📍 Job Overview

Job Title: SRE Specialist 3
Company: Fortinet
Location: Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Job Type: Full time
Category: Site Reliability Engineering
Date Posted: June 25, 2025
Experience Level: 5-10 years
Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

Manage and maintain private cloud platforms including OpenStack, Proxmox, and VMware vSphere, ensuring high service availability and reliability.
Automate operational tasks using tools like Ansible and Terraform to increase efficiency and reduce human error.
Design and execute migration plans from public cloud platforms to private cloud environments, minimizing downtime and ensuring data integrity.
Monitor performance across servers, VMs, containers, applications, and networks, proactively identifying and resolving issues.
Provide on-call support for critical systems, ensuring quick resolution of incidents and maintaining service level agreements (SLAs).
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to improve service reliability, security, and scalability, driving Fortinet's global expansion.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role requires a strong background in virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking. The ideal candidate will have experience managing complex, high-traffic environments and a passion for driving continuous improvement.

💻 Primary Responsibilities

Cloud Infrastructure Management:
- Administer and maintain private cloud platforms, ensuring high service availability and reliability.
- Design and execute migration plans from public cloud platforms to private cloud environments.
- Build and manage Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) frameworks for automating OS, application, and network provisioning.
Automation:
- Automate recurring operational tasks using tools like Ansible and Terraform to increase reliability and efficiency.
- Create CI/CD pipelines with GitLab to streamline development and deployment processes.
Linux System Administration:
- Manage and support Linux servers across multiple distributions such as Ubuntu, Red Hat, and Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL).
- Ensure system security, performance, and stability through proactive monitoring and maintenance.
Monitoring & Troubleshooting:
- Monitor performance across servers, VMs, containers, applications, and networks using tools like Zabbix or Nagios.
- Troubleshoot and resolve issues related to infrastructure, including network components, security appliances, servers, and storage.
On-call Support:
- Participate in on-call rotations to provide 24/7 support for critical systems, ensuring high service availability and quick incident resolution.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field is preferred. Relevant experience may substitute for formal education.

Experience: 5+ years of experience managing production environments, with a strong focus on virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking.

Required Skills:

Expertise in OpenStack and Ceph administration
Strong Linux server administration skills (RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu)
Solid understanding of network administration and standard protocols
Experience with monitoring tools like Zabbix or Nagios
Proficiency in at least one scripting language (e.g., Python, Bash)
Skilled in Ansible and Terraform for configuration and provisioning automation
Experience troubleshooting complex systems in Linux/OpenStack/Kubernetes environments
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to analyze logs and identify root causes
Excellent organizational, multitasking, and communication skills

Preferred Skills:

RHCE (Red Hat Certified Engineer) certification
OpenStack certification
Experience with container platforms such as Docker and Kubernetes
Familiarity with Software-Defined Storage (Ceph) and Networking (OVN/OpenvSwitch)
Prior experience in maintaining a 24/7 global service environment

📊 Web Portfolio & Project Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

Demonstrate your experience in managing and maintaining private cloud platforms, highlighting your ability to ensure high service availability and reliability.
Showcase your automation skills by presenting projects where you've used tools like Ansible and Terraform to increase efficiency and reduce human error.
Highlight your migration projects from public cloud platforms to private cloud environments, emphasizing your ability to minimize downtime and ensure data integrity.
Display your monitoring and troubleshooting skills by presenting case studies of complex system issues you've resolved, including network components, security appliances, servers, and storage.

Technical Documentation:

Provide documentation for your projects, including code quality, commenting, and documentation standards.
Include version control, deployment processes, and server configuration details.
Showcase your testing methodologies, performance metrics, and optimization techniques.

📝 Enhancement Note: As this role requires a strong focus on virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking, your portfolio should emphasize these aspects. Highlight your experience with OpenStack, Ceph, and other relevant technologies, and demonstrate your ability to manage complex, high-traffic environments.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: The Canada base salary range for this full-time position is expected to be between CAD 112,000 - 137,000 annually. Wage ranges are based on various factors including the labour market, job type, and job level. Exact salary offers will be determined by factors such as the candidate’s subject knowledge, skill level, qualifications, and experience.

Benefits:

100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage
Health Spending Account and Personal Spending Account
Employee & Family Assistance Plan (EFAP)
Critical illness, disability, and life insurance
Group Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) with a company match
Competitive Paid Time Off and flexible leave policies, including paid health days

Working Hours: This role follows a standard 40-hour workweek, with flexible leave policies and paid health days. Some on-call duties may be required to provide 24/7 support for critical systems.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is based on Fortinet's disclosed information and industry standards for SRE roles in Canada. However, it's essential to research regional salary standards and cost of living for a more accurate estimate.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Fortinet is a global leader in broad, integrated, and automated cybersecurity solutions, providing advanced threat protection to customers worldwide. The company's culture is focused on innovation, collaboration, and customer success.

