Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer

Wilson Elser · Portland, OR · 1 wk ago

Hybrid$120k/yrFull-time

About the role

We are seeking a Sr. Infrastructure Operations Engineer to join a dynamic team providing high-quality engineering, implementation, and support across Windows platforms, virtualization, storage, SQL Server, and cloud infrastructure—both on-premises and in Azure. This role serves as the senior technical escalation point for the Infrastructure Operations team, accountable for the design, resilience, and documented recoverability of the firm’s virtualization, storage, SQL, and cloud platforms.

As the firm’s designated Operations SQL Subject Matter Expert (SME), you will provide technical leadership for SQL Server operational support, availability, performance, maintenance, and recovery. This role requires strong communication skills, teamwork, and the ability to independently lead projects from planning through completion. A key objective is to strengthen the team’s overall capability by eliminating single points of failure through high-quality documentation, repeatable procedures, and cross-training.

Responsibilities

Primary owner for Azure: administer and support the firm’s Azure estate, including Landing Zone, IaaS/PaaS, Entra ID / AAD Connect synchronization, SSO, Conditional Access, and MFA; lead workload migrations from on-premises to Azure.
Primary owner and designated SME for SQL Server platform: own the SQL Server platform end-to-end, including installation, patching, version/edition upgrades, Always On Availability Groups, failover clustering, DR runbooks, backups, restores, and validated recovery testing. Serve as first-touch triage for all SQL tickets and route application-owned SQL work to the appropriate team.
Primary owner for VMware and VMware SRM: administer vSphere/vCenter across multiple sites; own DR replication and recovery plans in Site Recovery Manager, including scheduled failover testing and validated recovery documentation.
Primary owner for Storage: administer Pure Storage and HPE 3PAR arrays—provisioning, capacity and performance management, firmware lifecycle, and replication.
Primary owner for Dell server hardware: manage Dell OpenManage and Dell blade chassis—firmware lifecycle, hardware fault remediation, and vendor RMA coordination.
Primary owner for Monitoring: manage SolarWinds—node coverage accuracy, alert tuning, and reduction of alert noise to ensure alerts are trusted and actioned.
Primary owner for Enterprise application certificates: full lifecycle management, including a maintained renewal calendar to prevent expiry-driven outages.
Secondary owner for Active Directory and Exchange On-Premises, providing depth behind existing primary owners.
Serve as the senior technical escalation point for the Infrastructure Operations team; take ownership of major incidents, drive root cause to closure, and publish written RCAs.
Create and maintain high-quality operational documentation and develop repeatable procedures to institutionalize critical expertise across the team.
Participate in a weekly on-call rotation (8 AM Mondays, rotating every 4-5 weeks).

Requirements

Broad hands-on knowledge of Server Infrastructure, SQL Server, and Cloud technologies, including Windows Server 2012/2016/2019/2022, Azure (PaaS/IaaS), VMware, and workload migrations.
Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft SQL Server (2014 through 2022), including version upgrades, failover-cluster node-evict/rebuild procedures, and distinguishing platform-owned vs. application-owned SQL work.
Administration experience with virtualization (Azure and on-prem VMware) across multiple sites; HyperV experience a plus.
Strong hands-on experience with Active Directory (Group Policies, ACL management), PowerShell scripting, and Office 365 (including Exchange on-prem and migrations to Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive).
Experience with tools such as 1Password, Barracuda, Atlassian Jira, LanSweeper, Dell OpenManage Enterprise, Intune, Pure Storage, SolarWinds, Varonis, and Veeam is a plus.
Ability to conduct research into new technologies and products as required.
High level of analytical and problem-solving abilities, with the ability to prioritize tasks in a high-pressure environment.
Strong project management skills, self-motivation, and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with a focus on documentation (Visio diagram experience a plus).
Strategic and creative thinking, with a commitment to building a resilient, knowledge-sharing organization.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Minimum of 7 years of hands-on infrastructure engineering experience, including at least 3 years in a senior or escalation capacity.
Demonstrated ability to act as a final technical escalation point—calm, methodical, and decisive under major-incident pressure.
Ability to produce documentation another engineer can execute without assistance (a primary measure of success in this role).
College or University degree in a related field or 10+ years of equivalent work experience.
Relevant certifications preferred: Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104), Azure Solutions Architect (AZ-305), Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate (DP-300), VMware VCP-DCV, or ITIL Foundation.

Benefits

Outstanding benefits package, including a 401(k) match and generous PTO plan.
Medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance.
Access to corporate discount plans and other employee perks.
Ample opportunities for professional development and career advancement.

Pay

Salary Range: $120,000 USD - $165,000 USD. A variety of factors are considered in making compensation decisions, including experience, education, licensure and/or certifications, geographic location, market demands, and other business and organizational needs.

Schedule

Full-time position with participation in a weekly on-call rotation (8 AM Mondays, rotating every 4-5 weeks).