UCS & Virtualisation Engineer

JR United Kingdom; London; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the tech sector is seeking a UCS & Virtualisation Engineer in London. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience with Cisco UCS and VMware ESXi, focusing on firmware upgrades and system optimization. This role involves planning, executing, and troubleshooting upgrades while ensuring system stability and performance. Candidates should be proficient in using diagnostic tools and familiar with automation scripts. If you are passionate about virtualization and cloud solutions, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• Deep technical expertise in Cisco UCS and VMware ESXi required.
• Hands-on experience with UCS firmware upgrades and ESX upgrades.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute UCS firmware upgrades across Fabric Interconnects.
• Monitor system performance pre- and post-upgrade.
• Maintain detailed records of upgrade procedures and reports.

Skills

Cisco UCS

VMware ESXi

Troubleshooting

Performance Tuning

Tools

PowerCLI

Ansible

Python

Job description

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Smart Edge’s Client is looking for an individual to help with their UCS & Virtualisation Engineer @ London, UK

Experience Required :

We are seeking an experienced consultant specializing in Cisco UCS firmware upgrades and ESX upgrades. The ideal candidate will have deep technical expertise in Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) and VMware ESXi, with a strong focus on upgrade execution, troubleshooting, and system optimization.

This role requires hands-on experience with UCS Fabric Interconnects, service profiles, VMware clusters, and best practices for maintaining high availability and performance during upgrade processes.

Role Responsibilities

1. UCS Firmware Upgrades:
2. Plan, coordinate, and execute UCS firmware upgrades across Fabric Interconnects, blades, and rack servers.
3. Ensure minimal downtime and system stability during upgrades.
4. Troubleshoot any post-upgrade issues and coordinate resolutions with Cisco TAC if necessary.
5. Upgrade VMware ESXi hosts and ensure compatibility with UCS firmware versions.
6. Validate upgrades in staging/UAT environments before deployment to production.
7. Address performance, compatibility, and licensing considerations post-upgrade.

Performance Monitoring & Troubleshooting:

1. Monitor system performance pre- and post-upgrade to ensure stability.
2. Investigate and resolve any upgrade-related failures or performance degradations.
3. Work with cross-functional teams to address any interoperability issues.

Capacity Planning & Scalability:

1. Assess current infrastructure to determine upgrade impacts and resource requirements.
2. Plan for future scalability while ensuring UCS and ESXi environments remain optimized.

Documentation & Reporting:

1. Maintain detailed records of upgrade procedures, rollback plans, and post-upgrade reports.
2. Provide recommendations for improving upgrade processes and minimizing operational risk.

Experience / Competencies

1. VMware ESXi Expertise:
2. Strong understanding of ESXi, vCenter, clustering (HA, DRS, vMotion), and Storage vMotion.
3. Expertise in Cisco UCS Manager, Fabric Interconnects, service profiles, and hardware configurations.
4. Firmware Upgrade Experience:
5. Hands-on experience planning and executing UCS firmware and ESXi upgrades.
6. Knowledge of upgrade dependencies, interoperability considerations, and rollback strategies.
7. Performance Tuning & Troubleshooting:
8. Ability to diagnose and resolve UCS and ESXi performance issues.
9. Experience using VMware and Cisco diagnostic tools for root cause analysis.
10. Familiarity with PowerCLI, Ansible, or Python for automating upgrade-related tasks.
11. Storage & SAN Connectivity:
12. Understanding of integrating VMware with SAN/NAS storage (Fibre Channel, iSCSI).
13. Experience handling P1/P2 incidents and working with Cisco TAC/VMware Support.
14. Infrastructure Documentation:
15. Ability to create detailed upgrade runbooks and troubleshooting guides.
16. Experience with UCS Central for multi-site UCS management.
17. Familiarity with VMware vSAN and NSX.
18. Knowledge of hybrid cloud deployments (AWS/Azure VMware solutions).
19. Understanding of ITIL change management processes.

If this sounds like a role you would be interested in or if you know someone in this field, please contact us.

Alternatively, you can call me on Tel: [phone].