Company Size: Fortinet is a large organization with a global presence, employing over 10,000 people worldwide. This size allows for ample opportunities for career growth and collaboration with diverse teams.

Founded: Fortinet was founded in 2000 and has since grown to become a publicly-traded company on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

Team Structure:

The MIS (Management Information Systems) SRE Infrastructure team is responsible for building, maintaining, and continuously improving various information systems that support both internal employees and high-traffic, consumer-facing services globally.
The team consists of experienced SRE professionals with expertise in virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking.
The team follows a flat hierarchy, fostering collaboration and cross-functional integration with other departments, such as development, marketing, and business teams.

Development Methodology:

The team follows Agile/Scrum methodologies, with regular sprint planning and code reviews to ensure high-quality deliverables.
They emphasize code quality, testing, and quality assurance practices to maintain a robust and secure infrastructure.
Deployment strategies, CI/CD pipelines, and server management are crucial aspects of the team's development process.

Company Website: Fortinet

📝 Enhancement Note: Fortinet's company culture emphasizes innovation, collaboration, and customer success. The MIS SRE Infrastructure team plays a critical role in maintaining and improving the company's global services, working closely with other departments to ensure high service availability and reliability.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Web Technology Career Level: This SRE Specialist 3 role is an intermediate to senior-level position, requiring a strong background in virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking. The ideal candidate will have 5+ years of experience managing production environments and a proven track record of driving continuous improvement.

Reporting Structure: The SRE Specialist 3 will report directly to the SRE Manager, working closely with other SRE team members, developers, and stakeholders to ensure high service availability and reliability.

Technical Impact: The SRE Specialist 3 will have a significant impact on Fortinet's global services, ensuring the reliability, security, and scalability of the company's information systems. Their work will directly contribute to Fortinet's mission to provide advanced threat protection to customers worldwide.

Growth Opportunities:

Technical Growth: Fortinet offers opportunities for technical skill development and specialization, with a focus on emerging technologies and industry trends.
Leadership Potential: As the company continues to grow, there may be opportunities for the SRE Specialist 3 to take on technical leadership roles, driving architecture decisions and mentoring junior team members.
Career Progression: With Fortinet's global presence and diverse product offerings, there are ample opportunities for career progression within the organization, including roles in other departments or regions.

📝 Enhancement Note: Fortinet's large organization size and global presence provide numerous opportunities for career growth and collaboration. The SRE Specialist 3 role offers a chance to work on complex, high-traffic environments and drive continuous improvement in the company's global services.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fortinet's Burnaby office is a modern, collaborative workspace designed to foster innovation and teamwork. The office features open-concept workspaces, meeting rooms, and breakout areas for team members to relax and recharge.

Office Location(s): Fortinet's Burnaby office is located in the Metrotown area, with easy access to public transportation and nearby amenities.

Workspace Context:

Collaborative Workspace: The office layout encourages collaboration and communication between team members, with open-concept workspaces and designated meeting areas.
Development Tools: The workspace is equipped with modern development tools, including multiple monitors and testing devices, to ensure high productivity and efficiency.
Cross-functional Collaboration: The office is designed to facilitate cross-functional collaboration between developers, designers, and stakeholders, with dedicated spaces for team meetings and brainstorming sessions.

Work Schedule: The standard workweek is 40 hours, with flexible leave policies and paid health days to support work-life balance. Some on-call duties may be required to provide 24/7 support for critical systems.

📝 Enhancement Note: Fortinet's Burnaby office offers a modern, collaborative workspace designed to foster innovation and teamwork. The office layout, amenities, and work schedule are tailored to support the needs of web development and server administration professionals.

📄 Application & Technical Interview Process

Interview Process:

Technical Assessment (1 hour): The first step in the interview process is a technical assessment, focusing on the candidate's knowledge of virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking. The assessment may include live coding exercises, system design discussions, and problem-solving challenges.
Cultural Fit Interview (30 minutes): The second interview focuses on the candidate's cultural fit with Fortinet's values and team dynamics. This interview may include questions about the candidate's work style, communication skills, and collaboration preferences.
Final Interview (1 hour): The final interview is an opportunity for the candidate to discuss their technical expertise, career aspirations, and long-term goals with the hiring manager. The candidate may also be asked to present their portfolio or case studies demonstrating their experience in managing complex, high-traffic environments.

Portfolio Review Tips:

Highlight Your Experience: Emphasize your experience in managing and maintaining private cloud platforms, automating operational tasks, and monitoring performance across servers, VMs, containers, applications, and networks.
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills: Present case studies of complex system issues you've resolved, including network components, security appliances, servers, and storage.
Demonstrate Your Automation Skills: Highlight your experience with tools like Ansible and Terraform, and present projects where you've used these tools to increase efficiency and reduce human error.
Focus on Results: Quantify the impact of your work, emphasizing improvements in service availability, reliability, and performance.

