Sr. Cloud Engineer - Virtualization
📍 Job Overview
- Job Title: Sr. Cloud Engineer - Virtualization
- Company: Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Location: Ft. Collins, Colorado, United States of America (with remote flexibility)
- Job Type: Full-Time, Hybrid (2 days per week on-site)
- Category: DevOps, Cloud Engineering
- Date Posted: 2025-07-08
- Experience Level: 10+ years of experience
- Remote Status: Hybrid (remote-friendly)
🚀 Role Summary
- Key Responsibilities: Design, implement, and expand the virtualization layer of HPE’s KVM-based Private Cloud product line. Lead troubleshooting and root cause analysis for virtualization issues.
- Key Technologies: KVM, libvirt, QEMU, Java, Groovy, Linux, Ceph, LVM, iSCSI, NFS, SR-IOV, macvtap, bridges, Open vSwitch, RESTful APIs, SQL/NoSQL databases.
- Impact: Contribute to the core virtualization platform powering HPE Private Cloud, used across global enterprise environments.
📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a unique opportunity to work on a high-impact, enterprise-scale virtualization platform, collaborating with cross-functional teams to shape the product roadmap and evolve system architecture.
💻 Primary Responsibilities
- Virtualization Layer Design & Expansion: Design, implement, and expand the virtualization layer of HPE’s KVM-based Private Cloud product line, ensuring high performance, scalability, and security.
- Troubleshooting & Root Cause Analysis: Lead troubleshooting and root cause analysis for issues such as VM performance degradation, cluster outages, and storage failures, driving resolution and preventing future occurrences.
- Advanced Virtualization Features: Engineer advanced virtualization features, including live migration, snapshotting, hot-swappable vCPUs, dynamic memory management, and NUMA-aware scheduling, enhancing the platform’s capabilities.
- System Performance Tuning: Tune system performance using tools like hugepages, CPU pinning, macvtap, and VirtIO, with deep expertise in Linux internals (e.g., memory management, CPU affinity) to optimize resource utilization.
- Shared Storage Configuration: Configure and optimize shared storage for high-availability (HA) setups using technologies such as Ceph, LVM, NFS, iSCSI, GFS2, or OCFS2, ensuring data integrity and continuous availability.
- Virtual Networking Topologies: Develop high-performance virtual networking topologies, including virtual bridges, SR-IOV, VLANs, and Open vSwitch, to support diverse workloads and traffic patterns.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work cross-functionally with product, operations, and customer teams to define requirements and deliver production-grade virtualization solutions, balancing technical feasibility with business needs.
- Technical Leadership & Mentoring: Collaborate with senior engineering leaders to shape the product roadmap and evolve system architecture. Mentor junior engineers and provide technical leadership within the virtualization domain.
- Customer Support & Solution Recommendations: Assist with customer issues as needed and ensure technical standards and documentation requirements are met. Collaborate with sales engineering and operational teams to understand customer needs and recommend solutions.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Experience: 10+ years of experience contributing to technology projects and delivering solutions at scale with an emphasis on Linux-based virtualization.
Required Skills:
- Expertise in Java, Groovy, or other JVM-based languages.
- Strong background in backend development, RESTful APIs, server-side logic, and database management (SQL or NoSQL).
- Hands-on experience with KVM, libvirt, and QEMU in enterprise-scale production environments.
- Experience building and supporting high-availability virtualization clusters at scale.
- Familiarity with open-source stacks like oVirt, OpenStack, Proxmox, or Red Hat Virtualization.
- Solid understanding of virtualization networking (e.g., SR-IOV, macvtap, bridges) and storage technologies (e.g., Ceph, LVM, iSCSI, NFS).
- Experience in performance tuning, monitoring, and availability architecture for virtualized infrastructure.
- Strong knowledge of system architecture, design principles, and translating product requirements into technical tasks.
- History of identifying areas for product improvement and contributing ideas that align with business objectives.
- Proven ability to take ownership of projects and mistakes, with exceptional problem-solving skills and self-drive.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a collaborative mindset and a passion for mentoring others.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with KVM, libvirt, and QEMU in enterprise-scale production environments.
- Familiarity with open-source stacks like oVirt, OpenStack, Proxmox, or Red Hat Virtualization.
- Experience with high-performance virtual compute and storage, secure workload isolation, and dynamic scheduling.
📊 Web Portfolio & Project Requirements
Portfolio Essentials:
- A comprehensive portfolio showcasing your virtualization expertise, including architecture diagrams, performance benchmarks, and customer success stories.
