Senior Virtual Desktop Engineer

Gotham Technology Group; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Gotham Technology Group in New York, NY is seeking a Senior Virtual Desktop Engineer to lead the design, deployment, and optimization of enterprise virtual desktop environments across on-premises and cloud platforms. You will drive the migration from Citrix CVAD to Azure Virtual Desktop and Citrix DaaS, while delivering scalable, secure, and high-performing user environments.

The role requires 7+ years of enterprise VDI experience, strong Citrix expertise, and hands-on skills with Windows,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• 7+ years designing, administering, and supporting enterprise VDI environments.
• Strong hands-on experience with Citrix CVAD in large-scale on-premises environments.
• Experience with Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and/or Citrix DaaS including host pools and Apps groups.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior engineer for architecture, reliability, performance, security, and improvements of the enterprise VDI environment.
• Provide hands-on engineering and operational support for Citrix and AVD environments, including incidents and escalations.
• Troubleshoot complex issues across desktops, profiles, authentication, networking, and performance.
• Partner with IT leadership to drive migration from CVAD to AVD and Citrix DaaS.
• Develop automation and documentation to improve efficiency and standardize processes.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field

Tools

Citrix CVAD

Azure Virtual Desktop

PowerShell

Active Directory

Windows Server

Job description

Location: New York, NY - Hybrid, 2-3 days/week onsite

Type: Permanent / Full-Time

Overview

A leading global professional services organization is seeking a Senior Virtual Desktop Engineer to join its Enterprise Platforms team. This is a senior engineering role responsible for the architecture, design, implementation, optimization, and ongoing support of enterprise virtual desktop environments across on-premises and cloud platforms.

The organization is actively evolving its end-user computing environment, including the migration from on-premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD) to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and Citrix DaaS.

The ideal candidate will have 7+ years of enterprise virtual desktop engineering experience, with deep expertise in Citrix and strong experience with AVD, Windows, Active Directory, PowerShell, user profiles, application delivery, and virtualized infrastructure. The successful candidate will be a hands-on problem solver who can manage complex operational issues while contributing to architecture, migration, automation, and platform-improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

Virtual Desktop Engineering & Operations

• Serve as a senior engineer supporting the architecture, reliability, performance, security, and continuous improvement of the enterprise virtual desktop environment.
• Provide hands-on engineering and operational support for Citrix and AVD environments, including incidents, service requests, problems, escalations, and platform initiatives.
• Troubleshoot complex issues involving virtual desktops, Windows, user profiles, application delivery, authentication, networking, and performance.
• Prioritize and resolve issues within established SLAs while balancing operational support with engineering projects and platform improvements.
• Support system upgrades, maintenance activities, disaster recovery testing, and scheduled work outside normal business hours as required.

Architecture, Strategy & Migration

• Partner with senior IT leadership and engineering teams on the architecture, design, implementation, and optimization of virtual desktop environments.
• Contribute to the strategy and execution of the migration from on-premises CVAD to AVD and Citrix DaaS.
• Design and implement scalable, resilient, secure, and high-performing virtual desktop solutions.
• Evaluate and implement end-user computing technologies including AVD, Citrix DaaS, FSLogix, Citrix User Profile Management, and related personalization and application-control solutions.
• Assess existing environments, identify technical risks and operational priorities, and take ownership of assigned engineering workstreams.

Cross-Functional Troubleshooting

• Collaborate with Infrastructure, Network, Security, Application, Service Delivery, and other IT teams to deliver integrated enterprise solutions.
• Provide advanced technical support for escalated virtual desktop, Windows, application, endpoint, authentication, and networking issues.
• Identify root causes, develop sustainable solutions, and implement improvements that enhance platform stability and user experience.

Automation & Documentation

• Develop and maintain PowerShell scripts and automation to improve operational efficiency, consistency, monitoring, and reporting.
• Create and maintain technical documentation, architecture diagrams, operational procedures, and implementation standards.
• Provide technical guidance, mentoring, and knowledge transfer to engineering and support teams.

Qualifications

Required Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 7+ years of experience designing, administering, engineering, and supporting enterprise virtual desktop environments.
• Strong hands-on experience with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD) in large-scale, on-premises environments.
• Experience with Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and/or Citrix DaaS, including host pools, session hosts, application groups, workspaces, Cloud Connectors, resource locations, and hybrid environments.
• Experience with CVAD-to-AVD and/or Citrix DaaS migrations.
• Strong knowledge of AVD image management, scaling, identity, networking, and profile integration.
• Strong experience with FSLogix and Citrix profile/personalization technologies.
• Extensive experience with Windows desktop/server operating systems, Active Directory, Group Policy, and PowerShell.
• Strong understanding of virtualized infrastructure, including Microsoft Hyper-V.
• Experience with Citrix technologies such as Citrix ADC, Gateway, StoreFront, Delivery Controllers, Machine Creation Services (MCS), Provisioning Services, and Citrix Cloud.
• Experience supporting enterprise operational environments, including incident management, escalations, troubleshooting, and SLA-driven ticket queues.

Preferred Experience

• Ivanti Application Control and/or Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC).
• Nerdio Manager for Enterprise or similar AVD management and automation platforms.
• Working knowledge of Azure networking and infrastructure.
• Experience with VMware, AWS, or other enterprise virtualization/cloud platforms.
• Experience with disaster recovery, platform migrations, and enterprise infrastructure modernization.
• Prior consulting or contract experience within a large enterprise environment.

Professional Skills

• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills with the ability to resolve complex infrastructure issues independently.
• Comfortable balancing day-to-day operational support with longer-term engineering and migration initiatives.
• Able to quickly understand complex enterprise environments and take ownership of multiple workstreams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical issues and project status to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong documentation and knowledge-transfer skills.
• Collaborative, proactive, and comfortable working in a fast-paced enterprise environment.

Certifications

The following certifications are a plus:

• Citrix certifications, including CCP-V or CCE-V.