Systems Engineer

NPR•Washington, DC

5h•$109,350 - $133,650•Hybrid

About The Position

NPR is seeking a Systems Engineer for its Distribution IT Infrastructure team to manage, test, and maintain its enterprise virtualized infrastructure, including servers, storage, and networking systems. This role involves deploying, configuring, monitoring, and troubleshooting modern virtualization platforms (such as VMware vSphere, HPE Morpheus VM Essentials, or Proxmox) to ensure high availability, scalability, and security across NPR's core distribution technologies. The position is at the intersection of physical and virtual infrastructure, requiring the engineer to help set up new data center hardware and build NPR's private cloud environment. Working collaboratively with Infrastructure and Security colleagues, the Systems Engineer will analyze business workflows, implement structured change management processes, and support capacity planning initiatives to deliver resilient, mission-critical operations for NPR and its nationwide Member station network.

Requirements

3+ years of professional experience supporting, maintaining, troubleshooting, and administering servers and networking within a data center environment.
2+ years of hands-on experience in the planning, design, deployment, and management of enterprise virtualized cloud infrastructure (e.g., VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, or open-source hypervisors).
Hands-on experience with physical data center hardware, including racking and cabling servers, configuring out-of-band management.
Competence in DNS administration (BIND preferred).
Experience with IP address management (IPAM) and DHCP services.
Experience with configuration management (Puppet preferred).
Experience creating agentless automation workflows (Ansible preferred).
Experience with Mail Transfer Agent administration (Exim).
Working knowledge of Windows Server administration (2022+) alongside core directory and networking protocols (Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, IIS).
Practical experience supporting enterprise storage (NetApp or TrueNAS).
Comfortable with networking configuration of hosts, switches, and routers, including VLANs, trunking, and NIC bonding/link aggregation as applied to hypervisor hosts.
Proven track record as a key contributor or project leader on complex technical initiatives, including the creation of detailed technical documentation and workflow diagrams.
Demonstrated ability to participate effectively in a team environment, handle multiple concurrent projects, and contribute to an on-call rotation.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Unix/Linux networking configuration and Cisco switches and routers (Catalyst or Nexus/NX-OS).
Familiarity with scripting languages (Python, PowerShell, or JavaScript).
Experience with enterprise backup/recovery solutions (e.g., Veeam).
Experience with HPE ProLiant or Dell PowerEdge server hardware.
Knowledge of Linux operating systems and relevant industry certifications (VMware VCP, Microsoft, or AWS).

Responsibilities

Partner with Infrastructure colleagues to install, rack, cable, and configure new server, storage, and network hardware, including firmware updates, out-of-band management (e.g., HPE iLO, Dell iDRAC), and RAID/BIOS configuration, to establish the foundation for virtualized workloads.
Deploy, configure, and maintain virtualized systems using enterprise tools (e.g., HPE Morpheus VM Essentials, Proxmox, Nutanix, Incus, or VMware) to support operational reliability.
Evaluate virtual system architecture, compare existing applications, and create metrics to measure response times and availability for test environments.
Recommend and execute system enhancements following established organizational change management policies and procedures.
Assist the Distribution Infrastructure team in executing cloud/virtualization workflows and capacity planning tools focused on return on investment and business value.
Partner with Security Engineers to ensure virtual hosts, operating systems, and network configurations comply with organizational security policies.
Analyze and document Distribution IT process workflows, identifying areas for continuous improvement and operational efficiency.
Create comprehensive documentation, procedures, instructions, and training materials for internal colleagues and system users.
Proactively communicate operational status to management, participate in an on-call rotation, and respond to critical system issues on a 24x7 basis as needed.