Principal Information Technology Infrastructure Engineer

MSD Careers•Rockville, MD

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Principal IT Infrastructure Engineer serves as the senior technical authority for MSD’s core compute and identity infrastructure, including virtualization, containerization, identity and access management, directory services, and cloud productivity platforms. The role sets architectural direction, resolves complex escalations, and ensures infrastructure is designed, deployed, and maintained in a controlled, auditable manner consistent with GxP and 21 CFR Part 11 expectations. The engineer owns architecture and hands-on engineering for enterprise virtualization platforms, leads VMware-to-Nutanix migration strategy and execution, and designs, builds, and supports containerization and orchestration platforms. The role also supports server operating systems, identity and access services, infrastructure automation, storage integration, and resilient solutions involving backup, disaster recovery, and certificate/PKI management. This position provides technical leadership and mentoring to infrastructure engineers, partners across IT and other departments, and leads technology evaluations, proofs of concept, and vendor discussions. It is onsite in a traditional office and data center environment, with some remote work flexibility. Occasional off-hours or on-call support may be required for planned maintenance, migrations, or incident response.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
At least 8 years of hands-on experience engineering and administering enterprise virtualization and/or containerization platforms, with experience operating at a senior or principal technical level.
Expert-level experience with VMware vSphere/ESXi/vCenter in a production environment.
Hands-on experience with containerization and orchestration platforms such as Docker, Kubernetes, or AWS ECS in a production environment.
Experience architecting and supporting hybrid on-premises/cloud infrastructure.
Expert or strong working knowledge of VMware virtualization technologies and the compute, storage, and networking concepts that support them.
Working knowledge of containerization and orchestration technologies and how they interact with virtualization platforms.
Experience with enterprise storage platforms and general SAN/NAS familiarity.
Knowledge of Windows and Linux server operating systems and ability to deploy, configure, and support them on virtualized and physical platforms.
Working knowledge of identity and directory services, including Active Directory, ADFS, IDAM/SSO, DNS, and DHCP.
Knowledge of certificate-based authentication and encryption, including issuing, deploying, and managing PKI/TLS certificates.
Knowledge of backup technologies and procedures, including backup and recovery design, testing, and retention practices.
Working knowledge of networking fundamentals, including VLANs, routing, load balancing, and firewalls, as they relate to virtualized and hybrid environments.
Scripting and automation experience using tools such as PowerCLI, Python, Bash, Ansible, or Terraform.
Understanding of backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity practices for virtualized environments.
Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills across compute, storage, network, and hypervisor layers.
Ability to work independently and collaboratively, mentor other engineers, and communicate technical concepts clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to document architecture and procedures.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Nutanix AOS/AHV/Prism or comparable HCI platforms, or direct experience leading a VMware-to-Nutanix or similar hyperconverged migration.
Hands-on experience with Pure Storage.
Relevant certifications, such as VCP/VCAP, Nutanix NCP/NCA, CKA, or AWS/Azure/GCP certifications.

Responsibilities

Own the architecture, design, and hands-on engineering of enterprise virtualization platforms, including compute, storage, and networking across VMware vSphere/ESXi and Nutanix AOS/AHV.
Lead the technical strategy and execution of VMware-to-Nutanix migration, including assessment, dependency mapping, target architecture, planning, VM conversion, and post-migration validation.
Design, build, and support containerization and orchestration platforms such as Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS ECS.
Partner with storage teams to design, implement, and maintain storage integration for virtualized and containerized workloads.
Deploy, configure, and support Windows and Linux server operating systems across virtualized, containerized, and physical infrastructure.
Design and support identity and access services, including Active Directory, ADFS, and IDAM/SSO integrations.
Develop and maintain architecture documentation, standard operating procedures, capacity plans, and runbooks.
Develop automation and infrastructure-as-code to streamline provisioning, configuration, and operational tasks.
Partner with network, security, storage, and application teams to design resilient and secure solutions, including backup, disaster recovery, and certificate/PKI management.
Lead technology evaluations, proofs of concept, and vendor discussions related to virtualization, containerization, HCI, and cloud platforms; make recommendations to IT leadership.
Serve as the senior escalation point for complex issues spanning hypervisor, container, storage, network, and guest operating system layers.
Mentor and provide technical leadership to systems and infrastructure engineers.
Collaborate with IT leadership and other departments on infrastructure strategy and projects, and perform other duties as assigned.