Senior System Engineer

Job Summary

Pet Valu Canada is seeking a Senior System Engineer. The Senior System Engineer will play a critical role in designing, implementing, and optimizing enterprise infrastructure solutions across Pet Valu’s datacenter (co-lo and Warehouses) environments. This includes leading Windows and Linux server upgrades, enhancing virtualization platforms, Storage and driving modernization initiatives that support business continuity and scalability.

This individual will bring deep technical expertise and hands‑on experience to deliver complex infrastructure projects, while ensuring the reliability, security, and performance of core systems and datacenter services. The role requires close collaboration with external vendors and internal teams across Network, Digital, Cloud, Project Management, Security, and Enterprise Applications to align technology outcomes with business goals.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Safety

• Make the physical and mental safety of myself, my team, other ACEs and Devoted Pet Lovers a top priority.
• Ensure an inclusive environment for my team, other ACEs and Devoted Pet Lovers to feel safe asking questions without judgement.
• Follow all safety requirements of my role to ensure a safe workplace for myself and my team.

Compassion

• Work collaboratively with business partners to ensure key initiatives drive results and obtain financial objectives by providing meaningful, proactive technical analysis and support.

Expertise

• Ensures that internal controls are used to mitigate risks around Datacenter solutions are in place and operating effectively
• Expertise in complex Datacenter Environment with multiple sites within a retail IT landscape.
• Provide accurate and timely recommendations to management for decision making purposes by analyzing current systems and processes to understand the system.

Efficiency

• Improve the process through automation and modernization of processes such as Inventory Management, Patching, Monitoring, Vulnerability Management and Server Lifecycle Management.

Duties

• Leads end-to-end datacenter operations across on-premises and co-location environments, ensuring high availability, scalability, and lifecycle compliance.
• Oversees virtualization platforms such as VMware vSphere, vCenter, ESXi, vSAN, with a focus on performance optimization and resource planning.
• Executes infrastructure assessments to identify risks, modernization opportunities, and capacity constraints across compute and storage layers.
• Drives stabilization and upgrade initiatives for Dell servers, NetApp storage systems, and Cisco UCS environments, including firmware, BIOS, and hardware refresh cycles.
• Collaborates with cross-functional teams to support application migrations, dependency mapping, and seamless integration of infrastructure services.
• Provides L3 engineering support for datacenter platforms, ensuring alignment with compliance frameworks, disaster recovery readiness, and enterprise standards.
• Demonstrates deep technical proficiency in managing Windows and Linux platforms, including OS upgrades, patching, security hardening, and system consolidation.
• Demonstrate technical proficiency in Microsoft M365 – Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, Intune.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define technical requirements, design specifications, and migration strategies for transitioning on-premises infrastructure to the Azure cloud platform such as Jump boxes, File Servers, FTP servers and Application Servers.
• Develop and keep up to date comprehensive Rack diagrams, design diagrams, and documentation to guide implementation and ensure alignment with business objectives and industry best practices.
• Perform thorough reviews of all incidents and changes related to the system infrastructure, ensuring compliance with established policies, procedures, and standards.

Skills, Experience, Education, Certifications

• University graduation or equivalent experience
• 8-12 years of IT Datacenter Engineer experience
• 3–5 years of Azure and Microsoft 365 experience
• Hands-on experience with deployments - VMware vCenter, NetApp, Cisco UCS
• Experience with Windows Server upgrades (2012/2016 to 2022) and Linux migrations
• Excellent problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.
• Skilled in firmware, BIOS, and hardware lifecycle management for Dell and Cisco platforms
• Proficient in Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) deployment and optimization
• Strong troubleshooting and root cause analysis across compute and storage layers
• Good verbal and written communications skills
• Scripting and Automation Experience
• Relevant certifications (MCSE, VCP, Cisco Data Center) required

Competencies

• Business Acumen
  Knows how businesses work; knowledgeable in current and possible future policies, practices,
  trends, and information affecting his/her business and organization; knows the competition; is aware of how strategies and tactics work in the marketplace.
• Interpersonal Savvy
  Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably
• Problem Solving
  Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions; probes all fruitful sources for answers; can see hidden problems; is excellent at honest analysis; looks beyond the obvious and doesn't stop at the first answers.
• Accountability Consistently delivers quality work on time, with a strong attention to detail which ensures the accuracy of their results. Also has the mindset to be a proactive self-starter with an 'owner's mindset'.
• Drive For Results
  Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.