Lead System Administrator & Infrastructure

Apparel Group; Dubai; On-site; AED 320,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

Apparel Group is seeking an experienced Senior Infrastructure & Cloud Engineer to lead enterprise infrastructure across data centre, cloud, security, identity, collaboration, and end-user platforms. You will serve as the highest technical escalation point for the Workplace Technology team, ensuring availability, security, and performance across global IT.

Responsibilities include managing VMware, SAN storage, AD/Entra ID, Microsoft 365, endpoint and email security, backups, disaster recovery,

Qualifications

• 8-10+ years in Infrastructure Engineering, Systems Administration, or Enterprise Platforms.
• Experience supporting large-scale enterprise environments with thousands of users.
• Strong background in Microsoft technologies, virtualization, storage, cloud platforms, and cybersecurity.
• Experience managing enterprise backup, recovery, and business continuity processes.
• Demonstrated success delivering infrastructure upgrades, migrations, and transformation projects.

Responsibilities

• Oversee VMware infrastructure including vCenter and ESXi, optimizing performance and lifecycle management.
• Administer physical and virtual server environments ensuring high availability and security compliance.
• Monitor infrastructure health and coordinate hardware maintenance and vendor support.
• Administer SAN storage across platforms for performance and resilience.
• Manage Active Directory, Entra ID, DNS, DHCP, and group policy to support large user populations.
• Administer Microsoft 365 services including Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online, Entra ID.
• Lead backup and disaster recovery across servers, endpoints and cloud workloads.
• Implement security monitoring, EDR, and email security; respond to incidents.
• Lead patch management and deployment programs; drive automation.
• Manage Azure and OCI cloud environments; governance and cost optimization.
• Mentor engineers and document procedures; drive infrastructure projects.

Skills

VMware vSphere

Storage administration

Active Directory & Entra ID

Microsoft 365 administration

Backup & disaster recovery

Endpoint security

Email security (Mimecast)

Patch management

Azure administration

OCI administration

Windows Server

PowerShell automation

Tools

VMware vCenter

CrowdStrike

Mimecast

Commvault

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Job description

Role Purpose

We are seeking an experienced Senior Infrastructure & Cloud Engineer to lead and manage enterprise infrastructure services across data centre, cloud, security, identity, collaboration, and end-user platforms. This role serves as the highest technical escalation point for the Workplace Technology team and is responsible for ensuring the availability, security, performance, and continuous improvement of our global IT infrastructure.

The successful candidate will oversee virtualisation platforms, storage environments, Active Directory, Microsoft 365, endpoint and email security, backup and disaster recovery solutions, cloud platforms (Azure and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure), and enterprise patch management. The role also leads infrastructure modernisation initiatives, including operating system upgrades, security agent deployments, and end-of-life technology remediation.

Key Responsibilities

Infrastructure & Virtualisation

• Manage and maintain enterprise VMware infrastructure, including vCenter, ESXi hosts, clustering, HA/DRS, capacity planning, performance optimisation, and lifecycle management.
• Administer physical and virtual server environments, ensuring high availability, security compliance, and operational efficiency.
• Monitor infrastructure health, coordinate hardware maintenance, firmware updates, and vendor support activities.

Storage & Data Centre Services

• Administer enterprise SAN storage platforms across multiple technologies, ensuring optimal performance, resilience, and capacity management.
• Manage storage provisioning, replication, backup integration, and disaster recovery readiness.
• Support Fibre Channel storage networking, zoning, and performance troubleshooting.

Identity & Access Management

• Manage enterprise Active Directory environments supporting large-scale user populations.
• Oversee user lifecycle management, Group Policy administration, organisational unit design, Azure AD Connect synchronisation, DNS, DHCP, and authentication services.
• Ensure compliance with security, audit, and access governance requirements.

Microsoft 365 & Collaboration Platforms

• Administer Microsoft 365 services supporting over 11,000 users, including Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online, and Microsoft Entra ID.
• Manage licensing, security policies, Conditional Access, MFA, collaboration governance, and tenant administration.
• Support advanced troubleshooting and escalation for business-critical collaboration services.

Backup, Recovery & Business Continuity

• Manage enterprise backup and recovery platforms covering servers, endpoints, Microsoft 365 data, and cloud workloads.
• Develop, maintain, and validate disaster recovery procedures, recovery objectives, and business continuity plans.
• Conduct regular recovery testing to ensure operational resilience.

Security & Compliance

• Administer endpoint detection and response (EDR), email security, vulnerability management, and security monitoring platforms.
• Investigate and respond to security incidents, threats, and alerts.
• Partner with security teams to strengthen infrastructure security posture and regulatory compliance.

Patch & Endpoint Management

• Lead enterprise operating system and application patching programs across a large, multi-site environment.
• Ensure patch compliance, endpoint visibility, vulnerability remediation, and software deployment governance.
• Drive continuous improvement in endpoint management and automation.

Cloud Infrastructure

• Support and administer Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure environments.
• Manage cloud resources, governance, identity integration, security controls, and cost optimisation initiatives.
• Work closely with business and technology teams to support cloud adoption and infrastructure transformation.

Operational Support & Leadership

• Act as the Level 3 escalation point for complex infrastructure, cloud, security, and platform-related issues.
• Mentor junior engineers and support knowledge transfer across the technology team.
• Maintain technical documentation, operational procedures, and infrastructure standards.
• Lead infrastructure projects, technology upgrades, migrations, and strategic improvement initiatives.

Current Transformation Initiatives

The successful candidate will play a key role in:

• Enterprise Windows 11 upgrade programme.
• Microsoft 365 Apps migration initiative.
• Windows Server modernisation and end-of-life remediation.
• Enterprise vulnerability management and security agent deployment.
• Endpoint backup and patch management expansion projects.
• Infrastructure security and compliance improvement programmes.

Required Skills & Qualifications

Technical Expertise

• VMware vSphere administration (vCenter, ESXi, HA, DRS, clustering, lifecycle management).
• Enterprise storage administration across SAN environments.
• Active Directory, Entra ID, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, and identity management.
• Microsoft 365 administration, including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Teams, and Conditional Access.
• Enterprise backup and disaster recovery platforms.
• Endpoint security and EDR technologies (CrowdStrike or equivalent).
• Email security platforms (Mimecast or equivalent).
• Patch management and software deployment solutions.
• Microsoft Azure administration, governance, and security.
• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) administration.
• Windows Server technologies including file, print, and replication services.
• PowerShell scripting and infrastructure automation.

Experience

• 8-10+ years of experience in Infrastructure Engineering, Systems Administration, or Enterprise Platforms.
• Proven experience supporting large-scale enterprise environments with thousands of users and endpoints.
• Strong background in Microsoft technologies, virtualisation, storage, cloud platforms, and cybersecurity.
• Experience managing enterprise backup, recovery, and business continuity processes.
• Demonstrated success delivering infrastructure upgrades, migrations, and transformation projects.

Preferred Certifications

• VMware VCP
• Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104)
• Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator
• Microsoft 365 Administrator Expert
• ITIL Foundation
• CrowdStrike, Commvault, or relevant infrastructure certifications