Systems Engineer III

Simmons Foods•Rogers, AR

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Systems Engineer III is a technical authority and a force multiplier. This role doesn't just execute well — it shapes how the team works, sets the standards others build to, and drives meaningful change in the systems and practices of the organization. Success at this level is measured not only by what you deliver personally, but by the capability and confidence you build in the people and platforms around you.

Requirements

7+ years of experience in systems engineering, infrastructure architecture, or an equivalent senior technical role.
Proven ability to lead the design and delivery of complex, business-critical systems across compute, networking, identity, and cloud domains.
Deep expertise in automation and infrastructure-as-code practices (Terraform, Ansible, PowerShell DSC, or equivalent).
Expert-level knowledge of enterprise platforms including Windows Server, Active Directory, VMware, and cloud platforms (AWS and/or Azure).
Demonstrated experience driving security hardening, compliance readiness, and high-availability architecture.
Track record of mentoring engineers and improving team-wide engineering practices.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field; or 4 years equivalent experience.

Nice To Haves

Preference for multi-site or manufacturing environments; experience supporting distributed operations is a plus.
Relevant certifications (e.g., Microsoft, AWS, VMware) or Master's degree preferred.
We value military experience and welcome veterans to join our team.

Responsibilities

Leads solution design for complex, high-impact systems, producing architectures that balance immediate need with long-term maintainability.
Defines patterns and standards that others follow, raising the floor for how systems are built across the team.
Evaluates trade-offs across cost, performance, complexity, and risk with confidence, presenting clear recommendations to leadership and peers.
Anticipates how today's architecture decisions create tomorrow's constraints — and designs to preserve optionality.
Leads investigation of complex, ambiguous, or high-impact problems — the ones without a clear runbook and real stakes.
Drives root cause analysis that goes beyond the immediate fix to address the systemic conditions that allowed the issue.
Recognizes patterns across incidents, changes, and requests, surfacing systemic risks before they become outages.
Builds institutional knowledge that stays in the organization through documentation, mentorship, and process — not just in one person's head.
Designs automation frameworks and standards that the broader team can contribute to and maintain.
Drives adoption of infrastructure-as-code, configuration management, and repeatable delivery practices.
Identifies opportunities for improvement at a program level — not just single workflows, but how entire domains operate.
Quantifies and communicates the business value of automation investments, making the case for the work, not just the work itself.
Owns complex, business-critical systems end-to-end — from initial design through ongoing operations to eventual retirement.
Sets and enforces lifecycle management standards for the team: how systems are built, documented, monitored, and decommissioned.
Drives capacity planning and long-range infrastructure roadmaps that align technical investments to business trajectory.
Ensures high-availability and recovery capabilities are designed in — and tested, not assumed.
Leads delivery of large or complex technical initiatives from requirements through production, holding the standard throughout.
Defines and improves delivery practices for the team, making process improvements that outlast any single project.
Manages stakeholder expectations with precision, communicating risk, progress, and trade-offs at the level appropriate to the audience.
Mentors peers on delivery discipline — change management, documentation, testing, and handoff — through doing it well, not just advocating for it.
Integrates security principles — zero trust, least privilege, defense in depth — into architecture decisions as a default, not an afterthought.
Advises on risk trade-offs in a way that helps the organization make informed decisions, not just compliant ones.
Leads or contributes to security-focused workstreams including hardening, access governance, incident response, and audit readiness.
Raises the team's security posture through standards, tooling, and practices that outlast the individual initiative.
Communicates with confidence at all levels — peers, cross-functional partners, and leadership — adjusting depth and framing without losing accuracy.
Actively develops the capability of teammates through knowledge sharing, mentorship, and creating space for others to lead.
Builds credibility across teams through consistency, technical depth, and follow-through — earns influence, doesn't assume it.
Acts in accordance with Simmons' core values: Put People First, Act With Integrity, Take Responsibility, Be Curious, and Take Action.
Participates in the ongoing development, communication and implementation of team concepts, programs and policies; coordinates work to ensure best practices with all team members.
Attends appropriate team meetings.
As a member of the Team, fosters strong cohesiveness regarding all major issues; e.g., direction, annual plan, budget, policy changes, etc.
Accepts responsibility to quickly identify any areas that lack cohesiveness, bringing them to the attention of the team leader and working with the team in a supportive manner to resolve issues and actively look for ways, and reinforce actions needed, to achieve synergy possible within the larger organization.
Is familiar with Simmons' established operating systems (e.g. quality, security, office environment, company policies, LEAN); understands the responsibility to maintain familiarity with the systems and this position's role in support of these systems - including a consideration of the impact of individual actions on the systems and the responsibility to communicate concerns and improvement ideas.
Performs other duties as necessary in support of business objectives.