Senior Systems Engineer (VMware and Storage)

About Aubrant 

Aubrant Digital is a leader in multi-shore custom application development. We are passionate about solving our clients’ business problems through consultative teamwork, innovative software, and proven processes. We’ve served more than 50 clients and delivered hundreds of high quality, custom enterprise applications.  Our clients value us as integral team members who get the job done on time and on spec, and we are proud of our high client retention rate and under 2% staff turnover. With offices in New Jersey, Boston, Costa Rica, and Eastern Europe, we execute the full software lifecycle, from architecture and design through development, QA and application maintenance & support.  Our company culture emphasizes client service, trust-based relationships, and innovation. 

About the role

Aubrant Digital is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer, VMware and Storage, to own the virtualization platform and the storage and backup behind it for a large US-based client. You will administer vSphere and vCenter across 17 datacenter hosts and 200+ remote site hosts; run the host lifecycle, with hypervisor updates across about 250 hosts through the year; script host lifecycle and compliance checks; configure and test HA and DR; lead the technical work on a VMware platform migration that is under way; operate Pure Storage FlashArray and FlashBlade (about 1 PB) and Rubrik backup and recovery, including off-site backup to Azure; and handle capacity planning, replication, and retention. You will join Aubrant's cloud and infrastructure engineering group (we call it a studio), which gives you a technical leader to escalate to, peers on other engagements to call on, and a shared catalog of scripts and hardened builds to start from.

Must-Have Requirements

• 7+ years administering VMware vSphere and vCenter in enterprise environments.

• ESXi host lifecycle and upgrades across a large host estate.

• HA and DR design, configuration, and testing on vSphere.

• At least one VMware platform upgrade or migration.

• Enterprise storage and backup operations.

• Scripting in PowerShell (PowerCLI) or Python, with changes kept in a Git repository (the client uses GitHub).

• Networking fundamentals (server IP addressing, subnets, firewall rules) and the ability to explain a needed network change to the network team.

• Ability to triage and resolve tickets and alerts independently through incident, change, and problem management, escalating only when needed.

• Willingness and availability to participate in the client's seven-day on-call rotation and to shift working hours for planned overnight maintenance windows.

• Professional written and spoken English; daily collaboration with a US-based client team.

Should-Have Requirements

• Pure Storage FlashArray or FlashBlade.

• Rubrik backup and recovery.

• Capacity planning, replication, and retention policy.

• Datadog monitoring.

• Azure, including backup targets.

Could-Have / Nice-to-Have Requirements

• VMware vSphere or Pure Storage certification (not required).

• NSX or vSAN 

• Experience with other hypervisors (he client is evaluating a different hypervisor for its remote sites).

Ideal Candidate Traits:

• Curious, proactive, and collaborative.

• Strong communication and teamwork skills.

• Committed to delivering solutions together, not in competition.

• Works comfortably inside the client's incident, change, and problem management, keeps looking for the next thing to automate, and promotes a one-team culture.