- Live demos of virtualization projects, highlighting features like live migration, snapshotting, and high-availability configurations.
- Documentation of virtualization projects, including design decisions, troubleshooting processes, and lessons learned.
Technical Documentation:
- Code samples and scripts demonstrating your proficiency in virtualization technologies, Linux internals, and performance tuning techniques.
- Documentation of virtualization projects, including system architecture, design principles, and technical standards.
- Performance metrics and optimization techniques employed in your virtualization projects, with clear explanations and data-driven insights.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: The expected salary/wage range for a U.S.-based hire filling this position is USD $140,500.00 - $266,500.00 per year. Actual offer may vary based on geographic location, work experience, education/training, and/or skill level. If this is a sales role, the listed salary range reflects combined base salary and target-level sales compensation pay. If this is a non-sales role, the listed salary range reflects base salary only. Variable incentives may also be offered.
Benefits:
- Health & Wellbeing: Comprehensive benefits package supporting physical, financial, and emotional wellbeing.
- Personal & Professional Development: Specific programs catered to helping you reach career goals, whether you want to become a knowledge expert in your field or apply your skills to another division.
- Unconditional Inclusion: A diverse and inclusive work environment that values varied backgrounds and promotes flexibility, collaboration, and a force for good.
🎯 Team & Company Context
Company Culture:
- Industry: Technology, focusing on edge-to-cloud solutions for enterprise customers.
- Company Size: Large, global organization with a diverse range of products and services.
- Founded: 1939, with a rich history of innovation and technological evolution.
Team Structure:
- The Private Cloud Engineering team is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining the virtualization platform powering HPE’s Private Cloud solutions.
- The team consists of cross-functional roles, including cloud engineers, software developers, QA engineers, and DevOps specialists, working together to deliver high-quality, enterprise-grade virtualization solutions.
Development Methodology:
- Agile methodologies, including Scrum, are employed to manage development processes, sprint planning, code review, testing, and quality assurance.
- Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines automate deployment processes, ensuring rapid and reliable delivery of virtualization features and updates.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles are used to manage and provision virtualization resources, promoting consistency, version control, and automated testing.
Company Website: HPE.com
📝 Enhancement Note: HPE’s Private Cloud Engineering team offers a unique opportunity to work on cutting-edge virtualization technologies, collaborating with cross-functional teams to shape the product roadmap and evolve system architecture. The team values diversity, inclusion, and continuous learning, providing a supportive environment for professional growth and development.
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
Web Technology Career Level: Senior Cloud Engineer - Virtualization, responsible for designing, implementing, and expanding the virtualization layer of HPE’s KVM-based Private Cloud product line. Leads troubleshooting and root cause analysis for virtualization issues, driving resolution and preventing future occurrences.
Reporting Structure: Reports directly to the Manager of the Private Cloud Engineering team, with close collaboration with senior engineering leaders, product managers, and other cross-functional stakeholders.
Technical Impact: Contributes to the core virtualization platform powering HPE Private Cloud, used across global enterprise environments. Influences system architecture, design principles, and technical standards, ensuring high performance, scalability, and security.
Growth Opportunities:
- Technical Leadership: Evolve into a technical lead role, mentoring junior engineers and providing technical guidance to the virtualization domain.
- Architecture & Design: Transition into an architecture role, focusing on system design, roadmap evolution, and emerging technology evaluation.
- Product Management: Pursue a product management role, driving product strategy, roadmap definition, and cross-functional collaboration.
📝 Enhancement Note: HPE’s Private Cloud Engineering team offers a clear path for career progression, with opportunities for technical leadership, architecture, and product management roles. The team values internal promotion and provides mentorship and training programs to support professional growth and development.
🌐 Work Environment
Office Type: Hybrid, with an expectation to work on average 2 days per week from an HPE office.
Office Location(s): Ft. Collins, Colorado, United States of America (with remote flexibility for the remaining workdays).
Workspace Context:
- Collaborative workspace with dedicated virtualization labs and testing environments.
- Access to high-performance hardware, software tools, and virtualization resources to support development and testing activities.
- Cross-functional team interaction and knowledge sharing opportunities, fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement.
Work Schedule: Full-time, with flexible working hours and remote-friendly policies to support work-life balance.
📝 Enhancement Note: HPE’s Private Cloud Engineering team offers a hybrid work environment that combines on-site collaboration with flexible remote days, promoting work-life balance and supporting the diverse needs of its team members.
📄 Application & Technical Interview Process
Interview Process:
- Phone Screen: A brief phone or video call to assess communication skills, cultural fit, and basic technical qualifications.
