Senior IT Systems & Infrastructure Engineer

Firm Overview Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is a national law firm with over 500 attorneys across the United States. Founded in 1934 and headquartered in Chicago, we provide sophisticated legal counsel to clients in highly regulated industries, including insurance, financial services, healthcare, and professional services. We also offer strategic business and transactional advice to a wide range of for-profit and nonprofit organizations, including government agencies and educational institutions. Learn more at hinshawlaw.com. Job Summary The Information Technology Department is responsible for the implementation, provision, and support of all information and technology services within the firm - a Business Services function that supports and contributes to the objectives of the legal practice. The IT Technical Operations team is responsible for technical strategy, design, implementation, and top-level support for Hinshaw's core infrastructure. As a member of this team, the IT Systems & Infrastructure Engineer is responsible for integrating and administering various technologies including server operating systems, virtualization environments (with emphasis on VMware), enterprise storage systems (SAN/NAS platforms such as Pure Storage and NetApp), blade server infrastructure (e.g. HPE Synergy), security, and cloud platforms (primarily Microsoft Azure) to fulfill the firm's operational and continuity requirements. Essential Job Functions Technical Solution Delivery: Research, evaluate, and recommend technical solutions to address business challenges, then follow through to design, engineer, and deploy those solutions into production, including creating detailed documentation. Transition new systems from engineering into steady-state operations by providing thorough documentation and training to operational IT staff. Project Leadership: Lead technical projects and sub-projects across the department. Serve as a subject matter expert and internal consultant to other technical staff and groups, providing guidance on infrastructure best practices. Advanced Support & Vendor Coordination: Act as the top-level escalation point for complex issues; take ownership of escalated support incidents and work directly with external vendors and consultants to resolve issues, including producing root cause analysis reports. Task Prioritization: Efficiently triage and prioritize tasks, projects, and issues in a highly demanding environment to ensure critical initiatives are addressed promptly without sacrificing quality. Work Hours & Flexibility: The normal workday will be a 7.5-hour workday (9:00 AM to 4:30 PM) as part of a 37.5-hour work week. In addition, the nature of this role routinely involves working outside of normal business hours (evenings, nights, or weekends) as needed. Additional Duties: Perform any additional responsibilities as required by management, demonstrating adaptability and a proactive approach to tasks that arise. Minimum Job Qualifications Education: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent technical knowledge. Appropriate industry certifications are preferred. Experience: 7+ years of related experience in an IT operations, support, or infrastructure role, with strong proficiency in core back-end technologies. Must have hands-on expertise with Microsoft Windows Server, blade server hardware (e.g. HPE Synergy chassis), virtualization platforms (especially VMware), hyper-converged infrastructure, and enterprise storage systems (SAN and NAS solutions such as Pure Storage and NetApp). Communication: Thorough command of industry terminology and the ability to effectively communicate technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences. Excellent verbal and written communication skills are a must. Organization & Judgment: Ability to organize and prioritize multiple assignments, using initiative and sound judgment to achieve results. Capable of leading or participating as a member of a team, working well under pressure, and completing assignments in an accurate, timely, and professional manner. Backup Systems: Advanced knowledge of enterprise and cloud backup software and strategies, demonstrating the ability to protect firm data and ensure recoverability. Physical Requirements: Ability to lift 25 lbs. above waist level as needed (e.g., moving server hardware). Must maintain a valid U.S. driver's license for occasional travel between offices or data centers. Monitoring & Reliability: Expert understanding of how to implement proper health and status monitoring for mission-critical systems, ensuring high uptime and rapid issue detection. Familiarity with modern AIOps monitoring tools and approaches to proactively improve operational performance is a plus. Initiative: Self-driven mindset with a focus on finding innovative ways to use existing resources to solve problems, drive efficiency, and improve quality. Business Continuity: Works alongside other teams to ensure both new and existing systems follow business continuity/disaster recovery (BC/DR) guidelines - including maintaining documented plans and participating in regular DR testing (at least annually) for critical systems. Preferred Skills Microsoft Core Infrastructure: Expert-level proficiency with core Microsoft infrastructure services - including Active Directory, DHCP, DNS, DFS, Group Policy, and Windows Registry - and ability to design and troubleshoot these services in an enterprise environment. Virtualization & Hyperconverged Platforms: Expert proficiency with hypervisor and hyper-converged infrastructure platforms (such as VMware vSphere/ESXi) for building and maintaining virtual servers, managing clustering features like DRS/HA, and creating virtual machine clones and templates. Experience with on-premises hyperconverged solutions is a plus. Automation & Scripting: Ability to develop automated scripts and use infrastructure-as-code tools to deploy secure, hardened platforms and services across different environments (Production, Test, Dev). For example, capable of creating deployment scripts in PowerShell or Python and leveraging IaC tools like Terraform or Ansible to support both on-premise and cloud deployments. Storage Systems: Expert proficiency in network and storage design and maintenance, including both SAN (Storage Area Network) and NAS (Network Attached Storage) environments. Hands-on experience managing modern enterprise storage solutions (e.g. Pure Storage flash arrays and NetApp filers) is strongly preferred, with the ability to optimize storage for performance and reliability. Productivity Tools: Proficiency in Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, Visio) for documentation and diagramming is preferred. Cloud Platforms: Practical experience with cloud infrastructure and services, particularly Microsoft Azure (e.g. virtual networks, ExpressRoute, VMs and availability sets, Azure Site Recovery, Key Vault, Azure AD, MFA, Microsoft Defender for Cloud). Familiarity with other cloud providers (such as AWS or GCP) and their infrastructure offerings is a plus, as the firm continues to evolve its hybrid-cloud strategy. Industry Experience: Previous experience in a law firm or professional services environment in a similar role is highly desirable, as is a proven ability to drive technology-driven change in a complex, multi-disciplinary organization. Security and Compliance: Demonstrated ability to assist the Information Security team with system vulnerability remediation and system hardening initiatives, and to help complete IT security audits and assessments. Knowledge of security best practices and frameworks (e.g. CIS benchmarks, NIST) and how to apply them in infrastructure design and configuration is beneficial. (Experience implementing comprehensive security measures across networks and cloud services - such as identity and access management, endpoint security, and PKI/firewall management - is a plus.) Business Continuity Architecture: Able to architect, execute, and maintain robust business continuity plans that include clearly defined Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) for critical systems and data. This involves collaborating with business stakeholders to identify essential services, establishing recovery priorities, and regularly validating that continuity strategies meet organizational risk tolerance and compliance requirements. Ongoing monitoring and periodic testing ensure that plans remain effective and can be adapted as technology and business needs evolve. Additional Information Supervisory Responsibilities: None (this role has no direct reports). Equipment Used: Standard office and IT equipment (desktops, servers, network hardware, storage systems, etc.). Physical Demands: Occasional lifting and moving of IT equipment (up to ~25 lbs); standard office mobility requirements. Mental Demands: Ability to manage multiple priorities, adapt to changing needs, and communicate effectively across all levels of the organization. Must remain calm and analytical in high-pressure situations. Working Conditions: Remote, with periodic travel to the data center for maintenance and support. Mobile device required for on-call duties. Why Join Hinshaw? At Hinshaw, we foster a collaborative and inclusive work culture. We offer competitive compensation, a flexible benefits program, and a generous 401(k) plan. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Joining our team means being part of a firm that values innovation and professional growth in its technology operations, all while maintaining a supportive environment that encourages work-life balance and career development. Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Hinshaw & Culbertson