Secure Platform Specialist

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Saudi Arabia; On-site; SAR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent university in Saudi Arabia is seeking a Secure Platform Administrator to manage and secure the landing zone infrastructure. The role requires expertise in VMware vSphere, CyberArk, and automation tools. Responsibilities include monitoring, compliance management, and collaboration with IT and InfoSec teams. The ideal candidate holds a bachelor's degree in a related field and has 3–6 years of relevant experience. Competitive compensation and opportunities for professional growth are offered.

Qualifications

• 3–6 years of experience in IT infrastructure, system administration, or security operations.
• Hands-on experience with VMware vSphere / Aria, Windows & Linux server administration, CyberArk.
• Familiarity with automation tools.

Responsibilities

• Administer and monitor vSphere clusters and Aria Operations/Automation platforms.
• Enforce session policies and support integrations with identity/security systems.
• Maintain VDI infrastructure components such as Connection Servers and Load Balancers.

Skills

Technical administration of virtualized infrastructure

Security-first mindset

Automation skills

Effective communication

Proactive monitoring and troubleshooting

Education

Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, IT, or related discipline

Tools

VMware vSphere

CyberArk

Terraform

Ansible

PowerShell

Python

Job description

Job Purpose

We are seeking a Secure Platform Administrator to support the operation, security, and lifecycle management of our secure landing zone infrastructure, built on VMware vSphere, VMware Aria, Linux, Windows, Omnissa Horizon (VDI), and CyberArk. This role focuses on hands‑on administration, security implementation, monitoring, and automation under the guidance of senior engineers and architects. The Administrator will collaborate with InfoSec, IT, HPC, and compliance teams to maintain secure, reliable, and compliant infrastructure services.

Major Accountabilities

vSphere & Aria Secure Landing Zone

• Administer and monitor vSphere clusters and Aria Operations/Automation platforms.
• Apply security hardening and assist with workload segmentation.
• Support host patching, firmware updates, and lifecycle management.
• Perform capacity monitoring and assist with compliance reporting.

CyberArk Privileged Access Management

• Administer CyberArk Vaults, PVWA, CPM, and PSM components.
• Onboard privileged accounts, rotate credentials, and maintain vault health.
• Enforce session policies and support integrations with identity/security systems.
• Assist with upgrades and ensure operational continuity.

Omnissa Horizon (VDI)

• Maintain VDI infrastructure components such as Connection Servers, Unified Access Gateways, and Load Balancers.
• Manage user pools, golden image updates, and entitlement assignments.
• Monitor VDI performance and user experience metrics.
• Assist with patching and pool lifecycle management.

Windows & Linux Administration

• Manage and support Windows and Linux server environments across secure platforms.
• Apply operating system hardening, patch management, and vulnerability remediation.
• Configure security baselines, group policies, and access controls.
• Monitor system health, logs, and performance metrics.

Security & Compliance Management

• Implement and monitor NIST 800-53 aligned security configurations.
• Maintain compliance evidence, documentation, and assist with audits.
• Support remediation of compliance drift through automation or manual fixes.
• Collaborate with compliance teams to uphold export boundary requirements.

Automation & DevSecOps Support

• Use Infrastructure-as-Code and scripting tools (Terraform, Ansible, PowerShell, Python) to reduce manual effort.
• Support automation of provisioning, patching, and reporting tasks.
• Contribute to CI/CD pipeline integrations for platform security and compliance.

Collaboration & Operations

• Work with IT operations on maintenance, incident response, and upgrades.
• Partner with InfoSec and GRC teams for policy alignment and control enforcement.
• Assist HPC and scientific teams with secure workload enablement.
• Support enterprise architects in modernization initiatives.

Person Requirements

Competencies

• Strong technical administration of virtualized infrastructure (VMware, Windows, Linux).
• Security‑first mindset with understanding of privileged access management.
• Ability to follow compliance frameworks and prepare documentation/evidence.
• Practical automation skills for efficiency and consistency.
• Effective communicator across technical and compliance functions.
• Proactive in monitoring, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, IT, or related discipline (or equivalent experience).

Preferred Certifications

• VMware VCP (vSphere / Horizon)
• CyberArk Trustee or Defender
• Linux/Windows Admin certifications
• ITIL v4 Foundation

Experience

• 3–6 years of experience in IT infrastructure, system administration, or security operations.
• Hands‑on experience with VMware vSphere / Aria, Windows & Linux server administration, CyberArk (account onboarding, policy enforcement), VDI technologies (Omnissa Horizon / VMware Horizon).
• Familiarity with automation tools (Terraform, Ansible, PowerShell, Python).
• Exposure to compliance frameworks such as NIST 800-53, ISO 27001, or similar (experience supporting audits a plus).