Sr. SolarWinds Platform Engineer

American Electric Power•Austin, TX

3d•$116,255 - $151,133•Onsite

About The Position

AEP is seeking an experienced Senior SolarWinds Platform Engineer who is responsible for the design, administration, automation, integration, and support of AEP's enterprise SolarWinds monitoring platform. This role serves as the technical subject matter expert for SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM), Network Configuration Manager (NCM), Network Insight, network availability monitoring, device lifecycle management, reporting, alerting, and monitoring automation. The engineer will design and maintain enterprise network monitoring solutions across routers, switches, firewalls, VPN infrastructure, telecommunications environments, and critical network services while driving monitoring modernization, operational efficiencies, platform reliability, automation initiatives, and monitoring data quality improvements. The position requires deep technical expertise in network monitoring, SNMP, SolarWinds administration, PowerShell automation, ServiceNow integrations, network device onboarding, reporting development, and enterprise infrastructure operations.

Requirements

5+ years of experience administering SolarWinds or comparable enterprise network monitoring platforms.
Experience with SolarWinds NPM, NCM, Network Insight, or equivalent monitoring technologies.
Strong knowledge of SNMP, network monitoring, device discovery, alerting, and reporting.
Experience supporting enterprise network infrastructure environments.
Strong PowerShell scripting and automation experience.
Experience with ServiceNow integrations and CMDB processes.
Experience troubleshooting enterprise monitoring platforms and infrastructure integrations.
Experience supporting production operational environments and critical infrastructure monitoring.
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
SolarWinds Network Insight
SolarWinds High Availability
SolarWinds Web Console Administration
SolarWinds Alert Manager
SolarWinds Reporting and Dashboard Development
SolarWinds Discovery and Polling Engines
Enterprise Network Monitoring Platforms
SNMP v2/v3
ICMP Monitoring
Network Interface Monitoring
Device Discovery
Network Topology Monitoring
Configuration Backup and Restoration
Network Availability Monitoring
VPN Monitoring
Cisco Infrastructure Monitoring
Palo Alto Firewall Monitoring
Routing and Switching Technologies
Windows Server Administration
Windows Services Management
Server Performance Analysis
Network Connectivity Troubleshooting
Infrastructure Diagnostics
Virtual Server Administration
PowerShell, SQL, JSON, XML
API-Based Integrations
Data Transformation and Validation
Automation Scripting
REST APIs, SNMP, ServiceNow Integrations, CMDB Integrations
SMTP, DNS, Active Directory
Enterprise Monitoring Integrations
Automated Onboarding Workflows
Microsoft SQL Server
Database Maintenance Concepts
Database Connectivity Troubleshooting
Reporting Database Management
Enterprise Routing & Switching
Firewalls
Load Balancers
WAN Infrastructure
VPN Technologies
VMware
High Availability Architectures
Disaster Recovery Concepts
Network Security Fundamentals
PowerShell Automation
Bulk Import Automation
Device Lifecycle Automation
Interface Cleanup Automation
CMDB Reconciliation Automation
Monitoring Workflow Automation
Scheduled Reporting Automation
10 years of relevant work experience is required. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

Nice To Haves

Utility Industry Monitoring Experience
NERC CIP Environment Experience
ServiceNow ITOM
CMDB Integrations
Enterprise Network Operations
Monitoring Platform Architecture
Infrastructure Monitoring Design
Enterprise Reporting Solutions
Vendor Management Experience
SolarWinds Certified Professional (SCP)

Responsibilities

Administer and support SolarWinds production, development, and laboratory environments.
Maintain platform health, performance, availability, and resiliency.
Perform platform upgrades, patching, maintenance, and lifecycle management.
Troubleshoot platform-related issues involving polling engines, web servers, databases, monitoring services, and infrastructure dependencies.
Provide Level 3 support for enterprise SolarWinds monitoring solutions.
Design, implement, and maintain monitoring solutions for routers, switches, firewalls, WAN infrastructure, VPN services, and critical network devices.
Develop monitoring standards, alerting strategies, discovery processes, and onboarding procedures.
Ensure complete device and interface monitoring coverage across enterprise environments.
Partner with Network Operations and Engineering teams to improve network visibility and operational readiness.
Reduce monitoring gaps and improve monitoring effectiveness.
Manage network device onboarding, validation, updates, and decommissioning activities.
Maintain accurate monitoring inventories, IP addressing, device classifications, and naming conventions.
Reconcile SolarWinds inventories with CMDB and authoritative asset sources.
Support enterprise monitoring remediation and inventory management initiatives.
Develop standards for onboarding and monitoring governance.
Build and maintain operational dashboards and executive reporting solutions.
Develop network availability, utilization, performance, and compliance reporting.
Create automated report generation and distribution processes.
Design actionable alerts to reduce noise and improve incident response effectiveness.
Support stakeholder reporting requirements and visibility initiatives.
Design and support integration between SolarWinds and ServiceNow.
Support device onboarding workflows and monitoring request processes.
Troubleshoot onboarding failures relating to DNS, firewall rules, CMDB data, SNMP communication, and discovery issues.
Improve end-to-end monitoring automation and operational workflows.
Support enterprise monitoring modernization initiatives.
Develop PowerShell automation solutions for platform administration.
Automate device onboarding, inventory updates, interface maintenance, and reporting processes.
Eliminate manual administrative tasks through repeatable automated workflows.
Improve operational efficiency through process standardization and automation.
Drive SolarWinds platform enhancement initiatives.
Participate in architecture, design, and deployment of new SolarWinds environments.
Define server, database, storage, network, and firewall requirements.
Support high availability and disaster recovery designs.
Partner with vendors and architecture teams to implement future-state monitoring solutions.
Participate in platform roadmap and modernization initiatives.
Participate in on-call rotation and enterprise incident response activities.
Support monitoring platforms providing visibility into critical network services.
Investigate monitoring failures and implement corrective actions.
Serve as a technical escalation point for SolarWinds-related incidents.
Coordinate issue resolution with infrastructure teams, vendors, and operations partners.
Support monitoring solutions subject to NERC CIP, audit, and compliance requirements.
Maintain operational procedures, documentation, standards, and support artifacts.
Support audit evidence collection and remediation activities.
Ensure monitoring platforms align with cybersecurity, change management, and operational standards.
Protect sensitive infrastructure and monitor data.
Strong customer service and stakeholder management skills
Exceptional troubleshooting and analytical abilities
Ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences
Strong requirements gathering and documentation skills
Ability to prioritize multiple projects and operational support demands
Self-directed and highly accountable
Strong collaboration across Network Operations, Infrastructure Engineering, Security, and Application Support teams
Ability to lead technical initiatives and drive platform improvements
Strategic mindset with the ability to align monitoring solutions with business outcomes