Lead Backup & Recovery Engineer (Remote)

Ferguson Enterprises, Inc.; Richmond (VA); Remote; USD 76,000 - 133,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision

Paid time off

Life insurance

401(k) with company match

Mental health coverage

Gender affirming benefits

Family building benefits

Parental leave

Associate discounts

Community involvement opportunities

Job summary

Ferguson Enterprises, LLC is seeking a Lead Backup & Recovery Engineer to own the enterprise data protection strategy across on‑premises, hybrid, and multi‑cloud environments. You will define backup policies, governance, and recovery objectives while leading platform migrations and automation initiatives.

In this role you will collaborate with Infrastructure, Cloud, Security, and Application teams, serving as the technical authority during DR exercises, audits, and major incidents, while

Qualifications

• 8+ years of hands-on engineering experience with enterprise backup and recovery platforms, in lead/architect roles.
• Experience leading end-to-end migrations of backup systems with cutover accountability.
• Proven data protection architecture ownership across large, heterogeneous estates.
• Cloud backup and storage tiering knowledge (AWS/Azure/OCI/GCP).

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain enterprise data protection standards (RPO/RTO).
• Design and implement resilient backup/recovery solutions (immutable, air-gapped).
• Lead evaluation, selection, migration and lifecycle management of backup platforms.
• Develop disaster recovery architectures, DR testing programs, and runbooks.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to backup teams; hands-on in critical implementations.
• Drive automation to improve scalability and cost efficiency.