- Technical Deep Dive: A comprehensive technical interview focused on virtualization technologies, Linux internals, performance tuning, and system design. Expect to discuss architecture decisions, troubleshooting processes, and optimization techniques.
- Behavioral & Cultural Fit: An in-depth conversation to evaluate problem-solving skills, team dynamics, and cultural alignment with HPE’s values and work environment.
- Final Review: A meeting with senior leadership to discuss the candidate’s fit for the role, team dynamics, and career growth opportunities.
Portfolio Review Tips:
- Highlight your virtualization expertise, including architecture diagrams, performance benchmarks, and customer success stories.
- Showcase your ability to design, implement, and optimize virtualization solutions, with a focus on high availability, scalability, and performance.
- Demonstrate your understanding of Linux internals, performance tuning techniques, and system architecture principles.
Technical Challenge Preparation:
- Brush up on your knowledge of KVM, libvirt, QEMU, and other relevant virtualization technologies.
- Familiarize yourself with Linux internals, performance tuning, and system design principles.
- Practice explaining technical concepts clearly and concisely, with a focus on problem-solving and architecture decision-making.
ATS Keywords: KVM, libvirt, QEMU, virtualization, Linux, performance tuning, system design, architecture, cloud engineering, hybrid cloud, enterprise, scalability, high availability, troubleshooting, root cause analysis, Agile, Scrum, CI/CD, IaC, DevOps, mentoring, technical leadership, architecture, product management.
📝 Enhancement Note: HPE’s Private Cloud Engineering team values candidates with strong technical skills, a collaborative mindset, and a passion for mentoring and knowledge sharing. The interview process is designed to assess these qualities, with a focus on technical depth, problem-solving, and cultural fit.
🛠 Technology Stack & Web Infrastructure
Frontend Technologies: Not applicable, as this role focuses on backend and infrastructure development.
Backend & Server Technologies:
- KVM, libvirt, QEMU
- Java, Groovy, or other JVM-based languages
- Linux, with deep expertise in Linux internals (e.g., memory management, CPU affinity)
- Ceph, LVM, iSCSI, NFS, GFS2, OCFS2
- RESTful APIs, SQL/NoSQL databases
- Virtual networking topologies, including virtual bridges, SR-IOV, VLANs, and Open vSwitch
Development & DevOps Tools:
- Agile methodologies, including Scrum, for managing development processes, sprint planning, code review, testing, and quality assurance.
- Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines for automated deployment and rapid, reliable delivery of virtualization features and updates.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles for managing and provisioning virtualization resources, promoting consistency, version control, and automated testing.
- Virtualization management tools, such as oVirt, OpenStack, Proxmox, or Red Hat Virtualization, for streamlined virtualization infrastructure provisioning and management.
📝 Enhancement Note: HPE’s Private Cloud Engineering team employs a modern technology stack, including KVM, libvirt, QEMU, Java, Groovy, Linux, and various virtualization management tools. The team values expertise in these technologies and encourages continuous learning and skill development.
👥 Team Culture & Values
Web Development Values:
- User-Centric Design: Focus on user experience and performance optimization, ensuring virtualization solutions meet enterprise-grade standards and customer expectations.
- Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing: Foster a culture of collaboration, mentoring, and continuous learning, with a strong emphasis on cross-functional teamwork and knowledge sharing.
- Technical Excellence: Pursue technical excellence in virtualization technologies, Linux internals, and performance tuning, with a commitment to staying up-to-date with industry trends and best practices.
- Agile & Adaptable: Embrace Agile methodologies and remain adaptable to changing requirements, priorities, and market demands.
Collaboration Style:
- Cross-Functional Integration: Work closely with product, operations, and customer teams to define requirements, deliver production-grade virtualization solutions, and ensure technical standards and documentation requirements are met.
- Code Review Culture: Encourage a culture of code review, peer programming, and continuous improvement, with a focus on knowledge sharing and collective problem-solving.
- Mentoring & Technical Leadership: Provide mentorship and technical guidance to junior engineers, fostering a culture of growth, development, and knowledge sharing.
📝 Enhancement Note: HPE’s Private Cloud Engineering team values a collaborative, user-centric, and technically excellent culture, with a strong emphasis on cross-functional teamwork, mentoring, and continuous learning. The team fosters a supportive environment for professional growth and development, with a focus on technical excellence and user experience.
🌐 Challenges & Growth Opportunities
Technical Challenges:
- Virtualization Performance: Optimize virtualization performance for high workloads, ensuring scalability, stability, and consistent resource utilization.
