Hosted Services Engineer in Manchester)

Ad Warrior Ltd; Manchester; Remote; GBP 36,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

Ad Warrior Ltd is seeking a Hosted Services Engineer to join a remote role with travel to Manchester. You will manage and support hosted services, virtualised networks, and data centre environments to ensure uptime and security across customer systems.

You will work with VMware NSX, vSphere, vSAN and other technologies, configuring firewalls, VPNs, and cloud services while coordinating with vendors. A UK-wide remote role with on-site travel expectations.

Qualifications

• Proficient in Windows Server 2019+ environments.
• Strong Active Directory and Group Policy knowledge.
• VMware NSX, vSphere, vSAN, Horizon and related technologies.
• Networking skills: TCP/IP, VLANs, VPNs, BGP/OSPF, DNS, DHCP.
• Firewall/security solutions such as Fortinet, Palo Alto, Cisco ASA.
• Storage: SAN/NAS; DAS/ NAS/ iSCSI basics.
• Load balancers (Kemp, F5) knowledge; cloud platforms (AWS/Azure).
• Automation scripting: PowerShell, Python, Ansible.
• Experience with disaster recovery and business continuity planning.

Responsibilities

• Ownership and resolution of 1st/2nd line hosted services tickets.
• Manage ticket queues by business impact and urgency.
• Escalate with vendors and third-party providers.
• Record work, resolution details and customer communications.
• Contribute to problem management and known error docs.
• Support Major Incident response and restoration activities.
• Operate and monitor virtualised network infrastructure and hosted environments.

Skills

Windows Server

Active Directory

Networking

Firewalls

Disaster recovery

Load balancers

Cloud computing

Automation scripting

Troubleshooting

Incident response

Tools

VMware NSX

vSphere

vSAN

Horizon

ESXi

Fortinet

Palo Alto

Cisco ASA

Kemp

F5

AWS

Azure

PowerShell

Python

Ansible

Job description

Hosted Services Engineer

Location: Remote with travel to Manchester

Salary : £42,000 per annum

Vacancy Type: Permanent, Full Time

As a Hosted Services Engineer, your role is crucial to our organisation playing an essential part in how our customer connect to Autoflow's bodyshop management systems (BMS) & complimenting suite of products, you will foster and facilitate market leading solutions by leveraging our hosted infrastructure estate (colocation).

You will have demonstratable technical experience in management and configuration of VMWare and Hosted Network Infrastructure to manage our virtualised network and data centre environments. You are part of a team responsible for ensuring the performance, security, and scalability of our hosted infrastructure, supporting business-critical applications, and maintaining a high level of service availability.

Key Responsibilities

Solutions & Delivery

• Ownership and resolution of 1st and 2nd line hosted services support tickets.
• Queue management and ticket prioritisation based on business impact and urgency.
• Escalation management with vendors and third-party providers.
• Accurate recording of work undertaken, resolution details and customer communications.
• Contribution to problem management activities and known error documentation.
• Supporting Major Incident response and restoration activities.

Network & Infrastructure Management

• Manage virtualised network environments using VMWare NSX, vSphere, vSAN and other virtualisation technologies.
• Oversee the maintenance, monitoring, and troubleshooting of hosted network infrastructure, ensuring maximum uptime and performance.
• Configure networking components, including firewalls, switches, routers, load balancers, and VPNs.
• Optimise network security, performance, and disaster recovery strategies for hosted environments.
• Day to day Windows Server administration tasks

VMWare & Virtualisation

• Maintain and troubleshoot VMWare-based virtual environments.
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues related to virtual machines, clusters, and storage in VMWare environments.

Security & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with industry security standards and best practices (e.g., ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essential+, GDPR).
• Assist with implementation of outcomes from regular security audits and vulnerability assessments on hosted infrastructure.

Operational Support & Documentation

• Assist with documenting network configurations, procedures, and incident reports.
• Work closely with other IT teams and vendors to resolve issues.
• Be available for 'on-call' rota system within the Service Delivery team
• Provide on-site data centre support as required by the business (Manchester Area)

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Skills

• Proficient in Windows Server operating systems (Windows Server 2019+)
• Active Directory & Group Policy
• VMWare expertise: vSphere, ESXi, NSX, vSAN, Horizon, and related technologies.
• Networking knowledge: TCP/IP, VLANs, VPNs, BGP, OSPF, DNS, DHCP.
• Firewall and security solutions: Fortinet, Palo Alto, Cisco ASA, or similar.
• Storage solutions: SAN, NAS, iSCSI, NFS. (Desirable)
• Load balancers: Such as Kemp, F5 or similar. (Desirable)
• Cloud platforms AWS, Azure, or hybrid cloud networking. (Desirable)
• Experience with automation and scripting (PowerShell, Python, Ansible) (Desirable)

Experience

• Minimum 5+ years of experience in network and virtualisation engineering.
• Minimum 5+ years of experience in Microsoft Server Administration & Configuration.
• Experience with Microsoft 365 products, specifically EntraID, Intune & Windows Defender
• Hands-on experience managing large-scale hosted environments (preferably in colocation).
• Proven expertise in troubleshooting complex networking and virtualisation issues.
• Strong background in disaster recovery, backup, and business continuity planning.
• Experience in monitoring and logging tools.

Certifications (Preferred)

• VMWare Certified Professional (VCP) or demonstrable experience.

Key Competencies & Attributes

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
• Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
• Coordination & Communication - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions, being clear with expectations and sharing updates with the team
• Hold a full, valid UK driving licence.