The Senior Systems Architect is a senior technical leader responsible for the architecture, engineering, standardization, and evolution of enterprise compute and infrastructure platforms.
This role requires broad hands-on expertise across enterprise virtualization, Windows and Linux, server infrastructure, automation, containers, and compute integration with storage and networking. The successful candidate will be equally comfortable developing architecture strategy, evaluating new technologies, creating automation, and troubleshooting complex production issues.
A primary objective of the role is transforming infrastructure operations from manual administration into standardized, automated, policy-driven platform services. The architect will establish technical standards, lead modernization efforts, reduce operational complexity, and improve reliability, scalability, security, and cost efficiency.
The role works closely with Data Center Operations, Storage Architecture, Network Engineering, Security, Cloud Engineering, Application teams, Manufacturing, and technology vendors.
Key Responsibilities
Infrastructure Architecture & Engineering
- Serve as a senior technical authority for enterprise compute, virtualization, Windows, Linux, container, and server infrastructure.
- Develop architecture standards and reference designs for scalable, resilient, secure, and supportable infrastructure.
- Architect virtualization and compute solutions across platforms such as Hyper-V, VMware, Nutanix AHV/KVM, and emerging technologies.
- Define standards for operating system deployment, configuration, lifecycle management, patching, upgrades, security, high availability, disaster recovery, capacity, and performance.
- Establish enterprise server hardware standards covering compute, memory, accelerators, firmware, network interfaces, power, cooling, and lifecycle management.
- Evaluate new infrastructure technologies through technical assessments, proof-of-concepts, benchmarking, and total-cost-of-ownership analysis.
- Lead complex troubleshooting and root-cause analysis across compute, virtualization, operating systems, storage, networking, and application dependencies.
- Drive platform modernization, consolidation, migration, technology refresh, and infrastructure lifecycle initiatives.
Automation, AI & Platform Engineering
- Lead infrastructure automation and platform-engineering strategy across compute and related data center technologies.
- Identify repetitive operational activities and replace them with standardized, automated, policy-driven workflows.
- Develop automation using technologies such as PowerShell, Python, Ansible, Terraform, APIs, Git, and CI/CD platforms.
- Apply Infrastructure as Code and software-engineering practices including source control, reusable modules, peer review, testing, release management, and automated validation.
- Automate provisioning, configuration, patching, upgrades, firmware, compliance, vulnerability remediation, monitoring integration, and infrastructure retirement.
- Integrate automation with enterprise systems including ITSM, CMDB, observability, security, vulnerability management, and asset management.
- Develop self-service and API-driven infrastructure capabilities that reduce manual administrative work.
- Evaluate and responsibly apply AI, AI agents, and agentic automation to infrastructure engineering, operations, troubleshooting, documentation, and analysis.
Infrastructure Integration
- Partner with the Principal Storage Architect to ensure compute and virtualization platforms integrate effectively with enterprise storage.
- Define compute-side requirements for storage connectivity, availability, capacity, performance, resiliency, and interoperability.
- Own architecture and standards for server and hypervisor networking, including host connectivity, NIC configuration, virtual networking, resiliency, performance, and storage-related network traffic.
- Partner with Network Engineering on physical connectivity, VLANs, routing, addressing, network fabrics, and data center network integration.
- Maintain clear ownership boundaries: this role owns server and hypervisor networking; enterprise switching, routing, firewall, and network architecture remain with Network Engineering.
- Work with infrastructure vendors on technology roadmaps, platform supportability, lifecycle planning, technical escalations, and architecture evaluations.
Technical Leadership
- Develop and maintain architecture standards, reference architectures, technology roadmaps, design documentation, and architecture decisions.
- Establish standards for infrastructure reliability, security, observability, lifecycle management, automation, and supportability.
- Evaluate technologies based on scalability, performance, reliability, security, operational complexity, automation potential, and total cost of ownership.
- Partner with Security teams on infrastructure hardening, vulnerability management, compliance, and Zero Trust requirements.
- Present technical strategies, risks, tradeoffs, and investment recommendations to engineering and executive leadership.
- Serve as a senior escalation resource and mentor engineers across the infrastructure organization.
- Lead cross-functional technical initiatives and drive consensus across organizations without requiring direct authority.
- 12+ years of progressive enterprise infrastructure engineering, architecture, or closely related experience, including substantial hands-on responsibility for production environments.
- Demonstrated experience designing and supporting large-scale, business-critical enterprise infrastructure.
- Deep experience with one or more enterprise virtualization platforms such as Hyper-V, VMware, Nutanix AHV, KVM, or comparable technologies, with the ability to rapidly learn additional platforms.
- Strong enterprise experience with Windows Server and Linux.
- Experience with container technologies and orchestration platforms such as Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift, or comparable platforms.
- Significant experience with enterprise server platforms such as HPE, Dell, or comparable technologies.
- Strong understanding of storage and networking sufficient to design and troubleshoot compute integration with those technologies.
- Demonstrated infrastructure automation experience using PowerShell, Python, Ansible, Terraform, APIs, or comparable technologies.
- Experience applying Infrastructure as Code, source control, CI/CD, configuration management, or similar software-engineering practices to infrastructure.
- Proven ability to troubleshoot complex issues across multiple infrastructure domains.
- Demonstrated ability to create technical standards and translate architecture into successful production implementations.
Preferred Experience
Experience in several of the following areas is beneficial; candidates are not expected to have expertise in all of them:
- Nutanix, KVM, HCI, or software-defined infrastructure
- Kubernetes or enterprise container platforms
- Azure Arc, Azure Local, or hybrid infrastructure
- GitOps, Infrastructure as Code, and CI/CD
- AI-assisted engineering and agentic automation
- Enterprise monitoring and observability
- ITSM, CMDB, security, and vulnerability-management integration
- Redfish, REST APIs, and hardware-management automation
- Data center infrastructure management
- Large-scale platform migrations and technology refresh programs
- Manufacturing, semiconductor, high-performance engineering, or similarly complex environments
Key Competencies
- Deep technical curiosity and the ability to rapidly learn unfamiliar technologies.
- Comfortable moving between strategic architecture and hands-on technical investigation.
- Strong bias toward automation, standardization, simplification, and elimination of repetitive work.
- Strong analytical approach to reliability, performance, scalability, security, supportability, and cost.
- Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both engineering and executive audiences.
- Ability to work across organizational boundaries and influence technical direction without direct authority.
- Strong mentoring skills and a desire to raise the technical capability of the broader organization.
- Willingness to challenge established assumptions using data, testing, and engineering analysis.
Western Digital is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not discriminate against any applicant or employee based on their race, color, ancestry, religion (including religious dress and grooming standards), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), gender (including a person’s gender identity, gender expression, and gender-related appearance and behavior, whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth), age, national origin, sexual orientation, medical condition, marital status (including domestic partnership status), physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, protected medical and family care leave, Civil Air Patrol status, military and veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. We also prohibit harassment of any individual on any of the characteristics listed above. Our non-discrimination policy applies to all aspects of employment. We comply with the laws and regulations set forth in the "Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster. Our pay transparency policy is available here.
Western Digital thrives on the power and potential of diversity. As a global company, we believe the most effective way to embrace the diversity of our customers and communities is to mirror it from within. We believe the fusion of various perspectives results in the best outcomes for our employees, our company, our customers, and the world around us. We are committed to an inclusive environment where every individual can thrive through a sense of belonging, respect and contribution.
Western Digital is committed to offering opportunities to applicants with disabilities and ensuring all candidates can successfully navigate our careers website and our hiring process. Please contact us at [email protected] to advise us of your accommodation request. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.
Based on our experience, we anticipate that the application deadline will be 1.6.2027, although we reserve the right to close the application process sooner if we hire an applicant for this position before the application deadline. If we are not able to hire someone from this role before the application deadline, we will update this posting with a new anticipated application deadline.
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Compensation & Benefits Details
- An employee’s pay position within the salary range may be based on several factors including but not limited to (1) relevant education; qualifications; certifications; and experience; (2) skills, ability, knowledge of the job; (3) performance, contribution and results; (4) geographic location; (5) shift; (6) internal and external equity; and (7) business and organizational needs.
- The salary range is what we believe to be the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and this range is only applicable for jobs to be performed in California, Colorado, New York or remote jobs that can be performed in California, Colorado and New York. This range may be modified in the future.
- If your position is non-exempt, you are eligible for overtime pay pursuant to company policy and applicable laws. You may also be eligible for shift differential pay, depending on the shift to which you are assigned.
You will be eligible to be considered for bonuses under either WD’s Short Term Incentive Plan (“STI Plan”) or the Sales Incentive Plan (“SIP”) which provides incentive awards based on Company and individual performance, depending on your role and your performance. You may be eligible to participate in our annual Long-Term Incentive (LTI) program, which consists of restricted stock units (RSUs) or cash equivalents, pursuant to the terms of the LTI plan. Please note that not all roles are eligible to participate in the LTI program, and not all roles are eligible for equity under the LTI plan. RSU awards are also available to eligible new hires, subject to WD's Standard Terms and Conditions for Restricted Stock Unit Awards.
- We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid vacation time; paid sick leave; medical/dental/vision insurance; life, accident and disability insurance; tax-advantaged flexible spending and health savings accounts; employee assistance program; other voluntary benefit programs such as supplemental life and AD&D, legal plan, pet insurance, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity; tuition reimbursement; transit; the Applause Program; employee stock purchase plan; and the WD Savings 401(k) Plan.
- Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, benefits, or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole discretion, consistent with the law.
Notice To Candidates: Please be aware that WD and its subsidiaries will never request payment as a condition for applying for a position or receiving an offer of employment. Should you encounter any such requests, please report it immediately to WD Ethics Helpline or email [email protected].