Systems Engineer Windows & Linux

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60-70hr / Stamford, CT / Onsite / 12 month Contract

The Windows / Linux Systems Engineer is responsible for designing, building, and supporting mission‑critical, Windows‑centric infrastructure that underpins trading, market data, risk, and back‑office platforms. This role operates in a high‑availability, low‑latency, and security‑sensitive environment, with a primary focus on Microsoft Windows and core Microsoft application platforms, and secondary responsibility for supporting Linux systems used for select services and tooling.

Key Responsibilities

Windows‑First Systems Engineering & Operations

• Design, deploy, and support Windows Server environments supporting trading and financial applications
• Administer and optimize Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, NTP, and identity services
• Support Microsoft application platforms, including:
• IIS‑hosted applications
• SQL Server (in partnership with DBAs)
• File services, print services, and enterprise authentication services
• Perform system lifecycle management: provisioning, patching, upgrades, and decommissioning
• Participate in on‑call rotations and respond to production incidents impacting trading operations
  
  

Linux Systems Support (Secondary)

• Support and maintain Linux servers (RHEL/CentOS/Ubuntu) used for:
• Market data tooling
• Monitoring and observability platforms
• Automation and scripting workloads
• Perform OS patching, performance tuning, and troubleshooting
• Collaborate with application and DevOps teams on Linux‑based services
  
  

Performance, Reliability & Trading Readiness

• Tune Windows systems for performance, stability, and low‑latency execution
• Monitor CPU, memory, disk I/O, and network throughput in real‑time trading environments
• Partner with network teams to reduce latency and packet loss
• Support real‑time trading platforms, market data feeds, and analytics systems
  
  

Automation & Infrastructure Engineering

• Automate system provisioning and configuration using:
• PowerShell (primary)
• Bash / Python (secondary)
• Ansible or similar tools
• Reduce manual operations through automation and standardization
• Integrate infrastructure workflows with CI/CD pipelines where appropriate
  
  

Security, Compliance & Governance

• Apply OS hardening and secure configuration baselines
• Support privileged access, certificate management, and encryption standards
• Participate in audit and regulatory efforts (SOC, SOX, SEC, FINRA)
• Remediate vulnerabilities and security findings in coordination with InfoSec teams
  
  

Monitoring, Incident Management & Documentation

• Implement and maintain monitoring and alerting solutions (SCOM, Splunk, ELK, Prometheus, etc.)
• Perform root‑cause analysis and post‑incident reviews
• Maintain detailed runbooks, architecture diagrams, and operational documentation
  
  

Required Qualifications

• 5 years experience as a Windows‑focused Systems Engineer
• Strong expertise in:
• Windows Server (2016/2019/2022)
• Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP
• Experience supporting 24x7 production environments
• Strong troubleshooting skills across OS, storage, and network layers
• Proficiency with PowerShell scripting and automation
• Comfortable operating in high‑pressure trading or financial environments
  
  

Preferred / Nice‑to‑Have

• Experience in financial services, trading, hedge funds, or broker‑dealer environments
• Working knowledge of Linux administration
• Virtualization experience (VMware, Hyper‑V)
• Exposure to cloud or hybrid infrastructure (AWS or Azure)
• Familiarity with market data platforms and real‑time systems