Custom System Engineer - In

Job Description Summary:

The purpose of the Custom Systems Engineer (CSE) within the EMEA Strategic family is broadly to support the Service Delivery function in and ultimately improve the customer's Fanatical Experience. Strategic's  Lead Engineers (LE) and Service Delivery Managers are ultimately responsible for managing our largest clients. We need our LEs to focus on the proactive and consultative elements of the role, and the CSEs enable them to do so by taking on technically complex and varied tasks.

In this varied, technical role, you will have the opportunity to utilize technologies across a broad range of cloud platforms on vmWare - along side dedicated and hybrid platforms.

You will be jointly responsible for achieving secure, scalable and performant solutions through a sound knowledge of automation, scaling and application management with their associated toolsets. The role requires engineers with a solid base of experience in IT and a high level of technical expertise. The CSE function delivers technical and operational capabilities outside of the lead engineer's reach and are looked upon for operational excellence when it comes to creating supportable processes and/or applications for use by with wider support organization(s).

 

The purpose of the Custom Systems Engineer (CSE) within the EMEA Strategic family is broadly to support the Service Delivery function in and ultimately improve the customer's Fanatical Experience. Strategic's Lead Engineers (LE) and Service Delivery Managers are ultimately responsible for managing our largest clients. We need our LEs to focus on the proactive and consultative elements of the role, and the CSEs enable them to do so by taking on technically complex and varied tasks. In this varied, technical role, you will have the opportunity to utilize technologies across a broad range of cloud platforms - OpenStack, Azure, AWS, Google and vmWare - along side dedicated and hybrid platforms. You will be jointly responsible for achieving secure, scalable and performant solutions through a sound knowledge of automation, scaling and application management with their associated toolsets. The role requires engineers with a solid base of experience in IT and a high level of technical expertise. The CSE function delivers technical and operational capabilities outside of the lead engineer's reach and are looked upon for operational excellence when it comes to creating supportable processes and/or applications for use by with wider support organization(s).

 

       Taking on and owning to completion discreet pieces of work (projects, changes, migrations and transformation activities) while liaising with peers in other technical disciplines. These tasks will often take several days, or even weeks, to bring to completion, rolled out as a result of an agreed pipeline of work between the CSE Manager and other teams..

       Working with the CSE Manager to grow the revenue contribution of the Professional Services element of the CSE role, to the financial health and Install Base Growth (IBG) of the EMEA Strategic department.

       Working together with the Service Delivery and Professional Services teams on consultative work - ideation, preparation, planning, presentation and implementation..

       Simulation of issues or proof of concept deployments in a lab and documenting procedures and outcomes..

       Acting as a point of technical escalation from the Support teams for EMEA Strategic account technical and operational issues..

       Supporting LEs and SDMs with technical escalations, consultation and implementation..

       Seeking out and developing tools which automate (data generation and) the processes followed to support customers, leading to a reduction of risk and repetition..

       Having a thorough understanding and knowledge base Strategic accounts, their specific support needs and current issues..

       Administration and support of tools which provide information on system health and auditing or configuration data..

Whilst the technical demands of the role are varied, Rackspace will provide you training facilities and resources for the on-boarding and your continued development to ensure that you can exceed the expectation of our customers and continue your career development plans.

 

       Experience of hosting web applications across a variety of Microsoft products.

       A good understanding of Microsoft technologies. Windows Server, Active Directory, IIS, SQL, .NET.

       A reliable level of PowerShell skill/experience.

       Experience of architecting and managing production environments across Physical, Virtualised and Cloud technologies.

       Experience configuring and troubleshooting high availability solutions, Microsoft Windows and SQL Clustering, loadbalanced Web Farms etc..

       A solid understanding of Enterprise class Networking, Virtualisation and Storage technologies.

       Industry qualifications such as MCSE highly desirable.

       Experience of Windows and SQL Clustering.

       Understanding of Linux..

       Experience of hosting web applications across a wide variety of Webserver and Database technologies.

