Azure Cloud Engineer IV

The Cloud Engineer is a key element within the Rackspace support infrastructure and is expected to provide a high level of technical support to our customers via the phone, ticketing system, and automation. This role owns complex customer issues which may take several days or weeks to resolve and keeps our customers updated through every step of the process. Responsible for the support of internal and external customers on multiple platforms. Work with customers and other teams to troubleshoot customer environments to increase user satisfaction. Resolves customer issues, providing guidance and recommendations to increase efficiency and reduce customer incidents. Develops tooling and processes to drive and improve customer experience, creates playbooks, and providing mentoring on customer related issues to support teams. The Support Engineer is expected to take initiative and advise on potential pitfalls that a customer may encounter and suggest alternatives which may better serve the stability and security of the customer's solution. Keeps informed of emerging technologies. Responsible for adhering to company security policies and procedures and any other relevant policies and standards as directed

Critical Competencies

• Systems Thinking: Enables optimum organizational efficiency by taking a whole systems approach and thinking across boundaries to identify which polices/processes should be standardized and which should differ
• Idea Creation: Examines new ideas of solutions, methods and products to ensure the potential and alignment with departmental and business goals

Key Responsibilities

• Other Incidental tasks related to the job, as necessary.
• Technical point of escalation to the Cloud Support and Engineering teams; resolving customer issues, working in collaboration with partners across the business, as required
• Lead cross-functional business continuity/transformational projects and customer engagements (both technical and non-technical), delivering key objectives for the Organization
• Advise leadership in setting and executing technological strategy to ensure Rackspace remain head of industry
• Proactively assess, propose, and implement enhancements to system architecture, problem management, fleet management, process improvement, reporting, product integration and customer infrastructure
• Lead Workload/Workforce Management and Optimization related tasks
• Review technical training for all Rackers supporting Rackspace Supported Cloud Products
• Coach, mentor and assists Rackers across the business
• Provide technical expertise underpinning communications targeting a range of stakeholders - from individual contributors to leaders across the business
• Collaborate with Account Managers and Business Development Consultants to build strong customer relationships
• Collaborate and share knowledge with other Engineers on the support floor

Knowledge

• Advanced knowledge of Cloud Platform Products such as AWS, Azure, GCP, or Openstack
• Advanced skills in at least one of the following languages: Node.js, Python, PHP, Ruby, and Java
• Advanced skills with git and git workflows
• Advanced skills in leveraging CI and CD tools to automate testing and deployment
• Advanced knowledge of Linux or Windows OS, including but not limited to: Server Failover Clustering, Active Directory, IIS
• Broad knowledge of the following with deep knowledge of some: PHP, Python, Ruby, Javascript, Memcached, LAMP, nginx, node.js, nosql, Varnish
• Strong web programming and scripting ability
• Strong knowledge of designing, building, implementing, analyzing, and troubleshooting distributed, highly available systems
• Strong automation skills with at least one configuration management system such as Chef, Puppet, Ansible, Salt, or other such tools
• Strong knowledge of software development methodologies including code profiling, regression testing, and continuous integration Strong knowledge of Project Management methodologies
• Strong understanding of services and protocols, configuration, management, and troubleshooting of hosting environments, including web servers, databases, caching, and database services
• Strong knowledge in the application of current and emerging network software and hardware technology and protocols
• VMWare Platform
• Strong knowledge of the vSphere platform
• Proficient networking and NSX administration skills
• Proficient working knowledge of fibre channel SANS, NFS and vSAN
• Proficient knowledge of vROPS/vRLI
• Proficient working knowledge of HP/DELL Server hardware platforms
• Proficient knowledge/troubleshooting of Disaster Recovery technologies (e.g. ZERTO, SRM)
• Hyper-V Platform
• Strong knowledge of the Hyper-V platform
• Proficient networking skills
• Proficient working knowledge of fibre channel SANS, NFS, vSAN, DAS, SMB, and Storage Spaces Direct
• Proficient knowledge of vROPS
• Proficient working knowledge of HP/DELL Server hardware platforms
• Proficient knowledge/troubleshooting of Disaster Recovery technologies (e.g. Hyper-V Replication)
• Requires specialized depth and/or breadth of expertise in own job discipline or field
• Interprets internal/external business challenges and recommends best practices to improve products, processes or services

Skills

• Passionate about technology and has a desire to constantly expand technical knowledge
• Detail-oriented in documenting information and able to own customer issues through resolution
• Able to handle multiple tasks and prioritize work under pressure
• Demonstrate sound problem-solving skills coupled with a desire to take on responsibility
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, both highly technical and non-technical
• Ability to communicate technical issues to nontechnical and technical audiences
• Fluency in multiple languages is a plus

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, or a related technical field
• At the Manager's discretion, 4 years of additional related experience may substitute for the degree requirement; if substitution allowed, regional equivalent to High School Diploma is required. Certifications
• Requires 3+ Azure Certifications for Azure Specialists
• Requires AWS Master Status and AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional level certification OR AWS DevOps certification for AWS Specialists
• Requires 3 Microsoft Certifications for Hyper-V Specialists: Azure Fundamentals, Software Defined Storage, Software Defined Networking
• Requires VCP-DCV Certification for VMware Specialists
• Prefer relevant technical certifications around Red Hat, MySQL, CCIA, CCEE, CCEA, CCA, MCSE/MCITP, MCSA, VCP-DCV, vRealize Operations, NXS and/or vSAN badge certifications Experience
• 8 – 11 years of technical engineering and administration experience with a minimum of 5 - 6 years commercial experience as either a LAMP stack software developer and/or systems administrator
• 3 years of current commercial experience as a Cloud Engineer working with a high-traffic site
• Experience with high-availability, high-performance, open source web technologies
• Experience automating and orchestrating workloads across multiple public cloud providers
• Experience with cloud platforms, open source databases and caching layers
• Experience working in a containerized environment (Docker/LXC)

The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees in this classification. It is not designed to contain or to be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of the employee assigned to this jobAbout Rackspace TechnologyWe 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.  More on Rackspace TechnologyThough 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.