Senior IT Architect

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with the internal systems engineering team and vendors to design and implement new virtualization environments

• Develop process and procedures for administering and supporting new and existing virtualization environments

• Build, configure and maintain virtualized clients, servers, and architecture

• Oversee subcontractors and vendors performing installations and configurations

• Collaborate with system engineers to migrate existing systems into the virtualization environment and future designs and expansions

• Have a strong understanding and hands-on experience with upgrade paths and requirements

• Coordinate the efforts of technical support staff in the performance of assigned projects

• Apply advanced methods, theories and research techniques and assist in the development, implementation and documentation of processes and procedures to ensure compliance with business practices

• Advanced knowledge of virtualization and hyperconverged concepts and principles, to include platforms like VMWare vSphere/vCenter/VMWare Cloud Foundation, Nutanix AOS, Dell VxRail.

• Experience managing VCSA/vCenter and creating VMs and templates efficiently.

• Understanding of network services as related to a virtualized environment (e.g. vSwitch, VLAN, vMotion, etc.)

• In-depth experience deploying VMware products and managing a virtualized environment (HA, DRS, resource allocation, snapshot management, VMDKs, Datastores, vMotion, VUM, etc.)

• Design, recommend, and deploy emerging server virtualization technologies.

• Support operations of multi-vendor server environments, such as HP, Dell, Nutanix.

• Strong knowledge of the configuration needed for virtual hosts/machines and attached storage devices.

• Monitor and provide break/fix support to virtualized systems across the enterprise.

• System performance tuning and the ability to diagnose elusive symptoms and root causes.

• Responding and resolving service outages and interruptions.

• Research, evaluate, and recommend new tools and technologies for server virtualization.

• Identify trends and abnormalities and proactively take steps to prevent performance impacts to virtual environment and business function.

• Strong knowledge of PowerShell/PowerCLI.

• Strong understanding of modern cybersecurity principles and their application to virtualized environments, inclusive of privileged access management and securing hypervisor management planes.

• Strong understanding of Microsoft Windows Server platforms running in a virtual environment and their interactions with the hypervisor.

• Other duties as assigned

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, management information systems, or related field required

• Minimum of seven (7+) years of experience advance administering VMware Environments

• Minimum of seven (7+) years of experience in the administration of Microsoft environments

• Excellent time management and organization skills, with the capability to manage multiple competing priorities

• Exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate, partner, and collaborate with internal team members in a professional manner.

• Aptitude to pick up new concepts and technology rapidly and the ability to explain it to all stakeholders

• Analytical and creative problem-solving skills for design and testing of systems

• Strong ability to Identify, analyze, and remediate technical challenges

• Experience supporting mission critical IT infrastructure in a 24x7x365 environment

• Perform proactive support functions and reporting to maintain the integrity of the enterprise virtual environment and business function.

• Take lead in the research, planning and implementation of server virtualization projects in accordance with the IT goals and objectives.

• Proficiency and experience with VMware Products, like VMware vCloud, vSphere, vSAN, NSX, or similar virtualization platforms.

• Provide on-going training and technical direction to other team members pertaining to virtualization optimization, installation, upgrades, configuration, and troubleshooting.

• Ability to document the infrastructure by the use of Visio drawings and other tools.

• Participation in an on-call rotation.

• Ability to secure and maintain gaming permits in multiple jurisdictions as required.

• Ability to travel occasionally when necessary.

Applicable Certifications, preferred:

• VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
• VMware Certified Advance Professional (VCAP)
• VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX)

Experience with the following is a plus, but not required:

• Experience with containerization technologies like Docker
• Experience with container orchestration technologies like Kubernetes
• Experience with Unix-style operating systems