Lead IT Infrastructure Engineer III

Join one of the largest homebuilding companies in the United States as an Infrastructure Engineer III in a 3-month contract-to-hire role with headquarters in Scottsdale. This hybrid position requires two days onsite per week at the data center located at Iron Mountain (615 N 48th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85008) with three days remote. You'll be the fourth engineer joining a seven-person overall team, supporting enterprise infrastructure for a major residential construction organization. This role focuses on Windows systems administration, Hyper-V virtualization, Active Directory management, and data center operations including hands-on hardware installation and maintenance. The position offers a clear pathway to permanent employment with competitive conversion salary ranging from $100,000 to $120,000 base after the initial contract period.

This is an exceptional opportunity to join a leading homebuilding company during a time of infrastructure growth and modernization. As the fourth engineer on the team, you'll have significant impact and visibility while working with enterprise-scale infrastructure supporting operations across the United States. The hybrid schedule provides excellent work-life balance with only two days required onsite at a professional data center facility, giving you focused time for hands-on hardware work while maintaining remote flexibility. You'll gain valuable experience working in a production data center environment with real racking and stacking responsibilities, hardware installations, and physical infrastructure management. The role offers diverse technical exposure from Windows Server administration and Hyper-V virtualization to Office 365, Azure AD, and advanced PowerShell automation. With a manageable on-call rotation of once every four weeks, you'll have predictable schedules and reasonable work-life balance. The contract-to-hire structure provides a trial period for both sides while offering a clear path to permanent employment with a stable, established organization. The competitive hourly rate of $60 to $75 per hour during contract phase converts to a strong base salary of $100,000 to $120,000 upon conversion, providing excellent long-term compensation.
Required Skills & Experience

• 10+ years of industry experience in infrastructure engineering or systems administration
• Strong Windows Server systems administration background
• Active Directory administration including user management, group policy, and domain management
• Experience with Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)
• Virtualization experience with Hyper-V (VMware experience also acceptable)
• Office 365 administration and support
• Azure cloud platform familiarity
• Advanced PowerShell scripting and automation experience
• Hands-on data center experience including racking and stacking servers
• Physical hardware installation experience (servers, RAM, components)
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving abilities
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Must be local to Phoenix, AZ area for hybrid schedule

Desired Skills & Experience

• Veeam backup and recovery experience (strong plus)
• Prior networking experience and understanding of network concepts
• Experience working with network engineers on infrastructure projects
• Understanding of routing protocols and how routing works
• Knowledge of firewall concepts and operations
• Understanding of switch configurations and VLANs
• Familiarity with Fortinet firewalls
• Experience with Cisco networking equipment
• Familiarity with Meraki switches
• Homebuilding or construction industry experience
• Enterprise-scale infrastructure experience
• ITIL framework knowledge
• Microsoft certifications (MCSA, MCSE, or equivalent)
• Experience with monitoring and alerting tools

What You Will Be Doing
Tech Breakdown

• 40% Windows Systems Administration (Server management, Active Directory, Group Policy)
• 25% Virtualization Management (Hyper-V administration, VM provisioning, optimization)
• 20% Data Center Operations (hardware installation, racking/stacking, physical maintenance)
• 15% Automation and Cloud Services (PowerShell scripting, Office 365, Azure AD)

Daily Responsibilities

• 50% Hands-On Infrastructure Work (server management, hardware installation, troubleshooting)
• 30% Systems Administration (Active Directory, Group Policy, user management, system maintenance)
• 20% Projects and Automation (PowerShell scripting, infrastructure improvements, collaboration)