Data Center Technician "Neurodiversity Hiring Program"

Microsoft•Fayetteville, GA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Neurodiversity Hiring Program aims to create an inclusive hiring approach that recognizes and embraces the strengths of Neurodiverse candidates, including those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and dyscalculia. As a Microsoft Data Center Technician (DCT), you will learn standard processes for preparing, installing, diagnosing, troubleshooting, replacing, and decommissioning equipment under the guidance of experienced colleagues. This role offers an opportunity to understand our Data Center environment, security and data management procedures, and accelerate career growth. Microsoft’s Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I) powers our cloud services, and as a CO+I DCT, you will be crucial in delivering the core infrastructure for services like Bing, Office 365, Xbox, OneDrive, and Microsoft Azure. CO+I is committed to employee development, offering training, growth opportunities, Career Rotation Programs, Diversity & Inclusion initiatives, and professional certifications. Our global infrastructure includes over 200 Data Centers, millions of servers, and a team of subject matter experts supporting over 1 billion customers and 20 million businesses worldwide. We prioritize environmental sustainability and optimization in our data center design and operations. Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. We foster a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to achieve shared goals, guided by our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive.

Requirements

High school diploma, GED, or equivalent and basic knowledge of computer hardware and components OR equivalent experience.
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role.
Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
Candidates must have authorization to work in the United States that does not now or in the future require employer sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

High school diploma, GED, or equivalent and basic knowledge of computer hardware and components AND 1+ year(s) experience supporting IT equipment or related technology OR equivalent experience.
Applicable certifications: CompTIA (A+, Server+, Network+), Basic Structure Cabling (BSC).

Responsibilities

Receives guidance and supervision to develop an understanding of standard processes and procedures for preparing, installing, performing diagnostics, troubleshooting, replacing, and/or decommissioning IT datacenter technology(ies) and equipment.
Develops and acquires a fundamental understanding of the functions of, and interactions between cabling infrastructure, network, server, and storage equipment.
Complies with Data Center business unit policies, procedures, and deadlines with guidance from experienced technicians and/or direct-line management.
Escalates issues related to compliance or operational assurance activities to direct-line management.
Completes assigned tickets efficiently and in alignment with relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) per task type with guidance from experienced technicians.
Seeks guidance from more experienced technicians on challenging or complex tickets.
Reviews Process Change Notifications (PCNs) and develops an understanding of the impact to work execution and awareness to changes within their area of work and/or the work of others.
Asks questions when they do not have required information and may provide feedback on changes to processes to experienced technicians and/or direct-line management.
Participates in daily safety briefings.
Completes required Environmental & Health Safety (EHS) training, complies with safety procedures (e.g., equipment use, lifting, electrical hazards, ladder/rolling stair use), completes required Task Hazard Analysis (THAs), and uses appropriate equipment and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for assigned tasks.
Adheres to and promotes a culture of safety, taking proactive action to alert others of safety concerns, near-misses, and/or incidents.
Participates in the regular cadence of proactive safety observation reporting processes and systems.
Contributes to a positive and effective team environment by sharing information with other shifts or technician teams, contributing in regular team meetings, asking questions, and partnering with other shifts of technician teams to complete smooth transition and effective handover of ticketed work.
Encourages providing and responding to feedback received on ways to work more effectively or enhance efficiency within their team and adopts best practices shared within-and-across shifts or technician teams.
Completes required security and data management training while complying with security and data management procedures/policies with guidance from other technicians.
May escort third party vendors or IT support on-premises at data centers or network sites.
Appropriately takes action and reports physical security access concerns and/or incidents to direct-line management or via established reporting methods.
Maintains an awareness of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) through reporting dashboards, systems, for personal monthly performance discussions as needed.
Escalates and/or seeks guidance from experienced technicians or direct-line management regarding client interactions.
Develops an understanding of cross-functional Data Center processes to support partnerships with internal and external stakeholders.
Completes required training aligned to job focus areas and workloads (i.e., Break fix, Deployment, Simple Change, Decommission, IT Critical Environment) in a timely manner per direct-line management assignment(s).
Observes more experienced technicians to gain hands-on experience and relevant on-the-job training (OJT).
May complete additional or supplemental training to obtain or maintain relevant industry or technical certifications.
Follows procedures to immediately communicate, report, and escalate data center technical or safety related incidents to direct-line management.
May participate in bridge calls to provide details on incident status and executes on-site follow-up actions as directed if necessary.
Performs basic diagnostics and troubleshooting with guidance from experienced technicians and/or via standard procedures to identify the cause(s) of technical issues and replace faulty components in network, storage, or server equipment with zero-to-minimal customer and/or business disruption.
Develops awareness of conditions, circumstances, and scenarios which may reflect significant customer or business impact within the Data Center environment.
Develops an understanding of effective execution order strategy(ies) for assigned tasks with assistance from experienced technicians or direct-line management.
Prepares, stages, sets up, and performs basic startups and shutdowns for hardware (e.g., racks, hard drives, switches) according to specific written instructions provided via checklists, guides, standard processes, emails, guidance from other technicians, and/or direction from management.
May perform tasks in tandem with other technicians to comply with procedures and safety requirements.
Learns about post-execution verification of grounding, staging, labeling, and cabling to align with all safety protocols, deployment standards, and planned Network Design Templates (NDTs).
Learns about errors in deployment standards or Network Design Templates (NDTs) and escalates to relevant technicians or specialists to coordinate corrections as needed.
Directly performs decommissions, simple changes (e.g., memory upgrades, OS rebuilds) and refreshes of infrastructure cabling, network, storage, and server equipment, following standard procedures whilst seeking clarification and guidance from more experienced technicians as needed.
Processes data-bearing devices (DBDs) for destruction or confirms any-and-all such devices (e.g. hard-drives, solid-state drives, flash cards, etc.) contained within network, storage, or server equipment has been identified for eradication or destruction with guidance.