Virtualization Engineer

Job Summary

The U.S. Department of Census is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Virtualization Engineer to join our core infrastructure team. This position is responsible for the design, implementation, and operational management of the critical virtualization platforms that support the nation's most important statistical programs.

The ideal candidate will be an expert in VMware vSphere environments and possess proven proficiency in a multi-vendor ecosystem, including Microsoft Hyper-V, Oracle VM, and Red Hat Virtualization (RHV). You will manage complex, multi-cluster environments across several data centers, ensuring the high availability, security, and performance of mission-critical systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Primary Platform Management (VMware) :
• Design, deploy, configure, and maintain a large-scale VMware vSphere (ESXi & vCenter) infrastructure across multiple data center clusters.
• Manage vSphere high-availability (HA), Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), and vMotion configurations.
• Implement and manage disaster recovery (DR) solutions using VMware SRM and vSphere Replication.
• Perform capacity planning, performance monitoring, and resource optimization for all VMware clusters.
• Secondary Platform Management (Hyper-V, Oracle, Red Hat) :
• Perform analysis of alternatives to include Microsoft Hyper-V clusters, including SCVMM, Oracle VM (OVM), and Red Hat Virtualization (RHV) platforms, planning for interoperability and stability.
• Operations and Support :
• Serve as a senior escalation point for all virtualization-related incidents, performing root cause analysis and implementing corrective actions.
• Conduct regular patching, updates, and security hardening of all hypervisor hosts and management systems in accordance with NIST and FISMA guidelines.
• Collaborate with storage, networking, and application teams to provision resources and troubleshoot complex, multi-tiered application issues.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive system documentation, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and infrastructure diagrams.
• Automate routine tasks using scripting tools such as PowerShell, PowerCLI, or Ansible.
• Participate in an on-call rotation for 24 / 7 / 365 operational support.

Requirements

Preferred Qualifications

Benefits

Ignite IT is an Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, Veteran status, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristic. In accordance with EO 13665 Final Rule, Ignite IT will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant.

Applicants selected must be able to possess and maintain a government clearance

US CITIZENSHIP REQUIRED'