Job Title: IT Infrastructure & Security Engineer
Location: Naperville, IL (Hybrid 3 days onsite) Type: Direct Hire
Type: Direct hire
If you're interested, please send me a copy of your resume and the following details as soon as possible
Latest update ::
VMware (Required)
Candidate must be able to:
- Work in vCenter independently
- Troubleshoot DRS issues
- Explain vMotion vs Storage vMotion
- Investigate resource bottlenecks
- Handle day-to-day VMware administration
does NOT need architecture, upgrades, or storage engineering expertise
Azure (Required but Not Deep)
Need:
- Resource Groups
- VNets
- Regions
- VM administration
- Portal navigation
Do NOT need:
- Azure architect
- Deep cloud engineering
complete lack of Azure is the disqualifier. Deep expertise is not required
Linux (Preferred)
Environment is roughly 50% Linux and 50% Windows.
Need:
- SLES/SUSE administration
- Patching
- Troubleshooting
Not expected to be a Linux architect
Veeam (Huge Priority)
Interestingly Vince stated Veeam may be even more important than VMware. Candidate needs to:
- Troubleshoot backup failures
- Read backup reports
- Diagnose snapshot issues
- Investigate failed jobs
wants problem solvers, not ticket escalators
Security Expectations
The candidate MUST know what a CVE is
Required knowledge:
- CVEs
- Vulnerability remediation
- MFA
- Patch management
- Risk prioritization
- Microsoft Defender
- Tenable
- Arctic Wolf
- PDQ Connect
Not required:
- CISSP
- Policy writing
- NIST expert
- CMMC expert
- SOC analyst experience
- Governance specialist
Project Scope:
We are looking for a hands-on Infrastructure & Security Engineer to support, maintain, and modernize a mid-sized enterprise IT environment. This individual will serve as a true infrastructure generalist, responsible for day-to-day administration, troubleshooting, security remediation, cloud support, backup operations, and infrastructure modernization initiatives. The environment supports approximately 135 servers across Windows and Linux, VMware virtualization, Azure cloud services, and a growing Microsoft-centric ecosystem.
Team Size & Breakdown:
- Approximately 19-person IT organization
- Reports to Sr. Director of IT Operations
- Small, highly collaborative IT team with broad responsibilities
- Works closely with application, development, analytics, and support teams
- Partners with external MSPs and security vendors for specialized infrastructure and networking support
- Infrastructure team owns platform administration, identity, access management, governance, and operational security
Development Methodology:
- Operational Infrastructure & Engineering environment
- Project-based and operational support responsibilities
- Hybrid model of infrastructure administration, security remediation, modernization projects, and vendor collaboration
- Strong emphasis on troubleshooting, ownership, and independent problem-solving
High-Level Individual Duties:
- Administer and troubleshoot VMware infrastructure and virtual environments
- Support Windows Server and Linux server administration
- Manage backup and recovery operations utilizing Veeam
- Support Azure cloud resources and infrastructure services
- Administer Active Directory, Entra ID, identity services, and group management
- Investigate, prioritize, and remediate infrastructure vulnerabilities
- Support Microsoft security tooling including Defender and vulnerability management platforms
- Coordinate patching, system upgrades, and operational maintenance activities
- Partner with MSPs and vendors on networking, SD-WAN, and infrastructure initiatives
- Support governance and administration across Microsoft technologies including Fabric and Power Platform
- Troubleshoot infrastructure, security, backup, and performance-related incidents
Must-Haves (Concepts & Tools):
- 7+ years of Infrastructure Engineering or Systems Engineering experience
- VMware vSphere / ESXi administration and troubleshooting
- Windows Server administration
- Active Directory and Entra ID
- Veeam backup administration
- Azure infrastructure fundamentals
- Linux administration (SUSE / RedHat / Enterprise Linux environments)
- Vulnerability management and remediation experience
- Strong understanding of CVEs, patch management, and security fundamentals
- Experience working in small-to-mid-sized environments with broad technology ownership
- Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills
- Networking fundamentals including VLANs, routing, switching, and firewalls
Nice-to-Haves:
- Microsoft Defender
- Tenable
- Arctic Wolf
- PDQ Connect
- PowerShell scripting and automation
- Microsoft Fabric
- Power Platform governance
- Dynamics CRM exposure
- Okta
- Veeam certifications
- VMware certifications
- Security+ or comparable security certifications
- Experience supporting SAP infrastructure environments
- Home lab or personal infrastructure projects demonstrating technical curiosity
- Experience supporting infrastructure modernization or cloud migration initiatives
Ideal Candidate Profile:
A hands-on infrastructure engineer from a small or mid-sized organization who has owned multiple areas of technology rather than operating within a highly specialized enterprise silo. The ideal candidate is a strong troubleshooter with VMware, Windows, Azure, Linux, backup, and security experience who can independently investigate issues, drive remediation efforts, and support a broad technology stack. This is not a dedicated cybersecurity role; it is an infrastructure engineering role with operational security responsibilities.
