Systems Engineer

Who we are

We are one of the largest international law firms in the world. With over 30 offices across the globe, we strive to exceed the expectations of our clients, providing them with the highest-quality advice and legal insight, which combines the firm’s global standards with in-depth local expertise.

Our firm, work and people span jurisdictions, cultures, and languages. We offer our clients a truly international perspective. We believe every career should be rewarding and stimulating - full of opportunities to learn, thrive, and grow. That’s why we’re so proud of our inclusive, friendly, and team-based approach to work.

You’ll find our clients in commercial and industrial sectors, the financial investor community, governments, regulators, trade bodies, and not-for-profit organisations. But no matter who they are or why they’ve reached out to us, we provide a world-class service every step of the way. And that’s possible thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit and conscientious approach to work that you’ll find across all of our teams.

Whichever area of the business you join, you’ll become an integral part an innovative, diverse and ambitious team of people. Clifford Chance is a place where the brightest minds and the best of colleagues meet.

Job Description

The role

The System Engineer role is within the System Engineering team which consists of a global team comprising 8 staff. The System Engineering team is responsible for design, implementation, and escalation support for a variety of globally used technology including VMware vSphere, Microsoft Active Directory (including DNS and DHCP), Microsoft Server operating system, compute hardware and Azure platform escalation support.

Key Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be experienced using VMware vSphere, Microsoft Windows Server (2019 and 2022), Active Directory (2016 or 2022), Microsoft Configuration Manager and Microsoft Azure IaaS (including Entra ID, Entra Connect, Entra SSO) along with knowledge of other mainstream Microsoft and other enterprise products.

As well as providing day-to-day 3rd and 4th line support for business-critical applications, they will also have a good all-round understanding of back-office infrastructure, with proven practical experience designing, managing, monitoring and maintaining a large, globally dispersed server infrastructure.

They must possess excellent written and oral communication skills, will be equally comfortable interacting with non-technical people and to work as part of a team to quickly establish credibility with colleagues.

They must demonstrate an attention to detail, commitment to their work and flexibility in dealing with unforeseen operational requirements.

As a member of the Systems Engineering team, reporting to the Service Owner of Wintel & Virtualisation, the successful candidate's duties will include, but are not limited to:

• Providing 3rd and 4th line support of physical and virtual Windows servers and associated wintel based back office infrastructure e.g. AD, CM (Config Manager), DFS, DHCP, DNS, SCOM.

• Providing design, management and technical engineering support for the Microsoft Azure platform (including IaaS & PasS offerings).

• In-depth diagnosis, troubleshooting, test, resolution of problems and issues with VMware vSphere (ESXi and vCenter), Windows Server and Configuration Manager.

• Ongoing maintenance of standards, processes and procedures relating to Systems Engineering supported services. Proactive scheduled maintenance along with BCP & DR.

• Support the implementation of new technologies, solutions and services aligned with current industry best practice and IT strategy.

• Providing design and engineering input, guidance and support to the firm's Global Project Group, Architecture Team and support staff located in the firm's outsource partner in India. Undertake the role of subject matter expert for any projects which require input and have an impact in the "Wintel and Virtualisation" infrastructure.

Inclusion in an on-call rota to provide out-of-hours escalation support. Available for occasional involvement in Change related activities during planned weekend maintenance window.

Qualifications

Your experience

Skills:

Mandatory Skills

The following skills at Level 3/4 support are mandatory for this role:

• Windows Server 2016, 2019 and 2022 operating systems

• VMware vSphere (ESXi 7.0 & 8.0, vCenter, SRM and SkyLine)

• Microsoft Azure Portal and infrastructure management (Entra ID, Entra Connect, Entra SSO)

• Active Directory 2016 and related services

• CM (Configuration Manager) current branch

You will also possess excellent skills and knowledge relating to all aspects of back-office infrastructure, systems and security.

• Proficient in the Microsoft Azure IaaS and PaaS platform with previous experience in design, implementation and management of IaaS and PaaS services is ideal though not essential.

• Proficient in the monitoring of production systems using SCOM 2019 and above, which includes the implementation, development and configuration of Management Packs.

Experience:

To perform this role you will be an experienced Wintel Systems Engineer, ideally with previous VMware experience and\or a thorough knowledge of Microsoft Back Office infrastructure solutions. Possessing a detailed understanding of Microsoft's Server OS and VMware's virtualisation technologies together with experience of Azure and cloud services, you will have:

• Extensive experience managing and maintaining a large server base of Windows Server 2016, 2019 and 2022, ideally using VMware ESXi 7.0 and above on HPE Rack, Blade and Synergy server hardware (including firmware patching and security vulnerability management).

• Experience managing and maintaining the Microsoft Azure Cloud platform via the Azure Portal including Entra ID, Entra Connect, Entra SSO.

Preferred Skills

In addition, knowledge of the following is strongly preferred for this role:

• PKI Certificate infrastructure

• Microsoft Defender Antivirus and Defender Endpoint

• Knowledge of SCOM 2019 and above

• Knowledge of Microsoft Orchestrator

• PowerShell 5- 7 & Azure CLI

• Knowledge of Linux\UNIX commands

• Windows 10 & 11

• Microsoft Office 365 Suite (inc, Visio)

Knowledge:

• A detailed knowledge of Server technologies, including; security & protection, back-up, clustering, file & print, , IIS, DNS, DHCP, AD Certificate Services. (Knowledge of best practice guidance from CIS Controls v8, ISO27001/2 and NIST STIG will be beneficial).

• A detailed knowledge of Active Directory Services, such as, AD DS, GPOs, DNS, DHCP, AD CS, etc.

• A working knowledge of at least one scripting language, specifically the development and use of PowerShell scripts.

• Knowledge of VMware virtualisation technologies, VMware ESXi 7.0 and above is preferable with special consideration given for exceptional Microsoft experienced engineers.

• Accustomed to working within the ITIL framework of Incident, Problem, Change and Release Management.

• Familiarity with; Microsoft Defender Antivirus and Defender Endpoint configuration and support, ServiceNow, Unix & Linux based systems, Microsoft SQL & Oracle databases, will be an advantage.

Qualifications:

Certification

• Microsoft MCSE/MCSA certification, Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate (preferred)

• VMware VCP certification (preferred)

• ITIL V3/4 (preferred)

Education

Minimum degree level education of a B. Tech. / B.E. / MCA/ BCA or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Systems Engineering or equivalent related field.

Additional Information

Hybrid Working

This role follows our 'balanced' hybrid working approach and as long as business needs allow, you will be supported to work in a hybrid way with the expectation of working from the office for a minimum of 50% of your time.

Equal opportunities statement

At Clifford Chance, we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our firm and society.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age. This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment.

We have a variety of flourishing employee networks. These networks are a place for colleagues to share experiences and advocate for change wherever they see an opportunity for improvement.

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm.