Data Center VMware Virtualisation Architect

Location: Durham NC

Onsite Role

As a Data Center Architect, you will work with other engineers on planning and layout, automation solutions, tooling, monitoring, and analysis. Your role will be closely connected to our colleagues, enabling our organizational objectives. Your responsibilities are heavily focused on the planning and management aspects of data center operations, including server, storage, and network technologies and related availability, resiliency, automation, consolidation, scale, and security directives.

Your ability to execute in a variety of disciplines and provide leadership in data center architecture will be crucial to our organization's success. To be successful in this position, you will need to be able to demonstrate strong analytical and communication (written and verbal) skills.

Responsibilities:

The Data Center Architect role will encompass a variety of responsibilities including:

• Manage the data center lifecycle from initial requirements and evaluation through operations and eventual decommissioning.
• Plan data center layout, including power loading, placement and wiremaps.
• Evaluate and recommend servers, network, and storage devices for new installations or tech refreshes.
• Manage DCIM and Ticketing tooling and requirements.
• Develop or improve data center automation, including process improvements.
• Perform failure mode trend analysis and provide change recommendations.
• Work with DC colleagues on continual process and monitoring improvements.
• Lead and support efforts in energy and cost optimization.
• Respond to and initiate new tickets on the ticketing system (JIRA service desk).
• Provide regional IDF/MDF support as needed for larger offices; some travel may be required.

Required Skills:

This position will require candidates to have the following baseline skillset:

• High level of familiarity and experience operating in a data center environment, with an ability to act independently and without constant manager supervision.
• Thorough understanding of rack and power management.
• Participation in defining and upgrading data center standards and processes.
• Experience with installation and cabling of servers, networking, and storage equipment.
• Experience with configuration of servers, network, and storage devices.
• Working administrative knowledge of different platforms and operating systems, including Windows Servers, Linux, and Apple/IOS.
• Proficiency in working with automation software and related scripts.
• Ability to triage, debug, and repair/replace failed componentry.
• Experience with ticketing systems, DCIM tools, spreadsheets, wiremaps, monitoring systems, access/physical security systems.
• Excellent written and oral skills.
• High level of integrity and self-motivation.

Highly Desirable Skills:

Knowledge of and experience with:

• People, program, and project management.
• Dell servers, Cisco networking, and EMC storage and backup equipment.
• VMware virtualization, such as VMware vSphere, vCenter, vCD, ESXi, NSX, vSAN.
• Omnissa/End-User-Computing solutions such as Horizon VDI and Workspace ONE.
• Physical and virtual data center architectures, dependencies, and resilient design - server architecture, storage SAN/NAS, networking, monitoring, and management.
• DDI = DHC/DHCP/IPAM on Infoblox or equivalent.
• Nlyte NAO & NEO (DCIM Tools) and JIRA Service Desk (Ticketing)
• Microsoft O365 tools, especially Excel spreadsheeting skills.
• Clouds: AWS, Azure, Google, Oracle
• Containerization: Kubernetes
• Automation frameworks: Ansible, Jenkins, SaltStack
• Relevant storage and network protocols: e.g., FC, iSCSI, NFSv3/v4, L2, L3, BGP, OSPF, VLAN, FabricPath, EVPN, VXLAN, etc.