Systems Engineer Windows & Linux

60-70hr / Stamford, CT / Onsite / 12 month+ Contract The Windows / Linux Systems Engineer is responsible for designing, building, and supporting mission‑critical, Windows‑centric infrastructure that underpins trading, market data, risk, and back‑office platforms. This role operates in a high‑availability, low‑latency, and security‑sensitive environment, with a primary focus on Microsoft Windows and core Microsoft application platforms, and secondary responsibility for supporting Linux systems used for select services and tooling. Key Responsibilities Windows‑First Systems Engineering & Operations Design, deploy, and support Windows Server environments supporting trading and financial applications Administer and optimize Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, NTP, and identity services Support Microsoft application platforms, including: IIS‑hosted applications SQL Server (in partnership with DBAs) File services, print services, and enterprise authentication services Perform system lifecycle management: provisioning, patching, upgrades, and decommissioning Participate in on‑call rotations and respond to production incidents impacting trading operations Linux Systems Support (Secondary) Support and maintain Linux servers (RHEL/CentOS/Ubuntu) used for: Market data tooling Monitoring and observability platforms Automation and scripting workloads Perform OS patching, performance tuning, and troubleshooting Collaborate with application and DevOps teams on Linux‑based services Performance, Reliability & Trading Readiness Tune Windows systems for performance, stability, and low‑latency execution Monitor CPU, memory, disk I/O, and network throughput in real‑time trading environments Partner with network teams to reduce latency and packet loss Support real‑time trading platforms, market data feeds, and analytics systems Automation & Infrastructure Engineering Automate system provisioning and configuration using: PowerShell (primary) Bash / Python (secondary) Ansible or similar tools Reduce manual operations through automation and standardization Integrate infrastructure workflows with CI/CD pipelines where appropriate Security, Compliance & Governance Apply OS hardening and secure configuration baselines Support privileged access, certificate management, and encryption standards Participate in audit and regulatory efforts (SOC, SOX, SEC, FINRA) Remediate vulnerabilities and security findings in coordination with InfoSec teams Monitoring, Incident Management & Documentation Implement and maintain monitoring and alerting solutions (SCOM, Splunk, ELK, Prometheus, etc.) Perform root‑cause analysis and post‑incident reviews Maintain detailed runbooks, architecture diagrams, and operational documentation Required Qualifications 5+ years experience as a Windows‑focused Systems Engineer Strong expertise in: Windows Server (2016/2019/2022) Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP Experience supporting 24x7 production environments Strong troubleshooting skills across OS, storage, and network layers Proficiency with PowerShell scripting and automation Comfortable operating in high‑pressure trading or financial environments Preferred / Nice‑to‑Have Experience in financial services, trading, hedge funds, or broker‑dealer environments Working knowledge of Linux administration Virtualization experience (VMware, Hyper‑V) Exposure to cloud or hybrid infrastructure (AWS or Azure) Familiarity with market data platforms and real‑time systems