SUMMARY
The Senior Systems Engineer designs, implements, and supports enterprise on‑premises compute, virtualization, Active Directory, and backup systems, with responsibility for reliability, performance, and recoverability across plants, data centers, and offices. This role is hands on and focused on engineering excellence, operational stability, and resilient system design in support of business critical workloads.
While the environment is primarily on prem today, this position will help prepare systems and practices for future hybrid and cloud adoption, including increased automation and infrastructure standardization over time.
The full salary range for this position is $111,200 - $166,800. However, our current budget for a new hire is $111,200 - $150,000, depending on the candidate's specific experience and skills.
Key responsibilities may include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING & ARCHITECTURE
Engineer and support enterprise compute, virtualization, Active Directory, and backup platforms, primarily on premises
Design systems for high availability, fault tolerance, scalability, and recoverability
Define and maintain engineering standards for server builds, clustering, hypervisors, and storage systems
Lead upgrades, migrations, hardware refreshes, and platform modernization initiatives
Serve as a senior technical resource and mentor within the infrastructure team
Integrate infrastructure with network, security, identity, and application platforms
Support limited hybrid workloads and contribute to future cloud readiness
Provide clear architecture diagrams, standards, and operational documentation
Collaborate with application, network, security, and cloud teams on cross functional initiatives
OPERATIONS & RELIABILITY
Ensure production systems meet uptime, performance, and recovery objectives
Act as Tier 3 escalation for complex infrastructure incidents and participate in on call rotations
Troubleshoot issues across compute, virtualization, storage, and backup layers
Partner with managed service providers to ensure consistent execution of operational and recovery procedures
Perform capacity planning and performance optimization
ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING
Design and implement resilient, secure, and scalable compute, virtualization, and storage architectures
Define and maintain standards, reference designs, and best practices for server builds, cluster design, hypervisor configuration, and storage layout
Lead platform upgrades, hypervisor migrations, storage refreshes, and modernization initiatives
Ensure integration with adjacent platforms such as network, security, cloud, identity, data, and applications
Support hybrid environments spanning on-premises infrastructure, cloud compute platforms (Azure AWS), and SaaS workloads
Design and maintain high-availability clusters and disaster recovery configurations
AUTOMATION & STANDARDIZATION
Use scripting and tooling to improve efficiency in provisioning, patching, validation, and lifecycle management
Reduce manual effort and configuration inconsistency through standardized builds and processes
Maintain clear documentation for configurations, procedures, and support handoffs
Contribute to longer term automation and Infrastructure as Code efforts as platform maturity increases
AUTOMATION & OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Automate server provisioning, patching, lifecycle management, validation, recovery, and compliance validation
Reduce manual operational effort through scripting and workflow automation
Partner with MSPs to ensure consistent execution of backup, recovery, and infrastructure runbooks
Improve monitoring signal quality across compute, storage, and virtualization layers
Design self-healing or auto-remediation capabilities where appropriate
Continuously optimize resource utilization, performance, and capacity planning
BACKUP, RECOVERY & SECURITY
Design, maintain, and operate backup and disaster recovery solutions
Own recovery procedures and participate in periodic DR testing
Apply system hardening, secure configuration, and patching standards
Support enterprise initiatives related to resiliency, ransomware protection, and business continuity
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
This position has no supervisory responsibilities, but acts in a lead capacity to other department staff.
QUALIFICATIONS
EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience
8+ years of enterprise systems or infrastructure engineering experience
Strong understanding of Active Directory and related technologies (DNS, GPO, etc.)
Strong hands on experience with Windows Server and Linux
Deep expertise in enterprise virtualization platforms (VMware vSphere, Nutanix AHV, or equivalent)
Proven experience designing and supporting high availability, clustering, backup, and disaster recovery
SKILLS
Proficiency with scripting and automation tools (PowerShell required, Python or similar a plus)
Strong troubleshooting skills supporting business‑critical, on‑prem systems
Senior-level experience designing and operating enterprise compute, virtualization, storage, and backup platforms across multi-site and hybrid environments
Strong background in Windows Server and Linux administration, including enterprise virtualization platforms such as Nutanix AHV, VMware vSphere, or equivalent
Expertise in high availability, clustering, failover, disaster recovery design, and data replication
Experience with Azure cloud services and hybrid compute integrations
Proficiency in automation and scripting, with PowerShell preferred; familiarity with Python, Ansible, Terraform, or similar tools
Experience with Infrastructure as Code and repeatable infrastructure deployment practices
Familiarity with AI-driven infrastructure monitoring and AIOps platforms
Strong understanding of security best practices, system hardening, and patch management
Ability to support production systems with strict uptime, resiliency, and recovery requirements
Experience documenting architecture standards, recovery procedures, and operational runbooks
Preferred Qualifications
Experience supporting manufacturing or operational technology environments
Experience working with MSPs providing infrastructure services
Relevant certifications such as MCSE, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, NCP-MCI, VCP, or equivalent
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Strong written communication skills for architecture documentation, standards, and executive-level summaries.
REASONING ABILITY
Ability to evaluate complex technical environments, synthesize system data, assess risk, and make sound architectural and operational decisions in dynamic or ambiguous situations. Demonstrates strong analytical thinking, structured problem-solving, and the ability to balance business impact with technical considerations.
CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS
No certifications are required. Relevant industry certifications aligned to the platform domain such as cloud, networking, security, or automation credentials are preferred and may strengthen candidacy.
CONFIDENTIALITY
In the course of performing this role, the Senior IT Platform Engineer may have access to confidential company, employee, operational, and technical information. The employee is expected to safeguard all such information, exercise sound judgment in its handling, and maintain strict confidentiality at all times.
TRAVEL
Travel up to 10% may be required to support corporate headquarters, plants, warehouses, or other business locations.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described here represent those required to successfully perform the essential functions of this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made for individuals with disabilities.
This position is primarily office-based and requires prolonged periods of sitting, speaking, and hearing. Occasional standing, walking, reaching, bending, or lifting of equipment up to 50 pounds may be required when supporting infrastructure or on-site technology environments. Close vision and color vision may be necessary for working with hardware and cabling.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment is primarily an office or corporate setting, with occasional visits to plant, warehouse, or technical facilities. The role may involve exposure to operational or industrial environments when supporting manufacturing technology. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.
For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.
