The Virtualization & Cloud Automation Engineer is responsible for engineering, automating, and suppo

iSphere is searching for a Virtualization & Cloud Automation Engineer responsible for engineering, automating, and supporting the organization''s hybrid infrastructure across VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), Microsoft Azure, enterprise container platforms, and Cisco UCS compute environments.

This role combines deep technical knowledge of virtualization, cloud services, automation frameworks, and container orchestration with strong security awareness, documentation discipline, and cross-team collaboration.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage and optimize VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.x, including vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and SDDC Manager.
• Perform lifecycle operations: patching, upgrades, performance tuning, and capacity planning.
• Troubleshoot ESXi hosts, NSX overlays, vCenter services, and distributed virtualization components.
• Administer Azure IaaS/PaaS including VMs, VNets, Storage, Key Vault, Azure Monitor, and governance tooling.
• Implement Azure governance such as RBAC, Azure Policy, tagging and cost-control practices.
• Deploy/manage Docker, Kubernetes, AKS, and Tanzu Kubernetes Grid clusters.
• Maintain container cluster health, networking, storage classes, registries, and workload orchestration.
• Develop automation using PowerShell, Python, Terraform, Azure CLI, and Bicep.
• Build IaC modules, reusable automation, CI/CD pipelines, and provisioning workflows.
• Administer Cisco UCS blades, service profiles, fabric interconnects, and firmware lifecycles.
• Participate in on-call rotation to provide after-hours support and incident response.
• Serve as a Tier-3 escalation point for virtualization, cloud, automation, and container issues.
• Apply zero-trust-aligned configuration principles and secure infrastructure practices.
• Monitor health, logs, alerts, risk events, and performance indicators across hybrid-cloud systems.
• Support incident response, environment hardening, and infrastructure compliance efforts.
• Maintain documentation: runbooks, architecture diagrams, operational standards, and procedures.
• Support business continuity, high-availability engineering, and DR validation processes.
• Ensure secure lifecycle processes including patching, certificate hygiene, and least-privilege alignment.

Competencies Required:

• Lead or support cloud modernization, automation, virtualization engineering, and containerization initiatives.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, cloud, security, networking, and application teams to deliver integrated solutions.
• Engage governance/audit teams to ensure compliance with organizational standards and regulatory requirements.
• Provide documentation, training, and operational guidance across technical teams.
• Support application/workload onboarding into VCF, Azure, and Kubernetes environments.
• Participate in planning and execution of technology roadmaps and cross-functional engineering projects.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and drive initiatives.
• Strong collaboration skills across cross-functional teams.
• Automation-first mindset with continuous improvement focus.
• Advanced troubleshooting and diagnostic skills.
• Strong documentation discipline and secure, governance-aligned operational mindset.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications/Experience:
• 5+ years VMware engineering experience (vSphere, vSAN, NSX, VCF) required
• 2+ years of VMware Cloud Foundation experience preferred
• Cloud engineering background, with hands-on experience in Microsoft Azure preferred.
• Proficiency in automation using PowerShell, Python, Terraform, Bicep, and Azure CLI.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, AKS, Docker, or Tanzu Kubernetes Grid.
• Strong networking fundamentals (routing, switching, overlays, DNS, load balancing).
• Proficiency in administering Windows and RedHat systems.
• Experience with GitOps, container security tools, and service mesh technologies.
• Familiarity with zero-trust frameworks, audit processes, and compliance tooling.

Formal Education & Certification:

· High School Diploma or equivalent required.
· VMware VCP, VCAP, or VCF certifications preferred