Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer

About the role

The Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer (Sr I O Engineer) on the Virtual Workspace team at Optum is responsible for designing, engineering, and optimizing the company’s enterprise-wide virtual desktop and application streaming infrastructure. This role involves delivering a seamless and high-performance virtual experience using Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), Citrix, and VMware Horizon VDI platforms.

Responsibilities

• Design, configure, deploy, and maintain robust virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and application virtualization environments leveraging Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), Citrix, and VMware Horizon VDI platforms.
• Own the lifecycle of virtual machine (VM) golden images, including image creation, testing, development, and ongoing version management for VDI environments.
• Build and maintain modern CI/CD pipelines to automate virtual image deployments, configurations, and environment updates.
• Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions and intelligent automations to address complex infrastructure and workspace challenges with an emphasis on responsible use of AI.
• Build automated workflows and scripting integrations (e.g., PowerShell, Python) to optimize workspace provisioning, operational efficiency, and self-healing infrastructure.
• Evaluate emerging technology trends, including cloud VDI, DevOps automation, and intelligent system monitoring, to inform solution design and strategic workspace innovation.
• Troubleshoot complex Tier-3 virtualization, session host, and workspace access issues, conducting deep-dive root cause analyses to maintain high environment availability.
• Collaborate with research, engineering, and product teams to translate cutting-edge infrastructure advancements into scalable, production-ready capabilities that can be re-used by the enterprise.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in engineering, designing, and managing enterprise-scale Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and application streaming environments.
• 3+ years of technical experience administering and supporting Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), Citrix, and/or VMware Horizon VDI platforms.
• 3+ years of experience with system automation and scripting languages (such as PowerShell, Python, or Bash) to automate infrastructure tasks.
• 2+ years of hands-on experience with virtual machine (VM) image creation, development, and lifecycle management within enterprise environments.
• 2+ years of experience designing, developing, or deploying system automations, automated self-healing workflows, or integrating intelligent software tools to optimize operational workflows.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology.
• Experience designing, building, or managing CI/CD pipelines and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices (e.g., Azure DevOps, Packer, Terraform, Jenkins) for VDI and virtual image deployments.
• Relevant technical certifications such as Citrix Certified Professional/Expert - Virtualization (CCP-V, CCE-V), Microsoft Certified: Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty, or VMware VCP.
• Experience integrating machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), or advanced AI APIs into system administration or monitoring platforms.
• Strong knowledge of cloud infrastructure architectures (Azure, AWS) and hybrid workspace deployments.
• Outstanding technical troubleshooting, analytical problem-solving, and collaboration skills.

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase, and 401k contribution. The salary for this role will range from $91,700 to $163,700 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable. No matter where or when you begin a career with us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives.