Senior Virtualization Engineer

About the role

This position is designated as a hybrid telework role. The expectation is to average 3+ days a week onsite at a downtown Richmond office. The teleworking ability and schedule are determined by the reporting manager. Local travel to data center may be necessary on occasion.

Everforth Apex Systems is seeking a highly skilled Senior Virtualization Engineer to support and advance the Virginia Judiciaries enterprise virtualization environment. This contingent worker position will play a key role in ensuring the reliability, performance, and security of critical systems and infrastructure. The selected candidate will report to the Manager of the Systems and Operations Management team and will collaborate closely with technical staff to design, implement, and maintain virtualization solutions that meet organizational needs.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, and maintain VMware vSphere environments, including ESXi hosts and vCenter Server
• Perform capacity planning, performance tuning, and resource optimization across virtual infrastructures
• Manage virtual networking (vSwitches, distributed switches) and storage configurations (VMFS, NFS, vSAN)
• Implement and maintain high‑availability, fault‑tolerance, clustering, and disaster recovery solutions
• Oversee patching, upgrades, and lifecycle management for VMware components and related hardware
• Troubleshoot complex virtualization issues involving compute, storage, and networking layers
• Create and enforce VM standards, policies, templates, and provisioning strategies
• Monitor infrastructure health
• Ensure security compliance by managing roles, permissions, certificates, and hardening VMware environments
• Automate administrative tasks when possible
• Collaborate with systems, network, and security teams on cross‑functional infrastructure initiatives
• Document architecture, configurations, procedures, and change management activities
• Provide advanced support for production issues and mentor junior team members

Requirements

• 8+ years of hands‑on experience administering VMware vSphere environments and Windows Server operating systems
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a closely related field; equivalent technical certification accepted
• Strong proficiency with ESXi, vCenter Server, and virtual networking concepts
• Experience with VMware clustering, HA/DRS, snapshots, templates, and VM lifecycle management
• Solid understanding of storage technologies such as SAN, NAS, iSCSI, NFS, and/or vSAN
• Working knowledge of networking fundamentals as they apply to virtualization: VLANs, trunking, LACP, jumbo frames, and network segmentation
• Familiarity with Windows and/or Linux server administration in enterprise environments
• Ability to troubleshoot complex issues across compute, storage, and network layers
• Experience with Ansible, PowerCLI, Terraform, or similar scripting languages for automation
• Working knowledge of backup and disaster recovery solutions for virtual environments
• Understanding of security best practices, RBAC, certificates, and VMware hardening guidelines
• Hands‑on experience administering enterprise server hardware platforms (Dell, Cisco UCS, HPE, etc.)
• Some data center experience or the willingness to learn
• Strong documentation, communication, and change-management skills

Qualifications

• 12+ years of hands‑on experience administering VMware vSphere environments and Windows Server operating systems
• Master’s degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a closely related field
• Deep hands‑on experience designing, scaling, and optimizing enterprise VMware environments
• Strong understanding of virtual networking (vDS, VLANs, LACP) and storage performance concepts
• Background in infrastructure architecture, capacity planning, and performance engineering
• Demonstrated ability to lead infrastructure projects and mentor other engineers
• Experience implementing infrastructure automation pipelines, such as GitOps workflows, CI/CD‑driven configuration deployments, or infrastructure‑as‑code standards across teams
• VMware Certified Professional (VCP) or equivalent real‑world experience
• Hands-on experience administering Linux operating systems (RHEL, SUSE, Alma, etc.)
• Vendor certifications beyond VCP, such as VCIX / VCAP, MCSA/MCSE, RHCSA/RHCE, or storage‑focused certifications that enhance cross‑domain expertise
• Experience with other virtualization technologies and platforms (OpenShift, Hyper-V, ProxMox, etc.)
• Experience with out‑of‑band management technologies like iDRAC, iLO, CIMC, XClarity, etc.
• 2+ years data center experience
• Provision, configure, and harden Windows Server and other virtual server operating systems according to organizational standards and security best practices
• Manage Active Directory-related server functions, including domain joins, OU placement, Group Policy application, and coordination with identity teams
• Configure and maintain core Windows Server roles such as DNS, DHCP, file/print services, IIS, RDS, and certificate services depending on environment needs
• Automate and standardize server builds using templates, unattended installation files, and configuration management tools to ensure consistent deployments
• Perform OS‑level patching, updates, and lifecycle management for Windows virtual servers, ensuring compliance with security and operational policies
• Implement and maintain backup, recovery, and snapshot strategies for Windows and other servers

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and other insurance plans
• Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)
• 401K program with company match after 12 months of tenure (eligible to contribute typically within 30 days of starting)
• Health Savings Account (HSA) on the HDHP plan
• SupportLinc Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with up to 8 free counseling sessions
• Corporate discount savings program and other discounts
• On-demand training program
• Access to certification prep and a library of technical and leadership courses/books/seminars (after 6+ months of tenure)
• Certification discounts and perks for associations including CompTIA and IIBA
• Dedicated customer service team for consultants addressing benefits and resources
• Certified Career Coach

Schedule

Hybrid telework role averaging 3+ days per week onsite at a downtown Richmond office. Teleworking schedule determined by reporting manager. Local travel to data center may be necessary on occasion.