- High-Availability Configurations: Design and implement high-availability virtualization clusters, with a focus on data integrity, continuous availability, and fault tolerance.
- Emerging Technologies: Evaluate and integrate emerging virtualization technologies, such as containerization, serverless computing, and edge computing, to enhance HPE’s Private Cloud offerings.
- Security & Compliance: Ensure virtualization solutions comply with enterprise security standards and regulatory requirements, with a focus on data protection, access control, and secure workload isolation.
Learning & Development Opportunities:
- Technical Skill Development: Pursue advanced virtualization certifications, attend industry conferences, and engage in online learning platforms to enhance your technical skills and stay current with industry trends.
- Emerging Technologies: Explore emerging virtualization technologies, such as containerization, serverless computing, and edge computing, to expand your skill set and contribute to HPE’s Private Cloud roadmap.
- Leadership & Mentoring: Develop leadership and mentoring skills, with a focus on driving technical excellence, fostering a culture of learning, and supporting the growth of junior engineers.
📝 Enhancement Note: HPE’s Private Cloud Engineering team offers a range of technical challenges and learning opportunities, with a focus on virtualization performance, high availability, emerging technologies, and security. The team values continuous learning, skill development, and professional growth, with a strong emphasis on mentoring, knowledge sharing, and technical leadership.
💡 Interview Preparation
Technical Questions:
- Virtualization Fundamentals: Demonstrate your understanding of virtualization technologies, including KVM, libvirt, QEMU, and Linux internals, with a focus on performance tuning, system architecture, and troubleshooting processes.
- System Design: Explain your approach to designing, implementing, and optimizing virtualization solutions, with a focus on high availability, scalability, and performance.
- Troubleshooting & Root Cause Analysis: Walk through a real-world virtualization issue, explaining your troubleshooting process, root cause analysis, and resolution strategy.
- Emerging Technologies: Discuss your familiarity with emerging virtualization technologies, such as containerization, serverless computing, and edge computing, and how you would integrate them into HPE’s Private Cloud offerings.
Company & Culture Questions:
- Company Culture: Explain how you would contribute to HPE’s collaborative, user-centric, and technically excellent culture, with a focus on cross-functional teamwork, mentoring, and continuous learning.
- Technical Leadership: Describe your approach to mentoring junior engineers, providing technical guidance, and fostering a culture of growth, development, and knowledge sharing.
- User Experience: Explain how you would ensure virtualization solutions meet enterprise-grade standards and customer expectations, with a focus on user experience, performance optimization, and accessibility.
Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
- Architecture Diagrams: Present clear and concise architecture diagrams, highlighting your virtualization expertise, performance optimization techniques, and high-availability configurations.
- Performance Benchmarks: Share performance benchmark data, demonstrating your ability to design, implement, and optimize virtualization solutions for high workloads and diverse traffic patterns.
- Customer Success Stories: Highlight your ability to deliver production-grade virtualization solutions, with a focus on customer satisfaction, technical excellence, and user experience.
📝 Enhancement Note: HPE’s Private Cloud Engineering team values candidates with strong technical skills, a collaborative mindset, and a passion for mentoring and knowledge sharing. The interview process is designed to assess these qualities, with a focus on technical depth, problem-solving, and cultural fit. By preparing thoroughly and demonstrating your expertise in virtualization technologies, Linux internals, and performance tuning, you can make a strong impression and showcase your potential as a valuable addition to the team.
📌 Application Steps
To apply for this Sr. Cloud Engineer - Virtualization position:
- Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your virtualization expertise, Linux internals proficiency, and performance tuning experience, with a focus on relevant projects, achievements, and technical skills.
- Prepare Your Portfolio: Showcase your virtualization projects, architecture diagrams, performance benchmarks, and customer success stories, with a focus on high availability, scalability, and performance optimization.
- Practice Technical Interviews: Brush up on your knowledge of KVM, libvirt, QEMU, Linux internals, and performance tuning, with a focus on problem-solving, system design, and troubleshooting processes.
- Research HPE: Learn about HPE’s products, services, and company culture, with a focus on the Private Cloud Engineering team, virtualization technologies, and emerging trends in the industry.
- Prepare for Behavioral & Cultural Fit Interviews: Reflect on your problem-solving skills, team dynamics, and cultural alignment, with a focus on collaboration, mentoring, and continuous learning.
⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and web development/server administration industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.
Application Requirements
Expertise in Java, Groovy, or other JVM-based languages is required along with a strong background in backend development and virtualization technologies. A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field and 10+ years of experience in Linux-based virtualization are preferred.