# IT Systems Engineer

**Company:** [xAI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/xai)
**Location:** Palo Alto, CA
**Role:** DevOps / SRE
**Salary:** $162k – $226k/yr
**Experience:** 3+ years
**Skills:** Windows, Linux, VMware, Vcenter, Puppet Enterprise, Netapp, Bash, Python, Perl, DevOps, CI/CD
**Posted:** 2026-03-06

> IT Systems Engineer builds, manages, and supports Windows/Linux infrastructure, VMware virtualization, and Puppet automation for corporate systems. Requires 3-5 years experience in systems engineering, troubleshooting, scripting, and on-call support in a fast-paced environment.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Building, managing, and supporting complex application stacks on **Windows** and Linux Servers.
- Providing **Windows and Linux troubleshooting and technical support**.
- Deploy, configure and support VMware technologies, including vCenter, ESX and Horizon.
- Use Puppet Enterprise to automate and manage configurations.
- Working with other engineering teams and third-party vendors to **implement scalable solutions**.
- Ensuring compliance by collaborating with **internal audit and compliance teams**.
- Developing and maintaining **standard operating procedures**.
- Participating in a **24/7 on-call support rotation**.
- Managing and monitoring **all installed Windows and Linux systems and infrastructure**.
- Installing, configuring, testing, and maintaining **operating systems and system management tools**.
- Proactively ensuring high levels of **system availability and reliability**.
- Monitoring and optimizing **application performance**, identifying bottlenecks, and collaborating with developers to implement solutions.
- Writing and maintaining **custom scripts** to improve system efficiency and automation.

## Required Qualifications
Highly skilled IT Systems Engineer with deep understanding of infrastructure management and automation. Ideal candidate has:
- **3 to 5 years of experience** in:
  - Systems Engineering for **Corporate Infrastructure**.
  - Managing large-scale **Windows and Linux server environments**.
  - **Virtualization at scale**.
  - **Configuration Management**.
  - Managing **scalable storage solutions**, preferably **NetApp**.
  - Developing and maintaining **performance metrics for systems**.
  - Strong understanding of **Puppet Enterprise and Puppet Open Source**.
- Strong understanding of **basic networking concepts**.
- Proficient with **using Puppet to automate and manage configurations**.
- Ability to **translate business needs into technical solutions**.
- Outstanding **analytical and problem-solving skills**.
- Strong **written and verbal communication skills**.
- Experience writing **technical design documents and maintaining documentation**.
- Familiarity with working in a **source-controlled environment**.
- Proficiency in **scripting languages** such as **Bash, Python, or Perl**.
- Experience with **VMware services**, including **VMware data center virtualization and VMware Horizon**.

## Preferred Qualifications
- Familiarity with **DevOps practices and CI/CD tools**.
- Knowledge of **orchestration tools**.

## Annual Salary Range
**$162,000 - $226,000**

## Benefits
Base salary is just one part of total rewards package, which also includes equity, comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, access to a 401(k) retirement plan, short & long-term disability insurance, life insurance, and various other discounts and perks.

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