Position Summary

As part of the Office of Information Technology (OIT) Infrastructure and Operations (I&O) team, the Infrastructure Engineer is responsible for the administration, development, and support of compute, storage, and cloud infrastructure platforms and services. This position will engage and collaborate across OIT and Enterprise Infrastructure (EI) peers to develop and implement scalable and secure infrastructure and computing solutions, architecture plans, technology roadmaps, and project plans. Operates as a thought leader, using expertise to drive strategy. May manage multiple projects simultaneously. Flexible Work Schedule is available.

Essential Functions

• Designs, develops, installs, and maintains operating systems, utilities, and applications software on computing systems
• Manages, administers, and supports cloud, hybrid-cloud, and private-cloud compute and storage environments
• Engages in long-term planning about systems development and integration
• Compares, evaluates, and recommends new technologies and enhancements to improve and enhance the infrastructure environment, including proposed implementation plans, dependencies, and resource requirements
• Acts as a technical expert or lead for local computer system administration
• Proactively identifies opportunities to better leverage tools, improve processes, or enhance services to be more efficient and effective
• Documents systems infrastructure for users, support and consulting personnel, and developers
• Performs all other duties as assigned

Additional Functions

• Collaborates with other EI and extended IT support teams on specific projects and support issues
• Assists with the maintenance of a distributed storage infrastructure, including fiber channel fabric, NAS, and SAN devices
• Implement security policies for software-defined networking, firewalling, and infrastructure across all compute environments

Experience and Education Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Management Information Systems, or related field
• 5 years of related experience in an Infrastructure Engineer and/or Systems Administrator role including the following:
  • Progressive experience in the configuration and administration of enterprise-class servers, operating systems (Linux/Windows), and virtualization platforms (VMware)
  • Deep technical experience in infrastructure design, build, deployment, and management of public cloud solutions (Azure/AWS)

Substitutions

• In lieu of the experience requirement, additional related education, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year for year basis may be substituted
• In lieu of the education requirement, additional related experience, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year for year basis may be substituted

Skills Required

• Advanced knowledge of virtualization platforms, cloud compute platforms, cloud-native applications and services, networks, firewalls, and load balancers
• Ability to troubleshoot issues and identify solutions in complex and disparate systems environments
• Proven ability to lead and execute large deployment and implementation projects in a team environment
• Strong customer service skills

Preferences

• Experience
  • Design and deployment of Microsoft Azure, Azure Active Directory, AWS, and GCP platforms and systems
  • Experience with Windows Active Directory and associated RBAC/Group Policy infrastructure
  • Familiarity with cloud collaboration platforms administration and support (e.g., Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace, Box, SharePoint, Confluence)
  • Familiarity with container technologies such as Docker, Singularity, and Kubernetes
  • General coding and infrastructure as code experience (e.g., CloudFormation, Ansible, Terraform, Shell, Python, Ruby, PowerShell)
  • Experience with data center firewalls such as NSX, Checkpoint, Juniper, or Cisco
  • Implementation of security controls and zero-trust practices
  • Familiarity with Project Management methodologies, and experience as a project technical lead
  • Prior experience working in a Higher Education environment
• Skills
  • Cloud networking and security (e.g. VPN, ExpressRoute, VNETs, VNET Peering).
  • Microsoft Cloud Endpoint Delivery and Management Tools (e.g., Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft Intune, Autopilot)
• License / Certification
  • Azure or AWS Cloud Computer certifications (associate or professional)
  • Virtualization Training or certifications (e.g., VCP, VCAP)
  • Microsoft systems administration/system engineer certifications (e.g., MCSE, MCTS, MCITP, MCDST)
  • Storage administration training and/or certifications (e.g., HPE, Dell/EMC, NetApp, etc.)
  • Formal information technology infrastructure library (ITIL) training

• Working Conditions
  • Must deal effectively with stressful situations, critical deadlines, and a customer base with high service level expectations and a wide range of computer knowledge and sophistication
  • Equipment and facilities, some difficult to access, are often located in rooms with a wide variety of physical characteristics
  • May be required to extended hours (nights and weekends) during (un)planned outages and other special circumstances
  • Must carry a cell phone and be reachable during off hours
  • Non-smoking environment

The Rice University Office of Information Technology
https://oit.rice.edu/

Rice University HR / Benefits website
https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits

Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer with commitment to diversity at all levels, and considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status.

Current Rice University COVID policies, which include vaccination, face mask, testing, gatherings, occupancy limits, and travel policies can be found here: https://coronavirus.rice.edu/policies