Virtualization / Automation Engineer (Senior)

Accountabilities: Serve as the senior engineering owner for SDDC platforms, defining architecture, configuration standards, operational procedures, and technology roadmaps. Design, configure, maintain, and optimize VMware vSphere, ESXi, and vCenter environments, including high-availability clusters, Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), resource pools, datastores, and distributed switches. Manage platform patching, upgrades, certificates, capacity planning, performance monitoring, availability, and compliance remediation. Engineer and maintain vSAN clusters, storage policies, and fault domains, troubleshooting performance issues, resynchronization, and policy-compliance concerns. Design and administer VMware NSX components, including network segments, transport zones, gateways, routing, and distributed security controls, coordinating changes with network and cybersecurity teams. Manage Site Recovery Manager (SRM) protection groups and recovery plans, automate failover and failback procedures, and support quarterly continuity exercises and disaster-recovery events. Develop and maintain Infrastructure as Code and automation solutions using Terraform, Ansible, PowerCLI, APIs, and related technologies, incorporating version control, peer reviews, testing, rollback procedures, secrets protection, and configuration drift detection. Coordinate with workload owners on resource requirements, virtual machine placement, templates, and snapshots while maintaining clear boundaries between platform and workload responsibilities. Provide Tier 4 engineering support for complex incidents, isolate infrastructure faults across compute, storage, networking, virtualization, and automation layers, and conduct root-cause analyses with corrective action plans. Maintain platform configuration backups, implement DISA Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) and security baselines, and support Risk Management Framework (RMF) evidence, vulnerability remediation, and vendor-advisory reviews. Lead infrastructure modernization and technology refresh initiatives, preparing platform roadmaps, technical options, and preliminary cost estimates. Support migrations to centralized government hosting platforms through infrastructure discovery, dependency mapping, readiness assessments, migration planning, testing, rollback preparation, cutover execution, and post-migration stabilization. Maintain architecture diagrams, as-built documentation, standard operating procedures, and recovery documentation, providing platform metrics and modernization updates for program reporting. Requirements Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience where permitted by the applicable labor category. At least eight years of relevant experience in virtualization, systems engineering, data-center infrastructure, platform engineering, or infrastructure automation. Hands-on experience with VMware vSphere, ESXi, and vCenter, along with vSAN, NSX, SRM, or comparable software-defined storage, network virtualization, and disaster-recovery technologies. Demonstrated experience developing or maintaining infrastructure automation and troubleshooting complex issues across compute, storage, networking, virtualization, and automation environments. Strong understanding of high availability, disaster recovery, backup and restoration, capacity management, and infrastructure lifecycle practices. Active Secret security clearance or higher is required. Strong analytical, technical problem-solving, written communication, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across technical teams and manage complex operational challenges. Experience with formal Terraform and Ansible training is preferred. Familiarity with VMware Cloud Foundation, VMware Aria, PowerCLI, PowerShell, Python, or REST APIs is advantageous. Experience supporting federal or Department of Defense virtualization environments and migrations to DISA enterprise-hosting platforms is preferred. Knowledge of DISA STIGs, RMF controls, vulnerability remediation, and configuration compliance is beneficial. Experience implementing Infrastructure as Code through CI/CD pipelines and Git workflows, including automated testing and code scanning, is preferred. Relevant certifications are advantageous, including VMware Certified Professional, VMware Certified Advanced Professional, HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate, Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation, ITIL 4 Foundation, or relevant cloud, security, storage, and networking certifications. No specific certification is required. Ability to support occasional on-site activities, after-hours maintenance, disaster-recovery exercises, incident response, and travel as required. Candidates based in the Chicago, Illinois, area are preferred, although the position is remote. Applicants should be aware that applying includes acknowledging and consenting to the inclusion of their resume in an active competitive government contract bid. Benefits Annual salary: $140,000–$170,000, depending on the selected candidate's knowledge, skills, experience, and qualifications. Remote work: Remote position, with candidates in the Chicago, Illinois, area preferred. Employment type: Full-time. Contract period: The anticipated period of performance runs from March 1, 2027, through February 28, 2033, with a contract start date of March 1, 2027. Technical impact: Opportunity to lead enterprise virtualization engineering, infrastructure automation, security, disaster recovery, and modernization initiatives supporting government systems. Healthcare coverage, retirement plans, paid time off, and other employee benefits were not specified in the provided job description and should be confirmed during the hiring process. Occasional on-site support, after-hours work, travel, and participation in incident response or continuity exercises may be required.