Senior Data Center Engineer

The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP); Rockville (MD); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 159,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Standard benefits

Job summary

The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) in Rockville, MD seeks a Senior Data Center Engineer to maintain and optimize our enterprise data center.

You will manage uptime, performance, capacity planning, and DR planning while overseeing deployments, integrations, and vendor coordination. The role requires 7+ years in data center operations, with VMware expertise, clustering, SAN storage, databases, and middleware; hybrid cloud experience with Azure/AWS is preferred.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field; 7+ years of progressive, post-bachelor’s work experience.
• Experience deploying and managing VMware virtualization of Windows and Linux servers.
• Experience with data center management tools, monitoring tools, and reporting tools.
• Experience providing senior‑level data center support and problem resolution.
• Experience with clustering technologies (Red Hat HA, Windows HA) and SAN storage.
• Experience with databases (MS SQL, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL) and middleware (Apache, Tomcat, PHP, NodeJS).
• Experience with network protocols (SSL/TLS, DNS, DHCP, WINS, FTP, HTTP, SMTP, SNMP, CIFS, LDAP).
• Experience in hybrid multi-cloud environments (Azure, AWS) and IaC tools (Ansible, Terraform).
• Experience with Docker and Kubernetes; SSO standards (SAML, OIDC).

Responsibilities

• Monitor and maintain USP’s enterprise data center operation and stability.
• Oversee data center support, break/fix issues, and new installations.
• Troubleshoot data center issues to ensure uptime and availability of infrastructure and applications.
• Manage capacity planning, performance metrics, and SLA compliance.
• Coordinate with vendors and professional services during projects.
• Maintain data center documentation, patch management, and disaster recovery plans.

Skills

VMware

Data center management

Monitoring tools

High availability

SAN storage

DBMS (MS SQL, Oracle, MySQL, Postgre

Middleware (Apache, Tomcat, PHP, Node)

Networking (SSL/TLS, DNS, DHCP, LDAP)

Hybrid cloud (Azure, AWS)

Ansible/Terraform

Docker/Kubernetes

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT/CS or related field

Tools

VMware vSphere

Red Hat HA Cluster

CephFS

Job description

The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is an independent scientific organization that collaborates with the world’s leading health and science experts to develop rigorous quality standards for medicines, dietary supplements, and food ingredients. At USP, we believe that scientific excellence is driven by a commitment to fairness, integrity, and global collaboration. This belief is embedded in our core value of Passion for Quality and is demonstrated through the contributions of more than 1,300 professionals across twenty global locations, working to strengthen the supply of safe, high-quality medicines worldwide.

At USP, we value inclusive scientific collaboration and recognize that attracting diverse expertise strengthens our ability to develop trusted public health standards. We foster an organizational culture that supports equitable access to mentorship, professional development, and leadership opportunities. Our partnerships, standards, and research reflect our belief that ensuring broad participation in scientific leadership results in stronger, more impactful outcomes for global health.

USP is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer (EEOE) and is committed to ensuring fair, merit-based selection processes that enable the best scientific minds—regardless of background—to contribute to advancing public health solutions worldwide. We provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities and uphold policies that create an inclusive and collaborative work environment.

Brief Job Overview

Senior Data Center Engineer, The United States Pharmacopeial Convention, Rockville, MD

Monitor and maintain the operation and stability of USP’s enterprise data center. Oversee data center support, including break/fix issues as well as new installations and integrations. Troubleshoot and resolve data center issues while ensuring the uptime, health, and availability of infrastructure and applications through continuous monitoring. Manage capacity planning, performance assessments, metrics, and compliance with Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Coordinate with vendors, suppliers, and professional services during project engagements and research and development initiatives. Create and maintain data center documentation and OS patch management practices. Research and recommend design enhancements, infrastructure upgrades, software updates, and hardware changes as needed. Participate in disaster recovery planning and testing.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field, and seven (7) years of progressive, post-bachelor’s related work experience.

Must have seven (7) years of experience with/in:

• Deploying and managing VMware platform virtualization of Windows and Linux servers;
• Working with system and data center management tools, monitoring tools, and reporting tools;
• Providing senior‑level data center support, including monitoring of the enterprise data center environment and problem resolution;
• Deploying and managing high availability hardware and software technologies for clustering systems, such as Red Hat High Availability Cluster, MS Windows HA Cluster, GlusterFS, and CephFS;
• Managing SAN technologies and logical file systems;
• Deploying and managing database clusters, including MS SQL, Oracle, MySQL, and PostgreSQL;
• Deploying and managing application middleware, including Apache HTTPD, Java Tomcat, PHP, and NodeJS; and
• Managing application transport and data center infrastructure protocols, including SSL/TLS, DNS, DHCP, WINS, FTP, HTTP, SMTP, SNMP, CIFS, and LDAP.

Must have five (5) years of experience with/in:

• Hybrid cloud and multi-cloud environments, including Azure and AWS;
• Infrastructure as Code using API‑based infrastructure automation tools (Ansible, Terraform) and CI/CD DevOps pipelines;
• Containerization technologies, including Docker and Kubernetes; and
• Identifying management for single sign-on (SSO) based on SAML and OpenID Connect (OAuth).

Telecommuting permitted on a hybrid schedule as determined by the employer.

Supervisory Responsibilities

None, this is an individual contributor role.

40 hrs/week, Mon‑Fri, 8:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Salary: $144.633/yr. Standard company benefits

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

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