Windows & SQL Server In-place Upgrade Automation Engineer

Role : Windows & SQL Server In-place Upgrade Automation Engineer Location: Remote (US) Duration: Long Term Note: We're looking for an experienced engineer to automate and support Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server upgrades across virtual machine and clustered environments. Key Responsibilities Automate Windows Server in-place upgrades Automate SQL Server in-place upgrades Support standalone SQL Server environments Support SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances (FCI) Support SQL Always On Availability Groups Perform rolling cluster upgrades with minimal downtime Build PowerShell automation for upgrade, validation, and rollback activities Integrate upgrade workflows with GitLab CI/CD and GitLab Runners Integrate automation with MCM for orchestration and workflow tracking Perform automated pre-upgrade health checks Validate OS and SQL version compatibility Coordinate and validate VM snapshots and backups Validate SQL database and system database backups Automate DBCC CHECKDB and SQL health checks Automate cluster failover and failback Validate SQL services, databases, SQL Agent jobs, listeners, and application connectivity Build post-upgrade validation and reporting Develop rollback and recovery automation Troubleshoot failed Windows, SQL, cluster, and pipeline executions Maintain automation code in Git Follow change-management and production deployment processes Core Technical Skills Windows Server 2016 / 2019 / 2022 / 2025 Microsoft SQL Server 2016 / 2017 / 2019 / 2022+ PowerShell automation Git and GitLab GitLab CI/CD pipelines GitLab Runner configuration and troubleshooting MCM workflow/orchestration integration Windows Server Failover Clustering SQL Server Failover Cluster Instance (FCI) SQL Always On Availability Groups VMware / virtual machine environments SQL Server backup and recovery Windows and SQL upgrade automation REST API integration JSON / YAML Production change-management experience Preferred Automation Flow MCM GitLab Pipeline GitLab Runner PowerShell Automation Prechecks Snapshot/Backup Windows/SQL Upgrade Cluster/AG Validation Postchecks Status back to MCM Preferred Experience Experience building large-scale automated Windows and SQL upgrade solutions using PowerShell, GitLab Runner, GitLab CI/CD, MCM, VM snapshots, backup validation, rolling cluster upgrades, post-validation, rollback, and centralized reporting.