Sr. Systems & Cloud Administrator

Candidates should be eligible to work for any employer in the United States without needing Visa sponsorship. 6 month contract-to-hire, full benefits/pto available prior to full-time conversion.

Job Title: Senior Systems and Azure Administrator

Job Summary:

We are seeking a Senior Systems Administrator with advanced expertise in Microsoft Azure, enterprise SAN storage systems, and VMware virtualization. This role is ideal for a highly technical professional with a strong DevOps mindset, deep automation skills, and a track record of designing, implementing, and optimizing hybrid cloud infrastructures. The successful candidate will play a key role in managing and securing mission-critical systems while mentoring junior team members and driving technical excellence across the organization.

Key Responsibilities:

Storage Administration (SAN)

• Architect, deploy, and manage enterprise SAN solutions (e.g., NetApp, Dell EMC, HPE Nimble, Azure Blob Storage, Azure Files).
• Lead capacity planning, storage tiering, and performance optimization strategies.
• Evaluate and recommend new storage technologies for scalability and redundancy.
• Oversee data lifecycle management and compliance with data retention policies.

VMware Administration

• Design and maintain highly available and resilient VMware environments.
• Lead VMware environment upgrades, migrations, and optimizations.
• Implement automation around VM lifecycle and performance monitoring.
• Establish and enforce best practices for virtualization across the organization.

Azure Cloud Administration

• Architect and administer solutions using key Azure services
• Azure Virtual Machines, VNETs, NSGs, VPNs, Azure Storage (Blob, Files),
• Azure Active Directory, Azure Site Recovery, and Azure Security Center.
• Build and manage CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, ARM templates, Azure CLI, and PowerShell for infrastructure automation and deployments.
• Lead the planning and implementation of hybrid cloud infrastructure projects.
• Manage Azure subscriptions, governance policies and cost control.
• Design secure and scalable solutions leveraging Azure IaaS, PaaS, and networking components.
• Leverage Azure Automation, Azure Monitor, Azure Log Analytics, and Azure Policy to optimize performance, ensure compliance, and reduce operational overhead.

Systems and Infrastructure Oversight

• Act as a technical lead on infrastructure projects, including upgrades, integrations, and cloud migrations.
• Design and enforce policies for patching, configuration management, and system hardening.
• Support core Windows Server infrastructure including Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, and Group Policy.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive system documentation, diagrams, and runbooks.
• Serve as a senior escalation point for complex infrastructure issues.

Strategic Leadership & Mentoring

• Drive adoption of DevOps methodologies across infrastructure and operations teams.
• Collaborate with IT leadership to define long-term infrastructure strategies and goals.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to junior and mid-level administrators.
• Lead technical evaluations and vendor assessments for infrastructure solutions.

Security & Compliance

• Implement and monitor systems to ensure compliance with industry regulations (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR, SOX).
• Collaborate with cybersecurity teams to enforce policies around access controls, data protection, and system monitoring.
• Participate in internal and external audits and remediation efforts.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 7 years of progressive systems administration experience, including leadership responsibilities.
• Deep expertise with enterprise SAN technologies (NetApp, EMC, HPE Nimble or similar).
• Extensive experience managing large-scale VMware environments.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Azure infrastructure, tools automation and services.
• Strong scripting and automation skills; PowerShell, Azure CLI, and infrastructure-as-code tools (ARM templates, CI/CD pipelines).
• Solid understanding of DevOps principles and modern infrastructure practices.

Preferred Certifications:

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert or Azure Administrator Associate; AZ-300, AZ-400, AZ-500 are highly desirable.
• VMware Certified Professional (VCP) or VMware Advanced Professional (VCAP)
• Storage vendor certifications (e.g., HPE, NetApp, or Dell EMC)