Skills

Data protection

Backup architecture

Cloud & on‑prem

Leadership

Governance & SLAs

Automation

Vendor management

ITIL familiarity

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

AWS

Azure

Kubernetes

Terraform

Job description

Job Posting:Since 1953, Ferguson has been a source of quality supplies for a variety of industries. Together We Build Better infrastructure, better homes and better businesses. We exist to make our customers’ complex projects simple, successful, and sustainable. We proactively solve problems, adapt and grow to continuously serve our customers, communities and each other. Ferguson, a Fortune 500 company, is proud to provide best-in-class products, service and capabilities across the following industries: Commercial/Mechanical, Facilities Supply, Fire and Fabrication, HVAC, Industrial, Residential Trade, Residential Building and Remodel, Waterworks and Residential Digital Commerce. Ferguson has approximately 36,000 associates across 1,700 locations. Ferguson is a community of proud associates who operate with the shared purpose of building something meaningful. You will build a career that you are proud of, at a company you can believe in.Lead Backup & Recovery EngineerAs a Lead Backup & Recovery Engineer, you will coordinate activities related to the enterprise data protection architecture for on-premises and cloud environments. You will set the technical direction for how the organization protects and recovers its data. You'll define backup policies, recovery objectives, and data lifecycle strategy in agreement with the business, establish the governance framework and standards the estate is held to, and own recoverability assurance. You'll own platform strategy and vendor selection end to end, and lead backup platform migrations including sequencing, risk position, and cutover authority.This is a technical leadership role rather than a day-to-day break-fix role; routine monitoring and first-line remediation sit with the operations team, while you own the architecture, standards, automation strategy, and final technical escalation above it. You'll present findings, risk positions, and program status to senior leadership, IT steering committees, and audit and risk functions, and defend architecture decisions under scrutiny. You'll set the capability development plan for engineers and operators and review the designs the team produces, while remaining hands-on enough to prototype new capability and lead the highest-risk implementation work personally.Location: This role is approved to be fully remote and can be based anywhere in the United States.Duties and Responsibilities:Own the enterprise data protection strategy and architecture across on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.Define and maintain backup, retention, recovery, and data lifecycle standards, including RPO/RTO objectives aligned to business requirements.Design and implement resilient, ransomware-resistant backup and recovery solutions using immutable, air-gapped, and isolated recovery capabilities.Establish standard protection patterns for virtual, physical, database, containerized, SaaS, and cloud-native workloads.Lead evaluation, selection, implementation, migration, and lifecycle management of enterprise backup and recovery platforms.Develop disaster recovery architectures, replication strategies, failover/failback processes, and recovery testing programs that support business continuity objectives.Serve as the technical authority during disaster recovery exercises, audits, major incidents, and recovery events.Partner with Infrastructure, Cloud, Security, Storage, Database, and Application teams to ensure data protection requirements are incorporated into solution designs.Define governance, compliance, and security controls supporting regulatory requirements such as SOX, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and internal security standards.Own resource planning, performance management, growth forecasting, licensing strategy, and cost optimization for backup and recovery environments.Establish reporting, dashboards, indicators, and service level metrics to communicate protection coverage, recovery readiness, risk exposure, and operational performance.Drive automation initiatives to improve scalability, consistency, and operational efficiency across the backup estate.Lead vendor relationships, product roadmap discussions, proof-of-concept evaluations, and technology recommendations.Provide technical leadership, mentoring, design reviews, and escalation support for backup and recovery engineering teams.Maintain hands-on technical involvement in architecture validation, complex problem solving, platform upgrades, and critical implementations.Qualifications and Requirements:8+ years of hands-on engineering experience with enterprise backup and recovery platforms, including time in a lead, principal, or architect capacity.Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience, or a combination of education and experience.Demonstrable experience leading enterprise-scale end-to-end migrations of backup systems, with accountability for cutover and validation.Proven ownership of data protection architecture across a large, heterogeneous estate.Experience establishing governance frameworks, standards, and SLA reporting where none previously existed.Experience leading vendor selection, including RFP and RFI development, PoC evaluation, and formal recommendation.Good background in requirements gathering, gap analysis, and formal solution documentation.Deep understanding of cloud backup and cloud storage tiering in at least one major provider (AWS, Azure, OCI, or GCP), including object storage, archive tiers, lifecycle policies, and egress and cost implications.Working knowledge of storage technologies including SAN, NAS, object storage, snapshots, and replication.Deep understanding of disaster recovery frameworks, RTO and RPO design, and DR testing methodologies.Experience designing immutable, ransomware-resilient, and air-gapped or isolated recovery architectures.Familiarity with ITIL practices and formal change management processes.Ability to communicate technical risk, options, and recommendations to upper management and steering committees, and to defend architecture decisions under scrutiny.Preferred Qualifications:Experience with multiple enterprise backup and recovery platforms, including complex or post-acquisition environments.Experience developing and presenting data protection strategies within regulated industries.Strong knowledge of enterprise database protection and application-consistent recovery (Oracle, SQL Server, SAP, PostgreSQL).Experience protecting Kubernetes, containerized, cloud-native, and SaaS workloads, including Microsoft 365.Proficiency with scripting, automation, and infrastructure-as-code methodologies.Experience supporting budgeting, licensing strategy, vendor negotiations, and cost optimization initiatives.Demonstrable ability to drive continuous improvement, service modernization, and operational excellence.Preferred Certifications:Vendor certifications in enterprise backup and recovery platforms.Professional-level cloud certifications (AWS, Azure, OCI, or GCP).ITIL certification.At Ferguson, we care for each other. We value our well-being just as much as our hard work. We are committed to a holistic approach towards benefits plans and programs that support the mental, physical and financial well-being of our associates. Our competitive offering not only includes benefits like health, dental, vision, paid time off, life insurance and a 401(k) with a company match, but our associates also enjoy additional meaningful and inclusive enhancements that are adaptable to their diverse situations and needs, including mental health coverage, gender affirming and family building benefits, paid parental leave, associate discounts, community involvement opportunities and more!#LI-REMOTE-Pay Range:-Actual pay rate may vary depending upon location. The estimated pay range for this position is below. The specific rate will depend on a candidate’s qualifications and prior experience.-$6,805.95 - $11,921.25-Estimated Ranges displayed are Monthly for Salaried roles OR Hourly for all other roles.-This role is Bonus or Incentive Plan eligible.-Ferguson complies with all wage regulations. The starting wage may be higher in certain locations based on local or state wage requirements.-The Company is an equal opportunity employer as well as a government contractor that shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-300.5(a), which prohibits discrimination against qualified protected Veterans and the requirements of 41 CFR 60-741.5(A), which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals on the basis of disability.Ferguson Enterprises, LLC. is an equal employment employer F/M/Disability/Vet/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity.Equal Employment Opportunity and Reasonable Accommodation Information