Manager - IT Operations & Infrastructure

Role Purpose

Storage Engineer NAS, SAN, Backup & SAN Switch Specialist (L3)

Key Responsibilities / Accountabilities

We are seeking a highly skilled L3 Storage Engineer specializing in NAS, SAN, and SAN Switches to manage, optimize, and troubleshoot enterprise storage infrastructure. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in storage technologies, performance tuning, automation, and disaster recovery, along with experience supporting large-scale enterprise or cloud-based storage solutions.

The L3 Storage Engineer will be responsible for storage architecture design, performance optimization, troubleshooting complex issues, disaster recovery planning, and automation. This role also involves mentoring L1/L2 engineers, handling escalations, and working on next-gen storage technology implementations.

Major Duties & Responsibilities:

Storage Infrastructure Design & Administration:

Architect, implement, and manage SAN (Storage Area Network) and NAS (Network Attached Storage) solutions.

Configure, maintain, and optimize storage arrays from vendors such as NetApp, Dell EMC, Hitachi, HPE, IBM, or Pure Storage.

Manage and maintain SAN switches (Brocade, Cisco MDS, or equivalent), including zoning, firmware updates, and fabric management.

Ensure high availability, redundancy, and disaster recovery for storage systems.

Perform storage provisioning, replication, migration, and performance tuning.

Expertise in backup software (e.g., Commvault, NetBackup, Veeam, etc.).

Experience with data deduplication, replication, snapshot, and cloning.

Storage Performance Monitoring & Optimization:

Monitor storage performance using vendor-specific and third-party monitoring tools.

Analyze and optimize I/O performance, latency, and throughput.

Identify and resolve bottlenecks, failures, and degradation issues.

Implement storage tiering, deduplication, compression, and caching strategies to improve efficiency.

Storage Automation & Infrastructure as Code (IaC):

Automate storage provisioning, monitoring, and management using PowerShell, Ansible, Python, or API integrations.

Implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices for storage configurations.

Develop and maintain storage orchestration scripts and automation frameworks.

Disaster Recovery & Data Protection:

Design and implement storage backup and disaster recovery (DR) strategies.

Work closely with backup teams to ensure efficient snapshotting, replication, and archival solutions.

Conduct DR drills and failover testing to validate business continuity plans.

Security & Compliance:

Implement storage encryption, access controls, and data security best practices.

Ensure compliance with ISO 27001, NIST, SOC2, GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulatory requirements.

Perform storage audits, capacity planning, and reporting.

Collaboration, Documentation & Leadership:

Act as an L3 escalation point for complex storage-related issues.

Work closely with server, network, backup, and cloud teams to enhance storage strategies.

Mentor and train L1 and L2 storage engineers.

Maintain comprehensive documentation, runbooks, and troubleshooting guides.

Qualifications and Experience

Bachelors or Masters degree in Computer Science, IT, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

7+ years of experience in enterprise storage administration, SAN/NAS solutions, and storage networking.

Expertise in storage arrays from vendors such as NetApp, Dell EMC, HPE, Hitachi, IBM, Pure Storage, or Huawei.

Strong knowledge of SAN switch configuration, zoning, and troubleshooting (Brocade, Cisco MDS, or equivalent).

Experience with block storage, file storage, and object storage technologies.

Hands-on experience with storage replication, deduplication, and data migration strategies.

Proficiency in PowerShell, Python, or Ansible for automation and orchestration.

Familiarity with cloud-based storage solutions (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or OCI).

Experience in troubleshooting LUN masking, multipathing, and storage connectivity issues.

Certifications

NetApp Certified Implementation Engineer (NCIE) or NetApp Certified Data Administrator (NCDA)

Dell EMC Storage Administrator (EMCSA) or Dell EMC Proven Professional

Brocade Certified Network Engineer (BCNE) or Cisco MDS SAN Specialist

HPE ASE - Storage Solutions Architect

ITIL v4 Foundation Certification (preferred)

VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) in Storage & Availability (preferred)

Travel on the Job: Yes (25% Domestic & International)