Lead OS / Infrastructure Administrator

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in India.

📋 Description

• Strategically plan, schedule, and implement ESXi host upgrades across development, testing, and production environments while minimizing business disruptions.

• Execute driver updates, firmware patches, and refresh VMware Tools in line with VMware compatibility matrices.

• Perform comprehensive post-upgrade host validation, including health checks for the vSphere cluster, integrity assessments of datastores, and verification of network connectivity.

• Maintain thorough documentation of upgrades, change records, and rollback protocols for all ESXi lifecycle activities.

• Monitor the performance of ESXi hosts, resource utilization, and configurations for HA/DRS to ensure maximum virtualization efficiency.

• Oversee the complete migration of virtual machines from VMware vSphere to Microsoft Hyper-V, including planning, execution, validation, and hypercare support.

• Conduct hardware version upgrades for VMs and perform compatibility assessments prior to migration, ensuring compliance with the requirements of the target Hyper-V environment.

• Carry out the removal of VMware Tools and replace it with Hyper-V Integration Services as part of the migration process.

• Create and maintain comprehensive migration runbooks that detail pre-migration checks, execution instructions, rollback procedures, and post-migration validation scripts.

• Perform compatibility validation for applications, network configurations, and storage mappings following migration to Hyper-V.

• Design and deliver training sessions on Hyper-V administration for internal IT team members to enhance in-house capabilities and reduce reliance on external support.

• Develop knowledge-transfer documentation that encompasses Hyper-V architecture, VM lifecycle management, checkpoints, and networking configurations.

• Plan and execute in-place upgrades and fresh installations of Windows Server operating systems (2016 / 2019 / 2022), including pre-upgrade assessments and compatibility reviews.

• Manage the patch lifecycle for all Windows Server environments, ensuring adherence to security and operational standards.

• Administer Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Group Policy, and file services to support the enterprise infrastructure.

• Coordinate server decommissioning, consolidations, and role migrations as part of infrastructure refresh initiatives.

• Maintain server hardening configurations and actively participate in security compliance activities.

• Design, implement, and manage enterprise backup strategies for physical servers, virtual machines, and cloud workloads.

• Oversee backup solutions (such as Veeam, Veritas NetBackup, Azure Backup), ensuring operational scheduled jobs, retention policies, and offsite replication.

• Plan and execute regular recovery drills to validate RTO and RPO targets across critical systems.

• Respond to and manage recovery scenarios, including full server restores, file-level recoveries, and VM rollbacks.

• Maintain backup inventory, reporting dashboards, and escalation protocols for backup failures.

• Lead infrastructure migration projects as the chief technical authority, from scoping and planning through execution and post-migration support.

• Develop project plans, risk registers, migration runbooks, and stakeholder communication materials.

• Collaborate with application teams, network engineers, security personnel, and business stakeholders to synchronize migration schedules and minimize impact.

• Chair migration readiness reviews, cutover planning meetings, and post-migration retrospectives.

• Maintain active participation in hands-on delivery throughout all project phases, beyond mere oversight.

• Provide infrastructure support and operational oversight for AWS environments, including EC2, VPC, S3, IAM, CloudWatch, and related services.

• Contribute to discussions on hybrid cloud architecture, supporting decisions related to workload placement across on-premises and AWS.

• Implement AWS best practices for security, cost optimization, and high availability in accordance with organizational cloud governance.

• Assist with cloud migration assessments and lift-and-shift activities where necessary.

⛳️ Requirements

• 10 to 12 years of hands-on experience in OS administration, virtualization, and infrastructure projects, with proven lead-level ownership of migration programs.

• Proficient in ESXi upgrade methodologies, including SUM/VUM-based upgrades, offline bundle upgrades, and workflows for driver/firmware updates.

• Demonstrated experience in managing VMware to Hyper-V migrations at scale, including hardware version upgrades, compatibility validation, and runbook development.

• Strong skills in Windows Server administration across 2016, 2019, and 2022, including in-place upgrades, role migrations, and security baseline management.

• Proven ability to design and manage enterprise backup solutions, alongside validated recovery testing.

• Familiarity with AWS core services: EC2, S3, VPC, IAM, CloudWatch, Route 53, and related infrastructure services.

• Experience in creating migration runbooks, cutover plans, and post-migration validation checklists.

• Capability to design and deliver technical training material aimed at enhancing team skills.

🏝️ Benefits

• Remote position