Senior Systems Engineer

Job description

Company Description
CNS is a technology company that powers the future by providing digital solutions essential to support all enterprise and human development. While growing and managing a robust pool of supplier-partners for the benefit of our clients has always been a priority, we are constantly re-inventing ourselves.

Founded in 1987 with more than 35 years of experience, CNS employs over 320 employees including more than 250 certified engineers. We offer in-depth expertise and a range of best-in-class products that support the digital transformation of all major industries. With offices in three countries, we have an extensive reach into, and regional knowledge of the Middle East markets.

A shift into levering our many years of experience to develop pioneering software in-house will add yet another dimension to our highly innovative solutions-portfolio.

Job Description
The Senior Systems Engineer is responsible for the design, deployment and migration of data-centre infrastructure for CNS customers - servers, storage, backup and cloud. The role covers delivery from assessment and design through cut-over and handover, plus L3 support for systems issues.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Deployment and implementation

• Design, install and configure server, storage, backup and virtualisation solutions for customer projects.

• Deploy blade servers (HPE, Dell), including firmware, iLO/iDRAC, OS builds and hardening.

• Build and configure virtualisation platforms (VMware vSphere/vSAN, Microsoft Hyper-V, Nutanix).

• Implement SAN/NAS storage (HPE, Dell EMC, NetApp, Pure) - zoning, LUN provisioning, replication and snapshots.

• Deploy backup and DR solutions (Veeam, Commvault, Veritas) with retention, immutability and offsite/cloud copy.

Migration

• Plan and execute data-centre, server, storage and workload migrations with minimal downtime.

• Run P2V/V2V migrations, storage data migrations, and Windows Server / Active Directory upgrades.

• Migrate on-prem workloads to Azure, AWS or local UAE cloud, and Exchange to Microsoft 365.

• Write the migration plan, Method of Deployment (MD), cut-over runbook and rollback plan for each project.

Cloud and hybrid

• Design and deploy hybrid infrastructure - Azure/AWS compute, storage, networking and identity (Entra ID).

• Implement cloud backup, DR-as-a-service and site-to-site connectivity with the network team.

Support and operations

• Provide L3 support for systems incidents and carry out root-cause analysis.

• Perform preventive maintenance (PM) and health checks for AMC customers and produce PM reports.

• Maintain as-built documents, configuration records and knowledge base articles.

Pre-sales and customer delivery

• Support pre-sales with solution design, BoQ, SOW inputs and man-day estimates for RFPs.

• Work directly with customers, vendors and project managers on scope, timelines and acceptance.

Qualifications
Education
Minimum:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, IT or Engineering.

Desired:

• Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate or MCSE Server / Core Infrastructure.

• VMware VCP-DCV (VCAP an advantage).

• Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104) or AWS Solutions Architect - Associate.

• Veeam VMCE, Commvault, Veritas, Zerto; HPE or Dell EMC storage/server certification; ITIL Foundation.

Experience
Minimum:

• 10+ years in systems infrastructure, with at least 5 years hands-on in deployment and migration projects.

• Proven delivery of end-to-end data-centre, server, storage, backup and cloud migrations.

Desired:

• System integrator or managed-services experience in the UAE/GCC.

Additional Information
Skills & Abilities
Required:

• Servers - HPE ProLiant/Synergy, Dell PowerEdge, Windows Server, Linux (RHEL/Ubuntu).

• Virtualisation - VMware vSphere, vCenter, vSAN; Hyper-V.

• Storage - SAN/NAS (HPE, Dell EMC, NetApp), FC/iSCSI, replication.

• Backup & DR - Veeam Backup & Replication, DR design and testing.

• Identity & M365 - Active Directory, DNS/DHCP, GPO, Entra ID, Exchange/M365 migration.

• Cloud - Microsoft Azure or AWS (IaaS, storage, backup, hybrid).

• Automation - PowerShell.

• Strong documentation skills: HLD/LLD, MD, migration plans and as-built reports.

Desired:

• Nutanix AHV, VMware HCX.

• Pure Storage, HPE Alletra.

• Commvault, Veritas, Zerto.

• Intune.

• Local UAE cloud platforms.

• Ansible, Terraform.

• Valid UAE driving licence; willing to carry out cut-overs out of hours.

Compliance with policies and procedures based on the ISO standards adopted by CNS.