Storage & Compute Architect

Come join WWT, where we utilize our expertise in thought leadership and advanced technical skills to tackle our customers’ problems and deliver effective solutions. As part of our team, you will play a crucial role in a project that involves transitioning and consolidating technology services for a global customer. Your extensive knowledge of integrations, technical dependencies, and future state requirements will be invaluable in this endeavor. Want to work with highly motivated individuals on high-performance teams? Join WWT today

At World Wide Technology, we work together to make a new world happen. Our important work benefits our clients and partners as much as it does our people and communities across the globe. WWT is dedicated to achieving its mission of creating a profitable growth company that is also a Great Place to Work for All. We achieve this through our world-class culture, generous benefits and by delivering cutting-edge technology solutions for our clients.

WWT was founded in 1990 in St. Louis, Missouri. We employ more than 10,000 people globally and closed nearly $20 billion in revenue in 2023. We have an inclusive culture and believe our core values are the key to company and employee success. WWT is proud to have been included on the FORTUNE "100 Best Places to Work For®" list 12 years in a row

What is the Enterprise Solutions and Architecture Team and why join?

Collaborate and be a part of a team of knowledgeable and trustworthy individuals. As the leading force, the ES&A team collaborates with our customers to implement major technological changes and enhancements to address business obstacles. We utilize cutting-edge tools and technology to automate and coordinate numerous components, ensuring that “transformational” becomes the “steady state”.

What will you be doing?

The Storage & Compute Architect has a primary objective is to support Infrastructure Services by maintaining a high level of technical expertise in Storage & Compute Architecture, supporting delivery teams and engineers in the deployment of Services, and serving as an escalation point for delivery engineers. You will also be responsible for assisting with introducing new services, including developing and documenting deployment methodologies, and working with delivery teams to develop those capabilities in the field.

This can include meeting with customers in a role that requires a deep understanding of server hardware, virtualization technologies, and storage solutions to ensure high availability and performance of IT services.

The Storage & Compute Architect may be assigned to lead customer-facing Services projects of varying size and complexity that will often include the development of project deliverables (examples include white papers, plans, strategies, designs, assessments, and business case analyses). When the Storage & Compute Architect is designated the Solution / Technical leader, they will combine with PMO leadership to form the “Two in the Box” model, a vital part of WWTs approach to driving successful project outcomes.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Pre/Post sales consultant to WWT’s Enterprise clients.
• Review client deliverables to identify opportunities to improve quality through training, mentoring, product offering improvement, and talent acquisition
• Monitor infrastructure performance and troubleshoot problem areas as needed
• Conduct research on advanced and next-generation compute, storage, and networking infrastructure to remain abreast of developments in the industry
• System Design: Design and architect high-performance computing systems, including hardware, software, and networking components, to meet the organization's compute requirements
• Storage Design: Design and architect storage solutions to meet the organization's data storage and retrieval requirements, considering factors such as capacity, performance, reliability, and scalability.
• Storage Provisioning: Provision storage resources, including SAN, NAS, and object storage systems, to meet the data storage requirements of various applications and workloads.
• Data Protection: Implement data protection mechanisms, including backup, replication, and disaster recovery solutions, to ensure the integrity and availability of critical data.
• Performance Optimization: Optimize storage performance by analyzing workload characteristics, identifying bottlenecks, and implementing solutions to improve throughput and latency.
• Documentation: Create and maintain documentation for computing systems, including architectural diagrams, configuration guides, and operational procedures.

Pre-Sales Support:

• Work with Customers, Technical Solutions Architects, Client Services Executives, and Account teams to identify customer’s desired business and technical outcomes.
• Identify required resource types, levels of effort, and work breakdown structures required to formulate high-quality statements of work.
• Conduct project launch workshops and project scoping workshops prior to delivery engagement.
• Proper management, maintenance, and adherence to SLAs of assigned pre-sales opportunities within Salesforce as defined in SFDC guidelines.

Project/Program Oversight and Support:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with delivery management, project management, and engineering teams nationally.
• Actively participate and support delivery engineers throughout all phases of a project, including Project Launch Workshops, Kickoff calls, lessons learned, etc.
• Review client deliverables to identify opportunities to improve quality through training, mentoring, product offering improvement, and talent acquisition.
• Development of implementation and backout plans.
• Interview delivery engineering candidates to determine proper technical and personality fit based on the project and customer’s specific needs.
• Ensure standards and delivery methodologies are being followed, and appropriate internal and/or partner resources are available to meet the current and future demands of the project.

Post Sales Billable Delivery:

• Create High-Level Design (HLD) and Low-Level Design (LLD) documentation.
• Create change/cut window Method of Procedure (MOP) documentation.
• Perform advanced engineering services supporting the engineering delivery team when necessary.
• Champion the delivery of complex Storage & Compute solutions.
• Provide technical guidance, knowledge transfers, and mentorship as required.
• Responsible for creating documentation for Storage & Compute technologies.
• Perform SME and hands-on delivery engagements as needed.
• Participate in customer-facing escalations.
• Must be able to identify, manage, and resolve conflict.
• Must be a strong, creative problem solver.
• Responsible for the identification of additional business opportunities.
• Must have the ability to identify and address risk before problems occur.
• Must understand the technologies in play and how they help meet customer business goals.
• Must have the ability to lead a team of delivery engineers.

Job Description

QUALIFICATIONS / EXPERIENCE:

• Expert in design, implementation, and management of physical and virtual environments including VMware, Hyper-V, KVM and Nutanix.
• Build and administer storage solutions, including direct attached, SAN, NAS, and cloud storage, ensuring data availability and integrity.
• Monitor system performance, troubleshoot issues, and ensure efficient operation of compute and storage resources.
• Conduct capacity planning and provide recommendations for infrastructure enhancements.
• Stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends to drive innovation and efficiency.
• Design and implement advanced functions related to compute resources (servers, virtual machines, containers)
• Be proficient in storage systems including file, object storage, block and databases.
• Optimize data storage and retrieval mechanisms for performance, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.
• Drive architecture discussions related to cloud security, privacy, and compliance.
• Strong knowledge of server hardware, virtualization platforms, and storage technologies.
• Experience with cloud computing services (e.g. AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) is advantageous
• Certifications in relevant technologies are highly desirable.
• Proven track record of successfully managing and delivering complex IT projects on time and within budget, utilizing programmatic approaches e.g. Agile or Waterfall
• Demonstrated ability to design, develop, and implement scalable, reliable, and efficient technical solutions.
• Skilled in navigating uncertain and rapidly changing environments, with a proven ability to use data to identify core issues and make informed recommendations
• Exceptional problem-solving skills, with a knack for breaking down complex situations into manageable components, facilitating clear decision-making processes and action plans.
• Strong communication abilities especially when faced with incomplete information or shifting priorities.
• Expertise in aligning technical solutions with business objectives, demonstrating a deep understanding of how technology can drive efficiency, growth, and competitive advantage.
• Minimum five years (5) of industry experience in IT infrastructure architecture development and technology consulting, advisory, or professional services.
• Extensive large scale and high-performance computing experience required
• Highly Skilled in at least one (1) of the following with more being preferred: Nvidia GPU/DGX computing and/or other similar solutions, InfiniBand networking, Red Hat or other Linux distributions, infrastructure automation solutions.
• Experience with Kubernetes or other containerization solutions
• Experience with automation using Ansible, Terraform or other orchestration tools.
• Working knowledge of cloud interconnectivity or multicloud technologies (Equinix, Megaport, Aviatrix etc) is advantageous.
• Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills with the ability to work well in a collaborative environment.