Lead Infrastructure & Cloud Engineer

Job Description – Lead Infrastructure & Cloud Engineer

Position Title: Lead Infrastructure & Cloud Engineer

Experience Level: 5–8 Years

Location: Dubai

Department: Information Technology (IT)

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Lead Infrastructure & Cloud Engineer to manage, support, secure, and optimize the organization’s on-premises and cloud infrastructure.

The ideal candidate will possess strong L2 and L3 support expertise across Microsoft technologies, Windows Server, Microsoft 365, identity management, virtualization, storage, backup solutions, and cloud platforms, including Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).

The role is responsible for ensuring the availability, performance, security, scalability, and reliability of the organization’s IT infrastructure and cloud environments. The successful candidate will also support business-critical systems and lead infrastructure modernization, cloud migration, automation, and digital transformation initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

Infrastructure Administration

Manage and maintain enterprise IT infrastructure environments.

Administer Windows Server environments and related services.

Monitor infrastructure performance, availability, capacity, and system health.

Manage operating system upgrades, security patching, and infrastructure lifecycle activities.

Ensure adherence to IT governance, security, compliance, and operational standards.

Provide advanced L2 and L3 support for infrastructure-related incidents and service requests.

Plan and implement infrastructure upgrades, migrations, and modernization initiatives.

Coordinate with application, cybersecurity, database, and network teams to maintain service availability.

Active Directory and Identity Management

Administer Active Directory, Organizational Units, DNS, DHCP, DFS, and Group Policies.

Manage Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft Entra Connect.

Implement and support Identity and Access Management controls.

Support Single Sign-On and Multi-Factor Authentication.

Manage user provisioning, access permissions, privileged accounts, and identity security policies.

Implement Conditional Access policies and identity protection controls.

Monitor directory synchronization and resolve authentication-related issues.

Conduct periodic reviews of user access, administrative privileges, and inactive accounts.

Microsoft 365 Administration

Administer and support:

Exchange Online

Microsoft Teams

SharePoint Online

OneDrive for Business

Microsoft Intune

Microsoft Defender

Microsoft Purview (preferred)

Additional responsibilities include:

Manage Microsoft 365 licensing and group-based licence allocation.

Troubleshoot mail flow, collaboration, synchronization, access, and security-related issues.

Support Microsoft 365 security, compliance, retention, and governance initiatives.

Manage Exchange Online policies, mailboxes, distribution groups, and shared mailboxes.

Configure and maintain Microsoft Teams and SharePoint administrative policies.

Support data-loss prevention, information protection, and eDiscovery requirements.

Monitor Microsoft 365 service health and coordinate resolution of service-impacting incidents.

Cloud Infrastructure Administration

Microsoft Azure

Administer Azure Virtual Machines, Storage Accounts, Virtual Networks, and related resources.

Configure Network Security Groups, VPN Gateways, private endpoints, and hybrid cloud connectivity.

Manage Azure subscriptions, resource groups, role-based access controls, and governance policies.

Administer Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery.

Support Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, alerts, and infrastructure monitoring.

Implement Azure security controls, policies, and recommended cloud governance practices.

Optimize Azure resource utilization, licensing, and operational costs.

Support Azure landing zones and standardized cloud architecture.

Participate in cloud migration, modernization, and workload transformation projects.

Implement high-availability and disaster-recovery solutions for Azure workloads.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Administer OCI Compute, Storage, Networking, Database connectivity, and Security services.

Manage Virtual Cloud Networks, subnets, route tables, security lists, and load balancers.

Configure and manage OCI Identity and Access Management.

Administer OCI compartments, policies, user groups, and access controls.

Support OCI Backup, Monitoring, Logging, and Disaster Recovery solutions.

Manage hybrid connectivity between OCI and on-premises environments.

Monitor OCI resource performance, availability, security, and cost.

Participate in OCI migration, modernization, and infrastructure deployment projects.

Implement high-availability and business-continuity solutions for OCI workloads.

Virtualization and Datacenter Management

Manage VMware vSphere and ESXi environments.

Administer Microsoft Hyper-V environments.

Provision, configure, and maintain virtual machines.

Manage virtual infrastructure capacity, availability, and performance.

Support high-availability, replication, and disaster-recovery configurations.

Manage host upgrades, firmware updates, and virtual infrastructure patching.

Perform datacenter capacity planning and resource optimization.

Support physical servers, racks, power, cooling, and datacenter-related infrastructure.

Coordinate with vendors for hardware maintenance and warranty support.

Storage and Backup Administration

Administer enterprise storage solutions, including:

NetApp

QNAP

HPE MSA

SAN and NAS platforms

Manage backup and recovery platforms, including:

Veeam Backup & Replication

Azure Backup

Microsoft 365 backup solutions

OCI Backup and Recovery

Additional responsibilities include:

Monitor backup jobs and resolve failures.

Perform regular backup validation and restoration testing.

Conduct disaster-recovery exercises.

Define and maintain retention, replication, and recovery policies.

Maintain recovery documentation, runbooks, and operating procedures.

Ensure recovery objectives align with business requirements.

Monitor storage capacity, utilization, and performance.

Endpoint Management

Manage Microsoft Intune and modern device-management solutions.

Configure and deploy security baselines, compliance policies, and endpoint controls.

Manage Windows Autopilot and automated device provisioning.

Administer Windows device lifecycle and patch-management activities.

Manage application deployment and endpoint configuration policies.

Support desktop and laptop infrastructure.

Monitor device compliance and remediate non-compliant endpoints.

Support mobile device management and mobile application management requirements.

Infrastructure and Cloud Security

Implement infrastructure and cloud security controls.

Apply cybersecurity best practices and system-hardening standards.

Manage privileged access, administrative accounts, and role-based access controls.

Investigate and resolve infrastructure and cloud security incidents.

Manage system vulnerabilities, patch compliance, and configuration risks.

Support compliance assessments, security audits, and governance initiatives.

Work closely with cybersecurity teams to implement security recommendations.

Maintain secure configuration standards for servers, cloud platforms, storage, backup, and virtualization environments.

Support Microsoft Defender for Cloud and other relevant cloud security solutions.

Monitoring and Troubleshooting

Monitor infrastructure and cloud environments using:

SolarWinds

Azure Monitor

Log Analytics

OCI Monitoring

VMware monitoring tools

Microsoft 365 administrative and security portals

Additional responsibilities include:

Perform root-cause analysis for major incidents.

Resolve escalated L2 and L3 infrastructure and cloud issues.

Monitor system health, service availability, resource utilization, and performance.

Maintain incident, problem, and change-management records.

Develop preventive measures based on recurring incidents and performance trends.

Coordinate with vendors, service providers, and internal technical teams for complex issue resolution.

Participate in critical incident and service-restoration activities.

Automation and Infrastructure as Code

Develop PowerShell scripts to automate routine administrative activities.

Automate user provisioning, system reporting, health checks, and maintenance tasks.

Support infrastructure deployment through automation tools and standardized templates.

Implement Infrastructure as Code practices where applicable.

Maintain scripts, automation documentation, and version controls.

Identify opportunities to improve efficiency through automation and orchestration.

Projects, Documentation and Compliance

Lead infrastructure and cloud deployment projects.

Lead server, virtualization, storage, backup, and cloud migration initiatives.

Support new office and datacenter infrastructure deployments.

Maintain infrastructure and cloud architecture diagrams.

Develop and maintain technical documentation, operating procedures, and support runbooks.

Participate in business-continuity and disaster-recovery planning.

Support internal and external audits.

Evaluate and recommend new infrastructure and cloud technologies.

Manage project deliverables, technical risks, timelines, and vendor coordination.

Provide technical guidance and mentoring to infrastructure support team members.

Ensure all infrastructure changes follow the organization’s change-management processes.

Required Technical Skills

Microsoft Technologies

Windows Server 2016, 2019, and 2022

Active Directory

Microsoft Entra ID

Microsoft Entra Connect

DNS

DHCP

DFS

Group Policy

PowerShell

Windows Failover Clustering

Certificate Services

Microsoft 365

Exchange Online

SharePoint Online

OneDrive for Business

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Intune

Microsoft Defender

Microsoft Purview (preferred)

Microsoft Azure

Azure Administration

Azure Virtual Machines

Azure Storage

Azure Virtual Networks

VPN Gateways

Network Security Groups

Azure Backup

Azure Site Recovery

Azure Monitor

Log Analytics

Azure Policy

Role-Based Access Control

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Cost Management

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

OCI Compute

OCI Storage

OCI Networking

OCI Identity and Access Management

OCI Backup and Recovery

OCI Monitoring and Logging

OCI Security

OCI Load Balancing

OCI Disaster Recovery

Virtualization

VMware vSphere

VMware ESXi

VMware vCenter

Microsoft Hyper-V

High Availability and Replication

Backup and Storage

Veeam Backup & Replication

NetApp

QNAP

HPE MSA

SAN and NAS technologies

Microsoft 365 backup solutions

Cloud backup and disaster recovery

Endpoint Management

Microsoft Intune

Windows Autopilot

Windows Update for Business

Endpoint compliance and configuration management

Application packaging and deployment

Automation

PowerShell scripting

Task automation

Infrastructure automation

Infrastructure as Code knowledge

Azure Resource Manager templates or Bicep (preferred)

Terraform knowledge (preferred)

Supporting Infrastructure Knowledge

TCP/IP

DNS and DHCP

Cloud connectivity

VPN technologies

Load balancing

Firewalls and security controls

Hybrid cloud architecture

Required Qualifications

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Cloud Computing, or a related discipline.

Experience

5–8 years of experience in infrastructure and cloud engineering.

Strong L2 and L3 infrastructure troubleshooting experience.

Experience supporting enterprise and multi-site IT environments.

Hands-on experience administering Windows Server and Active Directory.

Strong Microsoft 365 administration experience.

Hands-on experience managing Microsoft Azure and OCI environments.

Experience with virtualization, storage, backup, disaster recovery, and endpoint-management technologies.

Experience leading infrastructure and cloud implementation or migration projects.

Experience supporting business-critical enterprise systems.

Working knowledge of cloud security, governance, and cost-optimization practices.

Preferred Certifications

Microsoft

Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)

Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate

Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert

Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate

Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate

Oracle

OCI Architect Associate

OCI Architect Professional

OCI Cloud Operations Professional

Virtualization and Backup

VMware Certified Professional

Veeam Certified Engineer

Other Preferred Certifications

ITIL Foundation

Certified Cloud Security Professional

Terraform Associate

Key Competencies

Strong infrastructure and cloud troubleshooting skills.

Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities.

Strong leadership, communication, and documentation skills.

Ability to manage critical incidents under pressure.

Infrastructure and cloud project implementation experience.

Strong customer service and stakeholder-management skills.

Ability to work independently and within cross-functional teams.

Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.

Strong understanding of infrastructure security, governance, and compliance.

Ability to mentor technical team members and provide technical direction.

Commercial awareness of cloud consumption, licensing, and cost optimization.