Cloud Infrastructure Engineer

XPS Pensions Group; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consultancy firm based in the UK is seeking an IT Infrastructure Support specialist to manage and maintain their Azure-based pension administration systems. Responsibilities include monitoring server performance, conducting maintenance, and ensuring all systems are secure. The ideal candidate should have experience in IT infrastructure and a relevant qualification. This role allows for remote work with occasional office attendance.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Annual discretionary bonus

25 days holiday

Healthcare plans

Employee discounts

Qualifications

• Experience in IT infrastructure or third-line support
• Active Directory/Entra ID experience
• Experience with backup technologies

Responsibilities

• Support the Infrastructure around Azure-based systems
• Ensure all servers are patched and monitored
• Perform maintenance on virtual servers

Skills

Virtualisation skills with Hyper-V

Good communication skills

Reliability

Problem-solving mentality

Team player

Education

National Diploma, HND or degree in IT

Tools

Hyper-V

SQL Server

PowerShell

Dell PowerEdge servers

Job description

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XPS Group is a prominent UK consultancy and administration firm within the pensions and insurance sectors. As a FTSE 250 company with over 2000 employees, we leverage expertise alongside advanced technology to serve over 1,400 pension schemes and their sponsors. Our goal is to foster a workplace where diverse talents thrive.

About the Role:

XPS Group IT provides IT services to all XPS offices located across the UK and Ireland. XPS currently employs 2,000 employees across multiple business areas. XPS have an in-house IT Service Desk, 2ndline, 3rd line and infrastructure engineers. There is a dedicated Cyber Security Team monitoring the security of the network and servers. There is a primary and secondary data centre which uses Hyper-V servers. Around 200 Virtual and 19 physical servers exist across the business.

This role will be remote however there will be some office attendance.

XPS have many large projects in the pipeline, office moves, migration to the cloud, which will mean the department will remain very busy for the next 18 months+. Some of these projects may require you to travel to other XPS sites or the XPS London data centre.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support the Infrastructure around the Azure based Pension Administration system.
• Ensure all servers are in monitoring and the monitoring is fit for purpose.
• Respond to monitoring alerts.
• Ensure all servers are patched and conduct monthly patching.
• Perform maintenance on all virtual servers, set-up maintenance plans and proactive monitoring.
• Keep CMDB database up to date and update capacity planning spreadsheet.
• Ensure all servers are backed up, check daily for backup failures and resolve.
• Monitor certificate expiry and update certificates.
• Test that file restore, server restores, and network failover test are successful.
• Business critical application support (XPS Radar) which runs on IIS, SQL, SSL certificates and Windows server. This is hosted in Azure.
• Networking, SD-WAN, switches, routers, Firewalls, load balancer and SonicWALL VPN.

The XPS IT strategy is cloud first, more systems will be moving into the cloud over time.

• Design, advanced support and monitoring of the Azure environment, Office 365, OneDrive, SharePoint Online, Power Automate, Power BI, Intune, MFA and Teams support.
• ADFS, SAML, WAP, Web servers.
• Managing mail flow, Office 365 and Mimecast.
• DRaaS and BaaS with Zerto and Comm Vault (work with existing third party).
• Perform DR test with DRaaS provider based on the annual DR testing schedule.
• Test backups work on a regular basis.
• Provide data for auditors.
• Azure, Storage accounts, management/deployment of Azure resources.
• Scripting (Powershell/Terraform)

Your Profile:

• Virtualisation skills with Hyper-V
• The ability to think on your feet. Where there is no solution, research the problem and update the ticket / knowledgebase
• Well-presented and good communication skills
• A passion for technology with an aim to grow into a mature infrastructure role
• Reliable, on time with good attendance
• Must be a team player and work with the various members of IT
• A can-do attitude is essential. If a user asks a question, the first response should not be no, we should always try to help where we can
• Ability to be reliable, this role will require some regular out of hours working based on regular maintenance

Qualifications:

• Some IT qualifications, for example: National Diploma, HND or degree in IT. Or equivalent IT qualifications Azure, MCP/MCSA/MCSE or CCNA
• Active Directory / Entra ID experience
• Previous infrastructure or 3rd line experience
• Experience maintaining Dell PowerEdge servers
• Hyper-V cluster experience / Virtual Machine Manager
• Average SQL server administration
• Experience with backup technologies
• ADFS, ADCS
• DHCP
• Internal and external DNS
• Domain sites and trusts
• MDM with Office 365
• BitLocker
• DFS
• UPS and PDU management
• Certificate management, (SSL), generate CSRs and apply certificates
• PowerShell
• NAS/SAN and iSCSI volume management
• Previous monitoring management (PRTG)
• ITIL V3 foundation
• Maintaining build images

What We Offer:

Enjoy a competitive salary, annual discretionary bonus, and 25 days’ holiday with buy/sell flexibility. Benefits include pension matching, healthcare plans, life assurance, and retailer discounts. We support our team with a flexible benefits scheme, employee assistance, and digital GP service. Participating in volunteering events is encouraged with paid volunteer days available. Referral bonuses are offered for introducing suitable candidates to XPS.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates should submit applications below or contact [emailprotected] . Join XPS Group and contribute to a dynamic and inclusive workplace.

Equal Opportunity Statement:

XPS Group is committed to diversity and equal opportunities. We welcome applications from all candidates, irrespective of sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or belief. As a Disability Confident employer, we ensure accessible and supportive work settings for all employees.

Any employment offer made will be conditional upon you satisfying DBS Disclosure checks, Employment or educational references, Satisfactory credit checks and eligibility to work in the UK before an offer can be made. XPS Group is not able to provide sponsorship to employees.