System Administrator – Platform Engineer

System Administrator – Platform Engineer

Responsibilities and Duties: 

• VMware / Private Cloud Platform: Design, deploy, administer, and optimize VMware vSphere 8/9 environments (ESXi, vCenter), including clusters, resource pools, HA, DRS, vMotion/Storage vMotion, and vSphere Distributed Switches across a geographically dispersed, multi-site private cloud.
• Manage the full VM lifecycle—provisioning, patching, capacity planning, performance tuning, and decommissioning—and perform vSphere platform upgrades and migrations.
• Storage & Hardware: Administer NetApp ONTAP and E-Series storage (volumes, LUNs, aggregates, snapshots, replication) and Brocade Fibre Channel switches (zoning, LUN masking); monitor storage performance and capacity.
• Manage Dell server hardware using OpenManage and iDRAC, including firmware/BIOS lifecycle, health monitoring, and hardware fault resolution.
• Server Infrastructure: Administer Windows Server (2016–2022) and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (8/9) platforms, including Active Directory, GPOs, DNS, DHCP, and Certificate Services.
• Automation: Develop and maintain automation using PowerShell, PowerCLI, Bash, and/or Python, and configuration management tools such as Ansible, for provisioning, patching, compliance, and routine operations.
• Backup & DR: Administer and validate enterprise backup and disaster recovery (Commvault/Metallic hybrid cloud), including recovery testing and alignment to RPO/RTO requirements.
• Security & Compliance: Harden virtualization and server platforms to DISA STIGs, CIS Benchmarks, and NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5; support vulnerability remediation, audits, and patch management per NIST SP 800-40r4 and CSO SOPs.
• Operations & Support: Provide Tier 3/4 troubleshooting and root cause analysis across compute, storage, and network layers; support F5 LTM load balancing and VMware Horizon VDI/UAG as needed.
• Submit scheduled outages to the CSO ERB/CCB; meet STIM outage notification requirements (within 30 minutes) and keep configuration backups current within 2 business days of changes.
• Documentation & Collaboration: Maintain SOPs, system diagrams, configuration records, and runbooks; mentor junior administrators; collaborate with Network, Security, Firewall, and Database teams; participate in a 24/7/365 on-call rotation.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Systems, Cybersecurity, or related field (or equivalent combination of education and experience).

Skills/Experience/Certifications: 

• 8+ years of IT infrastructure experience, including hands-on enterprise VMware vSphere/ESXi/vCenter administration beyond VM provisioning.
• Demonstrated experience with vSphere upgrades/migrations (7.x to 8.x/9.x) in production environments.
• Hands-on experience with SAN storage (NetApp preferred) and Fibre Channel switching (Brocade preferred).
• Experience administering Windows Server and Linux (RHEL) in physical and virtual environments.
• Automation experience with PowerShell/PowerCLI and Bash or Python; Ansible experience preferred.
• Experience implementing DISA STIGs, CIS Benchmarks, and NIST SP 800-53 controls in federal or regulated environments.
• Experience with enterprise backup/recovery (Commvault preferred) and 24x7 production on-call support.
• Strong communication and documentation skills, including explaining technical issues to non-technical stakeholders.
• Required: Current (or one version prior) vendor certification such as VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization (VCP-DCV), Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate, or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE), or higher.
• Preferred: VCAP-DCV, NetApp NCDA/NCIE, CompTIA Security+.