Virtualization Engineer - VMware & Open Source Hypervisors

Virtualization Engineer - VMware & Open Source Hypervisors Job Summary: We are looking for an experienced Senior Virtualization Engineer to lead the design, implementation, and support of our enterprise-grade virtualization infrastructure team within the financial services industry. This role requires deep expertise in VMware technologies as well as open-source hypervisors like KVM , NKP, OKE and Xen and to support core banking applications, and real-time financial workloads. You will play a key role in modernizing our infrastructure, enabling cloud-native services, deploying and guiding architectural decisions across private, hybrid, and edge environments. Key Responsibilities: Lead the planning, deployment, and management of virtualization infrastructure using VMware vSphere , vCenter , ESXi , SRM and vSAN . Design,implement, and manage virtualization platforms using open-source hypervisors such as KVM , OKE , Xen , and NKP . Evaluate and integrate modern virtualization technologies including container-native virtualization (CNV) and Kata Containers . Optimize and troubleshoot virtualization infrastructure to ensure high availability and performance. Develop and maintain infrastructure-as-code (IaC) scripts for deploying virtual environments (e.g., using Terraform , Ansible , vRealize Automation or Packer ). Collaborate with DevOps, Networking, and Security teams to integrate virtualization with CI/CD pipelines, monitoring tools, and security frameworks. Maintain system documentation and create runbooks for operational support. Research and recommend improvements to existing virtualization architectures and platforms. Monitor and enforce best practices around resource utilization, isolation, and scalability. Support containerized workloads using platforms like OpenShift , Kubernetes , and KubeVirt . Lead infrastructure modernization projects including legacy VM migrations, cloud-readiness initiatives, and hybrid deployments Lead virtualization assessments, POCs, and migrations (e.g., VMware to KVM, legacy to cloud). Provide Tier 3 support for virtualization-related incidents and performance issues Required Qualifications: 5+ years of hands-on experience with VMware virtualization platforms (vSphere, vCenter, ESXi, vSAN). 3+ years working with open-source hypervisors such as KVM , Proxmox , Xen , Deep understanding of Linux system administration (RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu). Proficient with virtualization networking and storage architectures (e.g., VLANs, VXLAN, iSCSI, NFS). Strong automation skills using PowerCLI , Ansible , Terraform , or similar tools. Solid grasp of security and compliance in virtualized environments (e.g., hardening, RBAC, audit logging). Experience designing and maintaining high availability , disaster recovery , and backup solutions for virtual workloads. Experience in environments with strict SLAs and regulatory/compliance frameworks. Preferred Qualifications: Experience with enterprise virtualization platforms like VMware ESXi , Red Hat Virtualization (RHV) , or Hyper-V . Knowledge of containerization and orchestration (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes, KubeVirt, OpenShift Virtualization ). Familiarity with cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP) and hybrid virtualization. Open-source contributor or active participant in virtualization communities. Relevant certifications such as Red Hat Certified Specialist in Virtualization , VMware VCP , VCAP or Linux Foundation Certified SysAdmin(LFCS) . Experience with monitoring and observability tools like vRealize Operations , Prometheus , or Zabbix . Experience in banking, capital markets, fintech , or insurance environments. Familiarity with ITIL processes and change management in financial institutions.