Data Center Engineer

Atlas Search; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Atlas Search seeks a Data Center Technician to join the hybrid infrastructure team. The role blends hands-on data center operations with systems engineering, including server build, rack, cabling, and lifecycle management in a fast-paced enterprise environment.

The candidate will operate across Windows and Linux platforms, manage network services, and participate in on-call rotations. Strong hardware, fiber, and virtualization exposure is required.

Qualifications

• Associate's degree or higher in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• 5–7+ years in a Data Center Technician or similar infrastructure role.
• Experience installing, racking, cabling, and supporting enterprise servers and networking gear.
• Experience building Windows Server environments with Active Directory.
• Solid TCP/IP networking knowledge (DNS, DHCP, VLANs, routing, subnetting) and out-of-band management (iDRAC/iLO/IPMI).
• Experience with fiber testing tools (OTDRs, optical power meters) and fiber connectors.
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs and work in production data centers; willing to on-call rotation.

Responsibilities

• Rack, stack, cable, and deploy servers, storage arrays, and networking gear.
• Maintain data center power, cooling, airflow, and physical security.
• Respond to hardware incidents and participate in on-call rotation.
• Coordinate with vendors for hardware installations and circuit activations.
• Create and update asset inventory and CMDB documentation.
• Document build runs, runbooks, and infrastructure diagrams.
• Partner with teams on deployments and capacity planning.

Job description

Our client is a leading global investment firm with a highly sophisticated technology environment supporting mission-critical trading and business operations. They are seeking a skilled Data Center Technician to join their infrastructure team in a hybrid role that combines hands-on data center operations with systems engineering responsibilities. This position is ideal for someone who enjoys working with both physical infrastructure and server administration in a fast-paced, enterprise environment.

Responsibilities

Data Center Operations

• Rack, stack, cable, and deploy servers, storage arrays, and networking equipment.
• Install and replace hardware components including CPUs, RAM, SSDs/HDDs, NICs, HBAs, and power supplies.
• Perform structured cabling and physical layer troubleshooting.
• Manage hardware lifecycle activities including deployments, decommissions, asset tagging, and equipment disposal.
• Maintain data center power, cooling, airflow, and physical security.
• Respond to hardware incidents and participate in an on-call rotation.
• Coordinate with vendors for hardware installations, smart hands support, and circuit activations.

Connectivity & Fiber Infrastructure

• Troubleshoot copper and fiber connectivity issues across production environments.
• Test and certify single-mode and multi-mode fiber using OTDRs, optical power meters, and related tools.
• Inspect, clean, and qualify LC, SC, and MPO/MTP fiber connectors.
• Diagnose fiber faults including insertion loss, damaged connectors, and signal degradation.
• Validate SFP, SFP+, QSFP, and QSFP28 transceivers and troubleshoot optical monitoring alarms.
• Document fiber infrastructure and coordinate with network engineers during deployments and troubleshooting.
• Build and configure physical and virtual Linux servers (RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian).
• Configure networking, DNS, NTP, SSH, storage, RAID, LVM, and NFS/iSCSI.
• Integrate systems into configuration management platforms such as Ansible or Puppet.
• Perform OS patching, firmware upgrades, system troubleshooting, and performance tuning.

Windows Server Administration

• Build and configure Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 environments.
• Join systems to Active Directory and apply Group Policies.
• Configure Windows services including IIS, DNS, DHCP, and File Services.
• Perform Windows updates, security hardening, and post-build validation.
• Troubleshoot boot issues, event logs, drivers, and network connectivity.
• Ensure endpoint security tools are properly deployed and maintained.

General Responsibilities

• Maintain accurate asset inventory and CMDB documentation.
• Create and update build documentation, runbooks, and infrastructure diagrams.
• Partner with infrastructure, networking, security, and application teams on deployments.
• Support hardware lifecycle planning and infrastructure capacity management.
• Participate in after-hours maintenance and on-call support as needed.

Required Qualifications:

• Associate's degree or higher in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• 5-7+ years of experience in a Data Center Technician, Systems Administrator, or similar infrastructure role.
• Hands-on experience installing, racking, cabling, and supporting enterprise server hardware.
• Experience building and supporting Windows Server environments with Active Directory.
• Solid understanding of TCP/IP networking, VLANs, DNS, DHCP, routing, and subnetting.
• Experience with out-of-band management tools such as iDRAC, iLO, or IPMI.
• Proven experience troubleshooting copper and fiber infrastructure.
• Hands-on experience using OTDRs, optical power meters, and fiber inspection tools.
• Ability to lift up to 50 pounds and work comfortably in a production data center environment.
• Excellent troubleshooting, communication, and organizational skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment while managing multiple priorities.
• Willingness to participate in an on-call rotation and occasional after-hours work.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Ansible, Puppet, Chef, or Salt.
• Experience with VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, or KVM.
• Knowledge of PXE, Kickstart, WDS, or automated server provisioning.
• Experience with SAN or hyperconverged infrastructure.
• Fiber certifications (Corning, Fluke Networks, BICSI) are a plus.
• Relevant certifications such as CompTIA Server+, CompTIA Linux+, RHCSA, MCSA/MCSE, or equivalent.
• Experience with ServiceNow, Jira, or other ITSM platforms.
• Familiarity with infrastructure monitoring tools including Nagios, Zabbix, or Prometheus.