Sr Systems Engineer, Cloud Operations

General Summary
The Sr Systems Engineer, Cloud Operations is responsible for the design and operation of high-performance cloud and on-premises, large Infrastructure-as-Code that powers LAIKA’s feature animation pipeline and business operations in an IDE. This position works collaboratively with artists and technologists to ensure the success of projects and guide the studio’s technology infrastructure into the future.   

Job Functions 

• Responsible for implementation of cloud render, storage, and workstations.
• Ensure availability, security, and performance of studio-wide cloud infrastructure.
• Administer bare metal and virtualized server infrastructure, on-premises and cloud.
• Continuously and proactively monitor, analyze, and optimize metrics and KPIs; develop tools and methods for measuring system availability and performance.
• Develop tools to forecast cloud expenditures and TCO.
• Design render farms, burst rendering methods, and advanced caching mechanisms.
• Document configurations, workflows, and procedures.
• Create Infrastructure-as-Code and automate software packages, systems, and platforms.
• Serve as an escalation point to troubleshoot and resolve performance and reliability issues in production environments. 

Qualifications 

• 8+ years’ experience with on-premises, public, and private cloud systems engineering; extensive experience with AWS, GCP and Azure.
• 8+ years’ experience developing systems automation tools. Knowledge of major configuration management solutions (e.g., Foreman/Satellite, Terraform, Ansible, Salt, Chef, Puppet, Stackstorm, and n8n), is preferred.
• 5+ years of experience building and supporting highly available, large infrastructure (systems and storage) at scale in a fast-paced production environment. Experience with scale-out NAS systems and high-performance storage (e.g., Qumulo, Isilon, Quantum, NetApp and Avid Nexis), is preferred.
• Expertise in infrastructure as code with the ability to design, code, test and enhance scripts for automation and management of architecture services (e.g., Python, GO, Shell, Zig, Rust and, Ruby). 
• Deep knowledge of the various operating systems (e.g., RHEL, CentOS, Rocky, Windows and MacOS).
• Extensive experience in the M&E industry and strong familiarity with the VFX DCC tools (Maya, Renderman, Katana, Nuke and Houdini) as well as Post-Production applications (Resolve, Transcoder, Avid and Premiere) is highly desirable.
• Experience with scale-out NAS systems and high-performance storage (e.g., Qumulo, Isilon, Quantum, NetApp and Avid Nexis), preferred.
• Knowledge of Container Platforms (e.g. Docker, Kubernetes, Openshift).
• Experience with Kanban, Scrum and related methodologies, preferred.
• Strong experience in developing and operating monitoring, measurements, and tuning systems for optimal performance and 24/7 reliability.
• Ability to work in confined spaces (e.g., data centers and closets).
• Well organized with strong planning, problem solving and exceptional analytical skills. 

Physical Demands and Work Environment
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

• Physical demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to walk; stand; sit; use hands to operate standard office equipment; reach with hands and arms; balance; stoop; talk or hear both in person and by telephone. The employee must lift and/or move up to 45 pounds. Vision abilities include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Work environment: While performing the duties of this job, the employee works under typical office conditions and is exposed to variable indoor temperatures. The noise level is usually quiet or moderate.  

Location 
On-site in Hillsboro, OR, and also eligible for hybrid work.
Salary 
Salary is commensurate with skills and experience.
Disclaimer
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified.

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