Senior Infrastructure Engineer - Professional Services - 108069 - Grade 8

In this role you will own and evolve a dedicated research infrastructure that supports high-impact academic work in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, focusing on the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network. You will lead a virtualisation and storage platform enabling research projects, while keeping systems secure, reliable and scalable. The position combines hands-on delivery with collaboration across academic colleagues, guiding upgrades and documentation. You will shape future directions of the platform and contribute to a sustainable, high-performance research environment.

• 40 days paid holiday a year
• one paid day for volunteering
• occupational sick pay
• pension scheme
• three subsidised day nurseries
• flexible working arrangements

• Own and lead the development of the virtualisation and storage platform supporting academic research
• Ensure security, stability and fit-for-purpose operation for live research activities
• Plan and execute upgrades, lifecycle activities and service improvements with minimal disruption
• Manage day-to-day operations including performance, capacity, resilience, availability and incident resolution
• Document architecture, procedures, issues, and support arrangements clearly
• Collaborate with academic users to understand requirements and translate them into practical solutions
• Coordinate procurement and replacement of infrastructure hardware for continuity and value
• Identify and mitigate security risks, vulnerabilities and service weaknesses
• Contribute to service planning and decision-making for future platform direction and sustainability
• Work independently with sound judgement on production changes and escalate as needed
• Coordinate with IT and research support teams to align with University standards and policies
• Ensure backup, recovery and disaster recovery arrangements are reviewed regularly
• Act as technical authority for platform changes and manage risks
• Engage with external suppliers for support, escalation, and roadmaps
• Improve operational efficiency through automation and standardisation
• Ensure compliance with data protection and governance requirements
• Participate in incident reviews and continuous service improvement
• Take ownership of VM/OS layer (Ubuntu Server) including build standards, patching and lifecycle
• Maintain research services in VMs (databases, containers, middleware) and support application-level operational needs
• Support secure cloud integration with Azure and AWS where appropriate
• Handle sensitive or confidential data in line with GDPR and governance requirements
• Identify opportunities to improve reliability through standard builds and automation
• Promote equality, diversity and inclusion in line with university policies
• Other duties as commensurate with the grade

• Degree level education or equivalent plus substantial relevant experience
• Extensive experience with enterprise virtualised infrastructure in production
• Strong practical understanding of virtualization platforms, storage, lifecycle management, patching and hardware replacement
• End-to-end service ownership including operational support, security risk management and continuous improvement
• Ability to plan and deliver change safely in live research environments
• Strong understanding of infrastructure security principles and risk mitigation
• Experience gathering requirements from users and delivering practical solutions
• Strong communication skills to explain technical matters to non-specialists
• Proven ability to work independently and make sound technical decisions
• Ability to identify issues impacting protected groups and take appropriate action
• Equality, diversity and inclusion awareness per university policies

• clear communication
• independence
• problem solving
• Enterprise virtualization (VMware, vSphere, vCenter, vSAN)
• Backup and recovery platforms (Veeam)
• Converged or integrated infrastructure (Dell VxRail)