Senior Systems & Network Engineer

Forward Slash Technology; St. Louis (MO); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Forward Slash Technology in St. Louis seeks a Senior Technical Leader to guide complex infrastructure, cloud, identity, and security initiatives across client environments.

You will mentor engineers, drive major-incident response, and partner with cybersecurity to implement secure designs, governance, and scalable service delivery.

This full-time role requires in-office work with occasional client travel and a track record of delivering high-impact infrastructure projects.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive systems, network, cloud, or managed-services engineering with leadership experience.
• Advanced capability across Microsoft server and cloud platforms, identity, networking, firewalls, wireless, virtualization, backup/DR, monitoring, and security.
• Documented success leading high-risk changes, major incidents, migrations, root-cause analysis, and knowledge transfer.
• Strong client communication, technical writing, governance discipline, and escalation judgment.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex infrastructure design, remediation, migrations, recoverability, lifecycle, standardization, and technical-debt reduction across approved client environments.
• Serve as the senior technical lead for major incidents and difficult escalations, coordinating evidence, diagnosis, restoration, risk containment, and permanent corrective action.
• Develop and review architectures, implementation plans, change records, rollback plans, test criteria, diagrams, standards, scripts, runbooks, and operational evidence.
• Provide advanced engineering across Microsoft server, Azure, M365, AD/Entra ID, virtualization, network, firewall, wireless, backup/DR, monitoring, automation.
• Partner with Cybersecurity on secure design, vulnerability remediation, identity/access, logging, segmentation, resilience, and compliance-supporting controls.
• Lead assigned technical project work packages and support discovery, estimates, design validation, implementation, acceptance testing, handoff, and post-implementation review.
• Mentor Systems & Network Engineers, conduct peer review, improve escalation quality, transfer knowledge, and help capability-development plans.
• Provide evidence-based architecture, lifecycle, capacity, risk, vendor, and standards recommendations to leadership.
• Participate in senior on-call coverage, recovery testing, client-site work, governance reviews, and technical improvement initiatives.

Skills

Senior leadership

Cloud & infrastructure

Major incident leadership

Security-by-design

Client communication

Tools

Microsoft Azure

Microsoft 365

Active Directory/Entra ID

VMware

Fortinet

Barracuda

Cisco

Job description

About Forward Slash Technology

Forward Slash Technology is a St. Louis-based provider of managed IT services, cybersecurity, technology consulting, project delivery, voice, data, and strategic technology governance. Our clients include small and mid-sized businesses, municipal organizations, and professional-services organizations that rely on us for responsive support, practical strategy, and disciplined execution.

Position Overview

Provides senior technical leadership for complex infrastructure, network, cloud, identity, backup, resilience, and security work; leads advanced diagnosis, design, remediation, major-incident technical response, standards development, and peer mentoring without displacing management, commercial, project, or executive authority.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead complex infrastructure and network design, remediation, migrations, recoverability, lifecycle, standardization, and technical-debt reduction across approved client environments.
• Serve as the senior technical lead for major incidents and difficult escalations, coordinating evidence, diagnosis, restoration, risk containment, technical communication, and permanent corrective action.
• Develop and review architectures, implementation plans, change records, rollback plans, test criteria, diagrams, standards, scripts, runbooks, and operational acceptance evidence.
• Provide advanced engineering across Microsoft server, Azure, Microsoft 365, Active Directory/Entra ID, virtualization, network, firewall, wireless, backup/DR, monitoring, automation, and related platforms.
• Partner with Cybersecurity on secure design, vulnerability remediation, identity/access, logging, segmentation, resilience, incident response, and compliance-supporting technical controls.
• Lead assigned technical project work packages and support discovery, estimates, design validation, implementation, acceptance testing, handoff, and post-implementation review under Project and Technical Services governance.
• Mentor Systems & Network Engineers, conduct peer review, improve escalation quality, transfer knowledge, and help establish capability-development plans with the Technical Services Manager.
• Provide evidence-based architecture, lifecycle, capacity, risk, vendor, and standards recommendations to the Technical Services Manager, Director of Service Delivery & Operations, Solutions Architect, Client Success, and project leadership.
• Participate in senior on-call coverage, recovery testing, client-site work, governance reviews, and technical improvement initiatives as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressively responsible systems, network, cloud, infrastructure, or managed-services engineering experience with demonstrated complex design and technical-lead responsibility.
• Advanced capability across Microsoft server and cloud platforms, identity, networking, firewalls, wireless, virtualization, backup/disaster recovery, monitoring, security, automation, and structured troubleshooting.
• Documented success leading high-risk changes, major incidents, migrations, root-cause analysis, permanent corrective action, technical standards, and knowledge transfer.
• Strong client communication, technical writing, peer mentoring, project collaboration, governance discipline, and judgment regarding escalation and decision authority.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced Microsoft, Barracuda, ADTRAN, Cisco, Fortinet, VMware, Veeam, Azure, CompTIA, ITIL, Kaseya, security, cloud, or comparable certifications.
• Managed Services Provider experience across diverse client environments, regulated clients, technical pre-sales support, project leadership, and service-transition responsibilities.

Core Competencies

• Infrastructure architecture
• Advanced troubleshooting
• Major-incident leadership
• Root-cause analysis
• Security-by-design
• Change and risk governance
• Technical standards
• Peer mentoring
• Project technical leadership
• Executive and client communication

Measures of Success

• Major-incident recovery and technical leadership
• Complex change, migration, and design success rate
• Root-cause and permanent-corrective-action completion
• Availability, resilience, backup/recovery, monitoring, and security compliance
• Architecture, standards, and technical-debt improvement
• Project technical quality, acceptance, and handoff
• Documentation, knowledge transfer, peer review, and engineer development
• Utilization, forecast reliability, client confidence, and professional conduct

Work Environment and Employment Requirements

• Full-time, primarily in-office with client travel.
• Must be able to lawfully work in the U.S.
• Ability to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Ability to protect confidential client, employee, security, and company information.
• Compliance with FST policies, documentation standards, security requirements, and professional conduct expectations.
• Positions that access criminal justice or regulated client environments may require U.S. citizenship, a valid driver's license, an acceptable driving record, MSHP/federal fingerprint-based background screening, and CJIS training/certification as applicable to the assignment.

Why Join FST

• Visible impact in a growing technology-services company.
• Exposure to diverse client environments and business challenges.
• A culture built around accountability, professional development, continuous improvement, and client partnership.
• Opportunity to help shape FST 2.0 operating standards and scalable service delivery.

Forward Slash Technology provides equal employment opportunities consistent with applicable law. This description summarizes the general nature and level of work and may be updated as business needs evolve through approved governance and employment processes.