       Scripting skills in Python, PowerShell or other versatile scripting language is desirable.

       DevOps methodologies; demonstrable ability to write and troubleshoot code.

       Ability to work with software configuration management tools such as Chef, Puppet, Anisible, Salt Stack, JuJu Rudder, Bamboo.

       Working knowledge of common web technologies..

       Understanding for agile software development methodologies and vernacular..

       Autoscaling knowledge.

 

       Owning to completion project work as assigned/identified by the CSE Manager..

       Identify local/systemic procedural weaknesses in our support operations and bring these to the attention of the relevant individuals..

       Bridge the gap in your peers' areas of expertise where necessary and assist in their education where possible..

       Preparation, QC and scheduling of changes..

       Participate in Tech Council meetings, Automation Forums, LE meetings, Support huddles, etc.. * Incident and Problem/RCA investigation. Technical input into the production of relevant documentation..

       Simulation of issues or proof of concept deployments in the lab and documenting procedures and outcomes..

       Ensure any tickets assigned to you or delegated by you are handled appropriately and to the quality expected..

       Participating in customer calls and meetings in support of Service Delivery teams..

       Participate in Tech Council meetings, Automation Forums, LE meetings, Support huddles, etc.. * In concert with the guidance of your manager, accept escalations from the customer and internal support teams for issues pertaining to EMEA Strategic accounts..

 

       Your success will be measured on the feedback of the Service Delivery and Pro Services teams whom you support..

       Making a concerted effort to continue personal development based upon the changing needs of our customers and emergent product lines..

       Customer feedback may occasionally be solicited directly via appropriate forums..

       Ensure the team's interests are effectively represented in other areas of the business via event/meeting attendance.

       Making a concerted effort to continue personal development based upon the changing needs of our customers and emergent product lines.

 

 

       Expert in your OS of specialization, but interested in learning about relevant components of others..

       Creative, detail oriented and steadfast problem solver..

       Needs to be able to demonstrate a strong working knowledge of complementary technologies: Databases, networking, storage and backup technologies..

       Understand when one of these technologies is likely to be an obstacle to a proposed solution and identify what is required to address this..

       Strong understanding of the Rackspace product portfolio..

       Able to demonstrate an understanding of our competitors' Cloud and hosting offerings and can converse on the topic..

       Excellent problem solving abilities, coupled with a desire to take on responsibility..

       Scripting skills in Python, PowerShell or other versatile scripting language is desirable..

       Ability to handle multiple tasks and prioritise work in order to maintain required productivity levels..

       Ability to create and maintain detailed documentation..

 

       The desire to continually expand knowledge of new developments and trends; make recommendations to management on desirable additions and developments..

       Equally comfortable with working with a team or solo..

       Understanding of IT industry working practices. ITIL foundation certification desirable.

       Willing to share your knowledge and experience and prepared to mentor your peers..

       A self-starter who takes full ownership and accountability, while being happy to regularly interact with customers..

       Possesses good written and verbal communication skills; language 

 

     

We are the multicloud solutions experts. We combine our expertise with the world's leading technologies - across applications, data and security - to deliver end-to-end solutions. We have a proven record of advising customers based on their business challenges, designing solutions that scale, building and managing those solutions, and optimizing returns into the future. Named a best place to work, year after year according to Fortune, Forbes and Glassdoor, we attract and develop world-class talent. Join us on our mission to embrace technology, empower customers and deliver the future.

 

 

Though we're all different, Rackers thrive through our connection to a central goal: to be a valued member of a winning team on an inspiring mission. We bring our whole selves to work every day. And we embrace the notion that unique perspectives fuel innovation and enable us to best serve our customers and communities around the globe. We welcome you to apply today and want you to know that we are committed to offering equal employment opportunity without regard to age, color, disability, gender reassignment or identity or expression, genetic information, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity status, military or veteran status, nationality, ethnic or national origin, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or any legally protected characteristic. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.