Senior Windows Engineer - SME

Job Title: Senior Windows Engineer - SME

Location: Herndon, VA

Duration: / Term: 6+ months

Job Description:

Experience Desired: 13+ Years

Job Description:

We are seeking an experienced Windows Infrastructure Subject Matter Expert (SME) to design, implement, and support enterprise Windows environments. This role will serve as the highest level of technical escalation (L3) for Windows platform issues while driving infrastructure architecture, automation, and modernization initiatives.

The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in Windows Server, Active Directory, virtualization, and cloud integrations, along with strong troubleshooting and automation skills. This role also involves mentoring junior engineers and contributing to strategic infrastructure design.

Key Responsibilities

• Windows Infrastructure Engineering

• Design, deploy, and manage enterprise Windows Server environments (2008/2012/2016/2019/2022)
• Architect and maintain Active Directory (AD DS), Group Policy (GPO), and DNS
• Implement high a...vailability (Failover Clustering, DFS, Load Balancing)
• Manage server lifecycle including upgrades, migrations, and decommissioning

• L3 Escalation & Advanced Troubleshooting
  • Serve as Tier-3 escalation point for critical incidents
  • Perform deep-dive troubleshooting on AD replication, Kerberos, DNS, and system performance
  • Conduct root cause analysis (RCA) and implement preventive measures
  • Lead major incident response calls and post-incident reviews
• Virtualization & Cloud
  • Administer Hyper-V and VMware environments
  • Manage Windows workloads in Azure/AWS
  • Support hybrid infrastructure integrations
  • Implement cloud-based backup and DR solutions
• Automation & Scripting
  • Develop automation using PowerShell (advanced scripting required)
  • Automate patch management and configuration tasks
  • Implement configuration management solutions (SCCM, Intune, DSC)
  • Support Infrastructure-as-Code practices where applicable
  • Maintain architecture documentation and SOPs
  • Mentor L1 L3 administrators
  • Participate in infrastructure design discussions

Ideal Candidate Profile

• 13 15+ years of IT Infrastructure experience with strong specialization in Windows Server administration and enterprise infrastructure management.
• Proven experience supporting large-scale enterprise environments, ensuring high availability, performance, and operational stability.
• Advanced expertise in Windows OS troubleshooting, including boot-related issues such as BSOD, BCD corruption, WinRE recovery, Safe Mode diagnostics, and driver/service startup failures.
• Strong hands-on experience in Windows Registry troubleshooting and recovery, including handling registry corruption, permission issues, policy conflicts, service/startup configuration issues, and registry backup/restore procedures.
• Extensive experience in Active Directory, Kerberos, DNS, and Windows performance troubleshooting, providing L3 escalation support for complex infrastructure issues.
• In-depth knowledge of the Windows boot process and system recovery mechanisms, with the ability to diagnose and resolve critical startup failures.
• Proven expertise in Windows server migrations and transformation initiatives, including P2V migrations, datacenter-to-cloud migrations, OS version upgrades, production cutovers, rollback strategies, and operational runbook development.
• Strong experience in VM lift-and-shift migrations, with hands-on involvement in large-scale virtual machine migration projects across enterprise environments.

Technical Expertise

• Advanced knowledge of:
  • Active Directory (AD DS)
  • DNS, DHCP
  • Group Policy (GPO)
  • Kerberos authentication
  • Failover Clustering
  • File & Print Services
  • Windows Server administration and performance tuning

Tools & Platforms

• Experience working with:
  • Active Directory / Azure AD
  • SCCM / Microsoft Intune
  • Hyper-V / VMware
  • WSUS
  • Monitoring tools (SCOM, SolarWinds)
  • Backup solutions (Veeam, Commvault)

Preferred Skills

• Strong PowerShell automation expertise
• Experience with hybrid cloud infrastructure
• Knowledge of Azure infrastructure services
• Exposure to infrastructure automation and DevOps practices

Key Skills:

Windows Server , Active Directory, Migration, PowerShell, Azure