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Cloud Systems Engineer

Job Description

FirstLight is a premier Telecom and Cloud Provider delivering advanced technology solutions and data center services throughout the Northeast.

We are expanding our Engineering team and seeking technology professionals with 5+ years of experience supporting critical IT infrastructure and customers.

The ideal candidate will join a tight-knit, customer-focused, highly collaborative engineering team that emphasizes knowledge sharing, skill development, and technical excellence.

Primary Responsibilities

• Support new and existing VMware, Microsoft, and Linux environments, with a strong focus on Linux

• Troubleshoot and resolve Tier 2 escalations related to VMware, Microsoft, and Linux storage environments

• Maintain, optimize, and troubleshoot OS performance issues while adhering to best practices

• Manage user accounts, PAM, sudo policies, LDAP/IdM, and SAML integrations

• Handle package management and repository mirroring

• Recommend technology upgrades and improvements using industry best practices

• Troubleshoot systemd, journald, and related service issues

• Tune kernel parameters (sysctl, hugepages, network buffers)

• Create and maintain high-quality documentation

• Contribute to excellent customer service, communication, and process adherence

• Support our BraaS, DRaaS, and IaaS offerings

Required Technology Skills

Minimum 5+ years of hands-on experience architecting, implementing, and supporting mixed Microsoft and Linus environments including:

• Hands-on experience with hypervisors such as VMware ESXi 7/8, KVM/QEMU, Proxmox, or Xen—preferably in a multi-tenant cloud environment

• Virtualization & multi-tenant isolation (resource pools, clusters, quotas, cgroups, namespaces)

• Storage policy design & enforcement—IOPS limits, thin/thick provisioning, snapshots

• Microsoft Server and Active Directory

• Clustering, replication, and high-availability technologies

• High-performance storage (block, Ceph, object, SAN)

• Working knowledge of PowerShell, Bash, Ansible, CI/CD basics, JSON/YAML

• Application firewalls and load balancers

• IP networking fundamentals: VLANs, VXLAN, subnetting, routing protocols

• MSSQL environments

• Cluster lifecycle management: upgrades, node pools, autoscaling

• Disaster recovery including on-platform backups (Veeam, Zerto, snapshots) and offsite replication

• Knowledge of security, governance, and compliance concepts

• Ability to execute complex projects independently and as part of a team

Required Executive Functioning & Soft Skills

• Strong attention to detail and excellent organizational abilities

• Clear written and verbal communication skills

• Independent self-starter able to deliver with minimal supervision

• Reliable, collaborative team member who values documentation and mentoring

• Strong desire to continuously learn and apply new technologies

• Ability to distinguish “provider responsibility” from “tenant responsibility”

• Commitment to delivering excellent customer service

Preferred Certifications & Education

• VMware VCP

• CompTIA Linux+

• Red Hat (RHCSA/RHCE)

• Microsoft, Azure, AWS, or GCP certifications (preferred but not required)

• BA/BS in a relevant field (preferred but not required)

About FirstLight:

FirstLight, headquartered in Albany, New York, provides fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast connecting more than 13,000 locations in service with more than 125,000 locations serviceable by our more than 25,000-route mile network. FirstLight offers a robust suite of advanced telecommunications products featuring a comprehensive portfolio of high bandwidth connectivity solutions including Ethernet, wavelength, and dark fiber services as well as dedicated Internet access solutions, data center, cloud and voice services. FirstLight’s clientele includes national cellular providers and wireline carriers and many leading enterprises, spanning high tech manufacturing and research, hospitals and healthcare, banking and financial, secondary education, colleges and universities, and local and state governments.

FirstLight Fiber is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with state and federal laws, FirstLight’s equal opportunity policy is that all applicants and employees are treated equally by the company with respect to employment opportunities, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status or veteran disability.