Principal Engineer, Linux and Virtualization Infrastructure

WideOpenWest•Charleston, SC

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

WOW! is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead the design, architecture, implementation, management, and optimization of enterprise compute, storage, Linux, and virtualization infrastructure across multiple datacenters and environments. The role supports greenfield deployments and modernization of existing production systems, with a focus on scalable, resilient, secure, and future-ready platforms. The position operates on a hybrid schedule of three days in the office and two days remotely. Candidates must live within 45 minutes of an office and be able to commute regularly; this is not a fully remote opportunity. The engineer manages and evolves enterprise compute, storage, and virtualization platforms; leads integration of new technologies; plans capacity; and supports availability, fault tolerance, and disaster recovery. The position collaborates with networking, security, and other engineering teams, provides escalation support to operational teams, documents systems, supports internal and external customers, and mentors technical colleagues. Participation in on-call rotations, including occasional overnight and weekend support, and occasional travel may be required.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
At least 7 years of experience as a Linux Systems Administrator, Linux Systems Engineer, or in a related infrastructure engineering role.
Expertise with Linux and/or Unix operating systems.
Strong understanding of networking fundamentals.
Solid knowledge of Storage Area Networks (SANs).
Experience with virtualization and containerization technologies, including VMware, ProxMox, Docker, and Kubernetes.
Experience managing complex systems infrastructure projects.
Working knowledge of Windows operating systems and Microsoft Office applications.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
Ability to collaborate effectively across diverse technical teams.
Strong independent problem-solving and decision-making skills.
Must be within 45 minutes of an office and able to commute regularly for the hybrid schedule.
Ability to participate in on-call rotations, including occasional overnight and weekend support.
Ability to travel occasionally.
Ability to communicate verbally and in writing, use hands for typing and handling equipment, lift up to 50 pounds, and focus with close vision.

Responsibilities

Design and configure greenfield datacenter deployments and modernize or retrofit existing environments.
Lead system integration for new technologies and infrastructure solutions, from research and design through implementation, configuration, and ongoing maintenance.
Manage multiple virtualization clusters and own current and future capacity planning.
Monitor enterprise infrastructure platforms and drive actionable recovery and operational improvements.
Co-manage Fibre Channel, VxLAN, and NAS environments, focusing on fault tolerance, high availability, and disaster recovery.
Analyze user and application requirements to determine operating system, storage, memory, and CPU needs for physical and virtual server environments.
Lead the design, analysis, configuration, and implementation of enterprise storage architectures, including application and end-user requirements, IO performance, storage layout, and disaster recovery profiles.
Collaborate with networking and security teams to deliver solutions for internal business units and external customers.
Ensure service platforms and applications are backed up according to established policies and procedures.
Participate in technology strategy discussions and provide recommendations informed by industry research and engineering expertise.
Serve as an engineering-level escalation resource for the NOC and operational teams during high-level fault analysis and incident isolation.
Lead deployment and configuration of high-availability systems and storage architectures.
Partner with cross-functional engineering teams on emerging technologies and infrastructure initiatives.
Create and maintain detailed systems and application documentation.
Provide professional technical support to internal and external customers.
Maintain, enhance, and deploy hardware and software technologies in lab and testing environments.
Mentor and support fellow engineers and technical team members.
Perform additional duties as assigned.