IT Systems Engineer

TerraPower is a nuclear technology company based in Bellevue, Washington. At its core, the company is working to raise living standards globally through a more affordable, secure, and environmentally friendly form of nuclear energy along with innovations in medical isotopes to improve human health. In 2006, TerraPower originated with Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries who evaluated the fundamental challenges to raising living standards around the world. They recognized energy access was crucial to the health and economic well-being of communities and decided that the private sector needed to take action and create energy sources that would advance global energy deployment. TerraPower’s mission is to be a world leader in new nuclear technologies, while developing innovators and future leaders in the nuclear field. As a result, the company’s activities in the fields of nuclear energy and related sciences are yielding significant innovations in the safety and economics of nuclear power, hybrid energy and medical applications – all for significant human health benefits.” TerraPower is seeking to hire highly motivated and forward-thinking professionals who are interested in focusing on advanced nuclear reactor research and development and influencing change within the nuclear power landscape and bringing forward the critical production of medical isotopes. TerraPower is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. IT System Engineer TerraPower, LLC is seeking a skilled and motivated hardware infrastructure engineer to join our Enterprise IT team. In this hands-on role, you will be the primary owner of our physical compute, storage, and power infrastructure spanning a small/mediums sized data center and several local MDF/IDF spaces across our facilities. You will work closely with our networking team and report directly to the Senior IT Infrastructure Manager. This is a critical role for a self-starter who is comfortable owning infrastructure end-to-end: from racking servers and configuring VMware environments to managing backup operations, monitoring environmental conditions, and ensuring environmental continuity across all sites. Key Responsibilities Data Centers, Office and Lab Sites Maintain and operate a medium-sized private data center, including rack management, cabling, and capacity planning Support and manage multiple local MDF (Main Distribution Frame) and IDF (Intermediate Distribution Frame) spaces across company locations (9 in Puget Sound region) Perform regular site walkthroughs and inspections to ensure physical infrastructure integrity Coordinate with facilities and site management teams on space, power, and cooling requirements Manage UPS systems and PDUs (Power Distribution Units) across the data center and MDF/IDF locations Monitor UPS health, battery status, load levels, and runtime; coordinate battery replacements and preventive maintenance Respond to power alarms, perform load balancing, and support planned maintenance windows involving power systems Maintain documentation of power circuits, load maps, and single-line diagrams Monitor data center and MDF/IDF environmental conditions including temperature, humidity, and airflow Respond to environmental alerts and escalate to facilities or management as appropriate Virtualization & Server Infrastructure Deploy, configure, and maintain VMware vSphere/ESXi environments including vCenter management Manage physical server hardware lifecycle: procurement support, racking, cabling, firmware updates, and decommissioning Monitor host performance, resource utilization, and capacity; proactively address bottlenecks Trouble shoot hardware failures including CPUs, memory, storage controllers, NICs, and drive arrays Coordinate with vendors (Primarily HPE) on hardware support and RMA processes Storage Administer SAN, NAS, local storage solutions and cloud archives; manage volumes, datastores, and provisioning Monitor storage health, performance, capacity and plan and execute expansions as needed Manage storage replication and snapshots in coordination with retention policy and backup strategy Collaboration Partner closely with the networking team on rack and cabling coordination, infrastructure changes, and joint projects Support change management processes including maintenance windows, change tickets, and post-implementation reviews Contribute to IT documentation including runbooks, asset inventories, and infrastructure diagrams Participate in on-call rotation for after-hours infrastructure emergencies Backup & Recovery Administer enterprise backup solutions for servers, VMs and Microsoft Office365/Azure assets Schedule, monitor, and validate backup jobs; ensure recovery objectives (RTO/RPO) are consistently met Perform and document restore tests on a regular cadence per policy Required Qualifications Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree, or equivalent work experience 6+ years of hands-on experience in a data center or enterprise infrastructure role Proficiency with VMware vSphere/ESXi and vCenter administration Experience managing physical server hardware from major vendors (HPE preferred) Working knowledge of SAN/NAS storage platforms and concepts (iSCSI, NFS, FC) Experience administering enterprise backup solutions and validating recovery procedures Hands-on experience with APC UPS systems or similar enterprise UPS platforms Familiarity with PDU management and power capacity planning Comfort working in data center environments including structured cabling, rack management, and physical hardware installation Strong troubleshooting skills with an ability to diagnose and resolve complex hardware and infrastructure issues Ability to lift and rack equipment up to 50 lbs. and work in physically demanding data center environment. Ability to diagnose and resolve complex technical issues quickly, while leveraging IT change management processes Preferred Qualifications VMware VCP (vSphere) certification or equivalent experience APC/Schneider Electric product certifications or formal training Experience with environmental monitoring tools (Sunbird, or similar) Exposure to DCIM (Data Center Infrastructure Management) tools Familiarity with ITIL practices and formal change management processes Experience in a multi-site or campus environment Scripting or automation skills (Ansible, PowerShell, Bash) for infrastructure tasks Professional Skills Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical users Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment Experience partnering cross-functionally with networking, application and cloud technical teams Customer service orientation with a problem-solving mindset Job Functions: Job Functions are physical actions and/or working conditions associated with the position. These functions may also constitute essential functions for the job which the employee must be able to fulfill, with or without accommodation. Information provided below is to help describe the job so that the applicant has a reasonable understanding of the job duties/expectations. An applicant's ability to perform and/or tolerate these actions and conditions will be discussed and workplace accommodations may be made on a case-by-case basis following an individualized assessment of the applicant and other considerations, including but not limited to any governing safety standards. Motor Abilities: Sitting for extended periods, bending/stooping, grasping/gripping, fine motor control (hands) Physical exertion and/or requirements: Minimal, with ability to safely lift up to 25 pounds. Repetitive work: Prolonged Special Senses: Visual and audio focused work Work Conditions: Stairs, typing/keyboard, standard and/or sitting working environment of >8 hours/day Travel required 0-10% TerraPower’s technology is controlled for export by various agencies of the U.S. Government. TerraPower must evaluate applicants who are foreign nationals (other than asylees, refugees, or lawful permanent residents) in accordance with U.S. Government export control requirements. To facilitate TerraPower’s export control reviews, you will be asked as part of the application process to identify whether you are a U.S. Citizen or national, asylee, refugee, or lawful permanent resident of the United States. Government export authorization approval times vary. Based on the business needs for a particular position, TerraPower may not consider a foreign national from a country if it is impracticable to obtain timely Government export approval. Job details Salary Range: $117,922 - $176,833 * We typically place offers in the lower to middle portion of the range to maintain internal equity and allow room for growth. Any salary offered within the posted salary band is based on market data and commensurate with the selected individual’s qualifications experience. This range is specific to Washington State. Benefits: Competitive Compensation Salary, eligible to participate in discretionary short-term incentive payments Comprehensive Medical and Wellness Benefits Medical Vision Dental Life and Disability Gender Affirmation Benefits Parental Leave 401k Plan Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) 21 days of annually accrued PTO Generous Holiday Schedule 10 paid holidays Relocation Assistance Professional and Educational Support Opportunities TerraPower Career and Benefits information: