Senior Virtualization Engineer

Sterling is a Global Solutions Integrator that provides information technology, systems engineering and professional services to customers in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, federal civil and commercial sectors. As one of the nation's leading and fastest growing Global Solutions Integrator, we have the partnerships, access to technology, training, and certifications to plan, integrate and manage large-scale, mission-critical IT programs.

6-month resource
Secret Clearance
Onsite at Moorestown, NJ

Job Title
Senior Virtualization Engineer / VMware Infrastructure Specialist
Overview
We are seeking a Senior Virtualization Engineer with deep expertise in VMware vSphere–based environments to review, optimize, and enhance an existing virtualization architecture. The role will focus on secure boot implementations, hardware passthrough, time synchronization, high availability, performance tuning, and alignment with VMware and industry best practices.
The candidate will not be designing from scratch, but rather assessing an already implemented solution, identifying gaps, validating design choices, and recommending improvements to increase security, stability, and performance.

Key Responsibilities

Architecture Review & Optimization
Review existing virtualization architecture and provide recommendations aligned with VMware and industry best practices.
Assess current design decisions and identify opportunities for performance, reliability, and maintainability improvements.
Document findings, recommendations, and implementation guidance.
Secure Boot & Hardware Integration
Review and enhance secure boot configurations for guest VMs, including:
UEFI guest secure boot
PCI passthrough of GPUs
PCI/USB passthrough of HID devices
Review and optimize secure boot implementation on hosts, including:
TPM 2.0 integration
BIOS/firmware considerations (including beta BIOS where applicable)
Secure boot on ATCA blade/chassis platforms

Availability & Resilience
Review and improve vCenter High Availability (vCHA) configuration and behavior.
Validate failover scenarios and provide recommendations to improve resilience.
Time Synchronization & Performance
Analyze guest VM timekeeping issues and determine feasibility and best practices for PTP-based time synchronization.
Evaluate current time sync mechanisms and recommend improvements as appropriate.
vCenter & Infrastructure Sizing
Assess current vCenter sizing and determine whether resizing would deliver measurable performance or operational benefits.
Provide data-backed recommendations.
Storage Architecture Review
Evaluate NAS VM architecture and advise on re-architecting to:
Use paravirtual SCSI
Transition from in-guest iSCSI termination to ESC-terminated iSCSI connections from SAN
Assess performance, stability, and operational trade-offs of proposed changes.
CPU, NUMA & VM Performance Tuning
Review VM pinning strategies to physical NUMA nodes.
Evaluate CPU sizing and VMworld thread placement relative to NUMA boundaries.
Recommend optimizations to improve latency, throughput, and predictability.
Best Practices Assessment
Conduct a broader best-practices review of the virtualization environment beyond the items listed, time permitting.
Identify configuration drift or non-standard implementations that may pose risk.

Required Qualifications
8+ years of experience in enterprise virtualization environments.
Deep hands-on expertise with VMware vSphere, ESXi, and vCenter.
Strong experience with:
Secure boot (host and guest)
TPM 2.0
PCI/GPU passthrough
NUMA-aware VM design
vCenter High Availability (vCHA)
Solid understanding of:
Storage protocols (iSCSI, SAN architectures)
Para virtualized storage controllers
Time synchronization (NTP, PTP)
Ability to evaluate and improve existing designs rather than rebuild from scratch.
Strong documentation and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications
Experience with ATCA blade/chassis platforms
VMware certifications (VCP, VCAP, or equivalent)
Experience in high-security or regulated environments
Consulting or advisory background

Deliverables
Written assessment of current architecture
Prioritized recommendations with rationale
Best-practice alignment guidance
Optional implementation support or validation

Sterling Computers Corporation (“Sterling”) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, disability, medical condition, economic status or status with regard to public assistance, citizenship status, national or social or ethnic origin, past or present membership in the uniformed services, protected veteran status, sex, pregnancy, marital or civil union or domestic partnership status, family or parental status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, family medical history or genetic information, HIV status, political belief, or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable law.