Senior Systems Engineer (Lead)

Northern Technologies Group, Inc.•Tampa, FL

About The Position

The Senior Systems Engineer is the definitive technical authority responsible for designing, implementing, managing, and optimizing the organization's enterprise information technology systems. Based in Tampa, FL, this role serves as the functional lead for the systems engineering team, driving all initiatives related to on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud infrastructure. Operating within a highly regulated engineering environment, the Senior Systems Engineer is tasked with the end-to-end orchestration of Microsoft 365 and Azure cloud ecosystems, including the secure establishment of new Microsoft tenants tailored for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) compliance. Our ideal candidate possesses authoritative expertise in virtualization (Hyper-V, Azure VDI), advanced enterprise storage, multi-cloud architectures (Azure and Google Cloud Platform), and DevOps practices (Infrastructure as Code). Furthermore, this position leads the organization's integration of next-generation automation, specifically leveraging Agentic AI to transform IT operations from reactive troubleshooting to autonomous, self-healing infrastructure. As a hands-on technical leader, the Senior Systems Engineer bridges the gap between complex architectural design and operational execution, mentoring junior engineers and collaborating with executive stakeholders to align technology investments with the firm's strategic objectives.

Requirements

Minimum of eight (8) years of progressive experience in enterprise systems engineering, cloud architecture, or IT infrastructure operations.
Expert-level proficiency in Microsoft Azure architecture is mandatory, encompassing compute provisioning, complex networking topologies (including Virtual Networks, Network Security Groups, and ExpressRoute), advanced storage solutions, and seamless identity integration.
Must demonstrate deep, hands-on experience with the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, specifically proving competence in orchestrating Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Defender, Purview, and Intune within an enterprise context.
Demonstrated expertise in managing Hyper-V virtualization and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) environments optimized specifically for high-performance applications common in engineering firms.
Experience configuring, managing, and documenting systems in strict accordance with CMMC Level 2, NIST 800-171, or FedRAMP High standards.
Applied knowledge of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) utilizing HashiCorp Terraform or Azure Bicep is required to ensure scalable and auditable infrastructure management.
Foundational experience with, or a strong conceptual understanding of, Artificial Intelligence in IT operations (AIOps) and Agentic AI workflow automation.

Nice To Haves

Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty, or equivalent architectural certifications within the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) ecosystem.
Direct experience orchestrating enterprise tenant migrations into Microsoft 365 GCC High environments is highly desired, given the specialized nature of sovereign cloud architectures.
Practical experience developing autonomous AI agents using frameworks such as LangChain, or integrating large language models (LLMs) with IT service management platforms, will distinguish leading candidates.
Background within the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry or the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) is considered a significant asset, as it guarantees familiarity with the specific operational tempos and compliance burdens inherent to these sectors.

Responsibilities

Design, deploy, and govern secure, well-architected Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) landing zones, ensuring optimal performance, high availability, and cost-efficiency.
Lead the provisioning, baselining, and continuous management of new Microsoft 365 enterprise tenants, enforcing strict security postures from inception.
Administer comprehensive Microsoft identity and access management (IAM) strategies utilizing Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), including the deployment of Conditional Access policies, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and Privileged Identity Management (PIM).
Oversee the full suite of Microsoft security and governance tools, architecting deployments of Microsoft Sentinel (SIEM/SOAR), Microsoft Defender (XDR), Microsoft Purview (Data Loss Prevention and Information Protection), and Microsoft Intune (Mobile Device Management).
Architect and maintain high-performance Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) using Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and Windows 365, specifically tuned to support heavy engineering, CAD, and BIM workloads.
Implement and manage FSLogix profile containers, ensuring low-latency access to roaming profiles via optimized Premium SSD storage and Azure NetApp Files.
Administer on-premises and hybrid virtualization clusters, leveraging deep expertise in Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware, and advanced Storage Area Networks (SAN) to ensure robust disaster recovery and failover capabilities.
Serve as the primary technical architect for achieving and maintaining Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 compliance.
Engineer and support Microsoft 365 GCC High environments designed to process, store, and transmit Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in accordance with NIST SP 800-171 and DFARS 7012 mandates.
Develop and maintain critical compliance artifacts, including System Security Plans (SSP), Plans of Action and Milestones (POA&M), network diagrams, and continuous monitoring evidence required for third-party audits (C3PAO).
Lead the strategic deployment of Agentic AI systems to autonomously monitor, diagnose, and remediate enterprise infrastructure anomalies, significantly reducing incident resolution times.
Architect secure agentic workflows that integrate directly with enterprise APIs, allowing AI agents to orchestrate multi-step IT processes (e.g., automated resource scaling, ticket resolution, and inventory reconciliation) while maintaining strict human-in-the-loop oversight where required.
Establish reliability, security, and observability foundations for AI agents, ensuring deterministic performance and preventing unauthorized access to sensitive environments.
Transform manual infrastructure provisioning into automated, repeatable, and auditable pipelines using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools such as HashiCorp Terraform and Azure Bicep.
Integrate IaC deployments with continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) platforms (e.g., Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions), enforcing code reviews, static analysis, and security scanning prior to deployment.
Automate routine system administration tasks through advanced PowerShell scripting and automation runbooks.
Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and daily guidance to the systems engineering team (Systems Engineers I/II and IT support staff), fostering a culture of continuous learning and operational excellence.
Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders, including software developers, network engineers, executive leadership, and external clients—to define business requirements and translate them into scalable infrastructure designs.
Manage vendor relationships, evaluate new technologies (such as emerging multi-cloud platforms and AI-native observability tools), and perform cost-benefit analyses to support executive purchasing decisions.