Principal Systems Engineer

Principal Systems Engineer JOB_DESCRIPTION.SHARE.HTML

CAROUSEL

_PARAGRAPH JOB_DESCRIPTION.SHARE.HTML Oakbrook, Illinois IT On-Site Full-Time 4253 Worldpac Job Description Role Summary We are seeking a highly accomplished Principal Systems Engineer to assume ownership and support for our core enterprise infrastructure and platform services. The key responsibilities of this role are the architecture, reliability, and long‑term evolution of foundational enterprise platforms, including Microsoft Active Directory, Nutanix HCI, VMware ESXi, and Windows/Linux servers. In addition to owning core infrastructure, this role plays a critical leadership role in hybrid cloud, container platforms, and AI infrastructure as they intersect with enterprise systems. This role will ensure that these platforms are secure, scalable, observable, highly available and operationally sound, while maintaining strong infrastructure discipline and reliability. Key Responsibilities Core Enterprise Platform & Cloud Infrastructure Ownership

• Serve as principal architect and technical owner for Microsoft Active Directory environment, including

DNS, GPO

strategy, and identity integrations with OKTA and Entra-ID.

• Define, govern, and evolve standards for Nutanix HCI, including capacity planning, lifecycle management, resilience, and performance optimization.
• Own architectural direction and operational excellence for VMware ESXi / vSphere platforms supporting mission‑critical Windows and Linux workloads.
• Establish and enforce best practices for availability, scalability, security, compliance, and disaster recovery across enterprise infrastructure. Operating Systems, Automation & Platform Reliability
• Provide deep expertise across Windows Server and Linux platforms on an enterprise scale.
• Define automation standards using PowerShell, Bash, and infrastructure‑as‑code to improve reliability, repeatability, and operational efficiency.
• Lead platform initiatives related to patching strategy, upgrades, security hardening, and performance optimization. Systems Monitoring
• Skilled with SolarWinds as a core monitoring platform.
• Ability to tune SolarWinds for proactive monitoring, alerting, dependency visibility, root‑cause analysis, and capacity planning.
• Define monitoring standards and KPIs to improve platform reliability and reduce operational risk across infrastructure, cloud, and platform services. Hybrid Cloud & Platform Services
• Experience with hybrid cloud environments, with Microsoft Azure as the primary cloud platform and AWS as secondary.
• Design and support hybrid integrations between on‑prem infrastructure and cloud services (identity, networking, connectivity, monitoring) including provisioning, support, and active monitoring.
• Ensure cloud workloads align with enterprise infrastructure standards for security, observability, and operational supportability, and support for IT Fin Ops reporting/visibility/cost optimization. Containers & Kubernetes Platforms
• Provide architectural guidance and oversight for containerized platforms, including Kubernetes, as they integrate with core infrastructure and cloud environments.
• Establish standards for container platform reliability, networking, identity, and monitoring in collaboration with application and platform teams.
• Support infrastructure requirements for running containerized workloads at enterprise scale. AI / Model Infrastructure Enablement
• Provide infrastructure‑level guidance for AI and GenAI platforms, including Models (Claude deployed via AWS Bedrock, and Gemini via Google Vertex AI), AI Gateways (i.e. Portkey or Kong), and MCP servers, etc.
• Ensure AI platforms are integrated into enterprise environments with appropriate networking, identity, security, monitoring, and cost controls.
• Partner with data, analytics, and application teams to support reliable and scalable AI infrastructure. Principal‑Level Technical Leadership
• Act as the final technical escalation point for complex infrastructure, cloud, and platform issues.
• Mentor engineers and serve as a trusted technical advisor.
• Partner closely with Cyber security to review, collaborate and implement chosen and/or identified infrastructure recommendations relating to platform & cloud services
• Lead architecture reviews, platform modernization initiatives, and cross‑team technical discussions.
• Influence technical and executive stakeholders through clear standards, documentation, and data‑driven recommendations. Required Experience & Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Systems, Business Analytics, or related field.
• 15-20 years of progressive experience in enterprise systems engineering or infrastructure platform roles.
• Deep expertise in Microsoft Active Directory architecture and operations at scale.
• Extensive hands‑on experience with enterprise storage, hypervisor and server platforms, specifically Nutanix HCI and VMware ESXi / vSphere.
• Strong experience administering Windows and Linux systems in mission‑critical environments.
• Proven ownership of SolarWinds in enterprise monitoring and observability environments.
• Hands‑on experience supporting hybrid cloud platforms, with strong working knowledge of Microsoft Azure and AWS.
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a principal‑level technical leader, influencing architecture and standards across teams. Preferred Experience
• Experience supporting Kubernetes and container platforms in enterprise environments.
• Experience enabling infrastructure for AI / GenAI platforms, including AWS Bedrock and Google Cloud Platform/Vertex AI.
• Experience supporting Snowflake, Databricks or similar data platforms.
• Hybrid identity experience (Azure AD / Entra ID).
• Infrastructure‑as‑Code and automation tooling (Terraform, Ansible).

Posted Salary Range USD $140,000.00 - USD $170,000.00 /Yr.