Senior Systems Engineer

Why join us?

Are you looking to join a dynamic pension plan that embodies the strong values of its 500,000 members and is an industry leading global investor? If so, we would love to tell you our story.

At OMERS we put our people first and are proud to embrace the diversity of thought and leadership that comes from having locations in Toronto, London, New York, Singapore, Sydney and other major cities across North America and Europe. Our culture is truly one of a kind. We get stuff done, and have fun doing it! We take great pride in contributing to the communities where we live with an ever-constant eye to the global investment markets.

The Senior Systems Engineer has a key role within our Information Technology team. It is dedicated to the development, implementation, and full lifecycle management of our hybrid-cloud capabilities, with a particular emphasis on Azure. This role requires broad and deep technical knowledge and the ability to collaborate with technical SMEs across enterprise teams. The successful candidate will play a crucial part in modernizing our infrastructure technologies and processes, aligning them with a modern cloud operating model.

Key Responsibilities

1. Infrastructure Management

Contribute to the installation, configuration, and operational management of the following platforms and technology with full accountability across the technology lifecycle:

1)Virtualized server workloads including:

Windows Server

RedHat Linux

2) Leading public and hybrid cloud platforms:

Microsoft Azure

Google Cloud Platform

VMware vSphere

3) Infrastructure-as-code (IaC) and automation technologies (Terraform, Ansible, etc.)

4) Availability and disaster recovery capabilities, including data replication, orchestration, and run books.

5) Responsible for change initiation, approval, and implementation for systems under management.

2. Operational Excellence

Proactively manage and monitor infrastructure platforms and workloads. Performs regular health checks, patches, upgrades, and maintenance as required. Initiate and implement system changes, manage system capacity, and continuously improve delivery and quality of infrastructure and cloud services.

3. Automation and Modernization

Embrace modern-day practices akin to DevOps to operate the environment efficiently. This includes analyzing operations to pinpoint automation opportunities and modernizing management practices with the latest automation strategies. Design and implement infrastructure automation systems essential for an Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) model. Prioritize consistency of configuration through automation to enhance service levels, manage configuration drift, and detect anomalies at scale. Stay abreast of new automation technologies and practices to foster continuous improvement and innovation.

4. Customer Support

Provide daily support to customers, focusing on server operations, troubleshooting, as well as backup and restore operations. Ensure high levels of customer satisfaction and maintain strong customer relationships.

5. Documentation and Compliance

Provide and maintain accurate documentation, including fleet inventory, infrastructure standards, security hardening, configuration specifications, and operational processes. Understand and comply with OMERS security standards and policies. Incorporate and adhere to security requirements with all solution designs and implementations.

6. Strategy and Support

Support the team in delivering strategic roadmaps that evolve the infrastructure portfolio, providing subject matter expertise as these roadmaps are planned and executed. Act as a technical SME involved in major incidents affecting hybrid cloud platforms, server and storage workloads, or related automation systems. Assist in the identification of underlying root causes and remediation activities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in a relevant field (computer science, information systems management, engineering)
• Leading technology/vendor certifications including Microsoft, AWS, Google, and VMware

Skills

• Proficiency in Windows Server and/or Linux Server management, including administration, configuration, optimization, and troubleshooting.
• Expertise in infrastructure automation and coding - Terraform, Bash/PowerShell scripting, Python, Ansible.
• Proficient in using source code management systems for scripts and automations, such as GitHub.
• Comprehensive understanding of multi-tiered, highly available, scalable infrastructure environments.
• Expertise in hybrid cloud (Azure, GCP, and VMware) design, implementation, and support.
• Advanced knowledge of containerization and microservices (Kubernetes, Docker, AKS, GKE).
• Proven skills in data protection and recovery strategies, including backup, restore, and disaster recovery operations.
• Deep understanding of the solution development and delivery life cycle, as well as governance and operational practices.

Experience

• 8+ years of relevant IT experience
• 5+ years of experience as a systems/cloud engineer
• Experience with automation systems, infrastructure-as-code (IaC), and managing environments in an automated fashion.
• Experience with high availability and disaster recovery design, network, and security integrations
• Financial sector experience is an asset.
• Experience with technology product evaluation, selection, acquisition, and deployment processes
• Experience with calculating the total cost of ownership of an infrastructure solution.
• Experience with the preparation of technical design, implementation, system administration, and operational documentation

Personal Attributes

• Ability to analyze, assess systems, processes, and issues and devise creative solutions.
• Strong mentorship skills
• Exceptional project, organizational and time management skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with internal and external technical resources.

We believe that time together in the office is important for OMERS and Oxford, the strength of our employees, and the work we do for our pension members. In delivering on our pension promise, keeping us connected to our work and each other, our flexible hybrid work guideline requires teams to come in to the office 3 days per week.

Our story:

Founded in 1962, OMERS is one of Canada's largest defined benefit pension plans, with $128.6 CAD billion in net assets as of December 31, 2023. OMERS is a jointly-sponsored pension plan, with more than 1,000 participating employers ranging from large cities to local agencies, and over half a million active, deferred and retired members. OMERS members include union and non-union employees of municipalities, school boards, local boards, transit systems, electrical utilities, emergency services and children's aid societies across Ontario. Contributions to the Plan are funded equally by members and employers. OMERS teams work in Toronto, London, New York, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Singapore, Sydney and other major cities across North America and Europe - serving members and employers and originating and managing a diversified portfolio of high-quality investments in public markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate.

OMERS is committed to having a workforce that reflects the communities in which we live and work. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to a barrier-free recruitment and selection process. At OMERS inclusion and diversity means belonging. How we create a sense of belonging is through our employees and our vast network of Employee Resource Groups. Whether you are passionate about gender, pride, or visible minorities, we have groups that are focused on making a difference in all of our lives.