solutions, and developing procedures to resolve the problems.
• Develop complete specifications to enable computer programmers to prepare required programs.
• Review task proposal requirements, gather information, analyze data, prepare project synopses, compare alternatives, prepare specifications, resolve processing problems, coordinate work with programmers and engineers, and orient users to new systems.
• Work with considerable freedom to make decisions on the techniques and approaches to be used.
• Prepare recommendations for system improvement for management and user consideration.
• Architect and design server virtualization solutions.
• Perform systems administration for Windows Server and UNIX / Linux systems such as RHEL and SLES.
• Develop automation through scripting and APIs (Ansible, Puppet, Chef, PowerShell, Python, Bash, Terraform).
• Perform certificate lifecycle management for systems and applications.
• Evaluate inefficiencies with server resources and make right-sizing recommendations.
• Manage and maintain server virtualization platform on premise as well as cloud e.g. VMware, Nutanix, Harvester, OpenShift, Proxmox, Azure, AWS, GCP.
• Play a lead role in meetings relating to specific technical projects or tasks.
• Respond promptly to incidents in ServiceNow.
• Diagnose and repair system problems working closely with vendor support for all servers, software and other hardware directly or with the team members.
• Define, monitor, optimize, and troubleshoot system performance of all server virtualization and other related infrastructure systems.

• A degree from an accredited College/University in the applicable field of services is required. If the individual's degree is not in the applicable field, then four additional years of related experience is required.
• 10+ years of professional experience in supporting virtualization technologies.
• Basic understanding of data center networking (TCP/IP, switching/routing, ports and protocols, firewall concepts, load-balancing).
• Strong, demonstrable scripting experience in one or more of the following: PowerShell, Ansible, Puppet, Chef, VBScript, C++, Unix Shell, Python, Perl, Ruby, JavaScript, etc.
• Basic understanding of storage protocols (e.g. NFS, SMB, S3, FC, iSCSI, NVMe).
• Good knowledge of Active Directory, DHCP, DNS, Group Policy.
• Knowledge of MS Windows Server operating systems including Server 2016, 2019, and 2022 as well as RHEL and SLES operating systems.
• Knowledge of MS database server SQL Server 2008 R2 and later.
• Knowledge of container technologies including but not limited to Docker, Kubernetes, and Rancher.
• Knowledge of IaaS in cloud using MS Azure, AWS, or GCP.
• Experience with hardening and improving the security of Windows operating systems and hardware platforms, local area networks, wide area networks, messaging, and client-server applications.
• Ability to develop and maintain IT documentation.
• Expertise working with vendors to resolve problems and implement solutions independently.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Must be eligible to obtain a Position of Public Trust clearance.
• All candidates must be a US Citizen or have permanent residence status (Green Card).
• Candidate must have lived in the United States for the past 5 years.
• Cannot have more than 6 months travel outside the United States within the last 5 years. Military Service excluded.