Senior Storage Engineer

Job Summary: The Senior Storage Engineer is a key member of the IT Data Center Operations team, responsible for the architecture, deployment, and lifecycle management of enterprise storage systems across multiple data centers and cloud environments. This role ensures the availability, reliability, performance, and scalability of storage and data protection services supporting critical business applications. The Senior Storage Engineer will serve as a subject matter expert (SME), providing technical leadership, mentoring junior team members, and driving continuous improvement initiatives in storage and data management operations.

Responsibilities

• Design and Architecture: Lead the design and implementation of highly available and scalable storage solutions (SAN, NAS, Object Storage) and define storage architecture standards and policies aligned with disaster recovery objectives.
• Operations and Support: Manage, monitor, and optimize enterprise storage systems; perform advanced troubleshooting and root cause analysis for complex performance or availability issues.
• Data Protection and Disaster Recovery: Oversee backup, replication, and recovery strategies using enterprise tools; ensure data resiliency and compliance with RPO/RTO targets.
• Automation and Optimization: Automate provisioning and maintenance tasks through scripting (PowerShell, Python, or Ansible); analyze metrics to optimize capacity and reduce costs.
• Collaboration and Leadership: Partner with virtualization, network, and application teams for seamless integration; mentor junior engineers and participate in capacity planning and vendor management.
• Security and Compliance: Implement data encryption, access controls, and audit practices; ensure adherence to ITIL-based change, incident, and problem management processes.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Experience: 7+ years of experience in enterprise storage engineering or infrastructure management within large-scale data center environments.
• Project Leadership: Proven experience leading or contributing to major storage infrastructure projects and migrations.
• Analytical Skills: Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills with the ability to handle critical incidents under pressure.
• Communication: Strong communication and documentation abilities, including presenting to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Mindset: Strong sense of ownership, accountability, and attention to detail.

Technical Skills

• Storage Technologies: Expert-level knowledge of Dell EMC (PowerMax, Unity, Isilon), NetApp ONTAP, Pure Storage, or HPE 3PAR/Nimble.
• Architectures: Deep understanding of SAN (Brocade/Cisco FC), NAS, and object storage architectures.
• Cloud Integration: Experience with cloud storage integration (AWS S3, Azure Blob, or GCP Storage).
• Virtualization: Experience managing storage for virtualized environments (VMware vSphere, Hyper-V).
• Monitoring Tools: Familiarity with SolarWinds, Grafana, Dell Unisphere, NetApp Active IQ, etc.
• Automation: Proficiency in scripting and automation using PowerShell, Python, or Ansible.

Certifications

• Preferred: Dell EMC Proven Professional or NetApp Certified Data Administrator (NCDA).
• Preferred: VMware Certified Professional (VCP) or similar virtualization certification.
• Preferred: ITIL Foundation or higher-level certification.
• Plus: Cloud certification (AWS, Azure, or GCP).