Senior Cloud Infrastructure Engineer (Azure Local / VMware Migration)

Job Title: Senior Cloud Infrastructure Engineer (Azure Local / VMware Migration)

Type: Part-time / Contract (Weekend Availability Required)

Mandatory Skills: VMWare to Azure Local Migration

Position Summary

We are executing a high-priority, large-scale infrastructure modernization project to migrate our entire virtualized environment off VMware and onto Azure Local (formerly Azure Stack HCI) . We are seeking a seasoned engineer who thrives in high-stakes migration environments. You will be responsible for the full lifecycle—from bare-metal cluster deployment to the final weekend cutover of critical application servers. Our mantra is "automate everything" ; we need an engineer who treats manual clicks as a failure state.

Key Responsibilities

• ·          Azure Local Deployment: Architect and deploy Azure Local clusters, ensuring proper integration with Azure Arc, identity management, and hybrid networking.
• ·          Network & Security Configuration: Configure VLANs, subnets, routing, and firewall policies to facilitate seamless outbound/inbound connectivity for cluster registration, storage replication, and tenant workloads.
• ·          Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Design and maintain Terraform modules to automate the provisioning of Azure Local resources, virtual networks, and guest OS configurations. (PowerShell/Bicep scripting is also highly valued).
• ·          Migration Execution (The "Lift & Shift"): Plan and execute the migration of application servers, SQL databases, and legacy VMs from vSphere to the new Azure Local environment.
• ·          Weekend Cutover Leadership: This role requires active availability during scheduled weekend maintenance windows. You will be the technical lead during these periods, executing final syncs, validating application health, and troubleshooting any post-migration issues in real-time.
• ·          Data Protection: Implement and manage backup/recovery workflows using Rubrik, ensuring data integrity before and after each migration batch.
• ·          Performance Tuning: Optimize storage performance (NVMe/SSD tiers) and compute allocation post-migration to ensure applications perform better than they did on-prem.

Required Qualifications

• ·          5+ years of experience in systems engineering or cloud infrastructure.
• ·          Proven experience managing or migrating from VMware (vCenter, ESXi, vMotion, DRS).
• ·          Strong hands-on experience with Azure Local (or Azure Stack HCI) deployment and lifecycle management.
• ·          Deep understanding of TCP/IP, DNS, load balancing, and enterprise firewall rules (e.g., Palo Alto, Fortinet, or Azure Firewall).
• ·          Advanced scripting ability (PowerShell or Python) for automating pre-migration health checks and post-migration remediation.

Preferred "Nice-to-Haves" (Major Pluses)

• ·          Terraform expertise: Ability to write production-grade modules, manage state files, and integrate with CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions/Azure DevOps).
• ·          Rubrik: Experience deploying Rubrik agents, setting up SLA policies, and performing instant recoveries or export operations during migrations.
• ·          Experience with Azure Migrate or third-party migration tools (e.g., Zerto, Carbonite).
• ·          Familiarity with Windows Server, Active Directory, and SQL Server clustering.

Work Schedule & Logistics

·          Standard Hours: Monday–Friday (Remote/Hybrid).

·          Weekend Commitment: You must be willing and able to work every other weekend (or as scheduled) during the 3-month peak migration phase. Weekend shifts are dedicated to application cutovers, as these require minimal business disruption.

·          Compensation/Time-off: Overtime compensation, bonus differentials, or compensatory time off (PTO) will be provided for weekend hours.

Who You Are

·        You get restless when tasks aren't scripted.

·          You have a "battle-tested" mindset—calm under pressure when a migration fails over and you have 30 seconds to rollback.

·          You are a documentarian; you don't just fix it—you write the runbook so the next migration is fully automated.