Technical Challenge Preparation:

Brush Up on Virtualization and Open-Source Technologies: Review your knowledge of virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking, focusing on the tools and concepts relevant to Fortinet's tech stack.
Practice System Design and Problem-Solving: Familiarize yourself with system design principles and practice solving complex problems related to virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking.
Prepare for On-Call Support Questions: Be ready to discuss your experience with on-call support and your approach to maintaining high service availability and quick incident resolution.

ATS Keywords:

Virtualization: OpenStack, Proxmox, VMware vSphere, KVM, Ceph, Docker, Kubernetes
Networking: TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VLAN, VPN, Firewall, Load Balancing, Network Security
Automation: Ansible, Terraform, GitLab, CI/CD, Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC)
Monitoring: Zabbix, Nagios, Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack
Linux Administration: RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu, Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL), Bash, Python, Perl
Problem-Solving: Troubleshooting, Root Cause Analysis, System Design, Capacity Planning, Performance Optimization
Soft Skills: Communication, Collaboration, Teamwork, Leadership, Mentoring, Coaching

📝 Enhancement Note: Fortinet's interview process is designed to assess the candidate's technical expertise, cultural fit, and problem-solving skills. The portfolio review and technical challenge preparation tips provided are tailored to the SRE Specialist 3 role and Fortinet's tech stack.

🛠 Technology Stack & Web Infrastructure

Cloud Platforms:

OpenStack
Proxmox
VMware vSphere

Virtualization:

KVM
Ceph (Software-Defined Storage)

Networking:

TCP/IP
DNS
DHCP
VLAN
VPN
Firewall
Load Balancing
Network Security

Automation:

Ansible
Terraform
GitLab
CI/CD
Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC)

Monitoring:

Zabbix
Nagios
Prometheus
Grafana
ELK Stack

Linux Distributions:

RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux)
CentOS
Ubuntu
Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL)

Scripting Languages:

Bash
Python
Perl

Problem-Solving Tools:

Troubleshooting
Root Cause Analysis
System Design
Capacity Planning
Performance Optimization

Soft Skills:

Communication
Collaboration
Teamwork
Leadership
Mentoring
Coaching

📝 Enhancement Note: Fortinet's technology stack is focused on virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking. The SRE Specialist 3 role requires expertise in these areas, as well as experience with relevant tools and technologies.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Web Development Values:

Innovation: Fortinet values innovation and encourages team members to explore new technologies and approaches to drive continuous improvement.
Collaboration: The company fosters a culture of collaboration, with open lines of communication and regular team meetings to ensure everyone's voices are heard.
Customer Success: Fortinet is committed to providing advanced threat protection to customers worldwide. The company's culture is focused on understanding customer needs and delivering solutions that meet their unique requirements.
Performance Optimization: Fortinet emphasizes performance optimization, with a focus on delivering high-quality, reliable services that meet the needs of its global customer base.

Collaboration Style:

Cross-Functional Integration: Fortinet's teams work closely with other departments, including development, marketing, and business teams, to ensure high service availability and reliability.
Code Review Culture: The company emphasizes code quality and peer programming practices, with regular code reviews and pair programming sessions.
Knowledge Sharing: Fortinet encourages knowledge sharing and technical mentoring, with regular training sessions and workshops to help team members develop their skills and advance their careers.

📝 Enhancement Note: Fortinet's web development values emphasize innovation, collaboration, and customer success. The company's collaboration style is focused on cross-functional integration, code review culture, and knowledge sharing to drive continuous improvement and high service availability.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Technical Challenges:

Virtualization and Open-Source Technologies: The SRE Specialist 3 role requires a strong background in virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking. Candidates should be prepared to manage complex, high-traffic environments and drive continuous improvement.
Emerging Technologies: As Fortinet continues to expand its global footprint, the SRE Specialist 3 may be required to work with emerging technologies and adapt to changing infrastructure requirements.
Performance Optimization: The role involves monitoring performance across servers, VMs, containers, applications, and networks. Candidates should be prepared to identify and resolve performance bottlenecks and optimize system resources.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

Technical Skill Development: Fortinet offers opportunities for technical skill development and specialization, with a focus on emerging technologies and industry trends.
Conference Attendance and Certification: The company encourages team members to attend industry conferences and pursue relevant certifications to enhance their knowledge and skills.
Technical Mentorship and Leadership: Fortinet provides opportunities for technical mentorship and leadership, with a focus on driving architecture decisions and guiding junior team members.

📝 Enhancement Note: The SRE Specialist 3 role presents numerous technical challenges and growth opportunities, requiring a strong background in virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking. Candidates should be prepared to manage complex, high-traffic environments and drive continuous improvement in Fortinet's global services.

💡 Interview Preparation

Technical Questions:

Virtualization and Open-Source Technologies: Be prepared to discuss your experience with virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking, focusing on tools and concepts relevant to Fortinet's tech stack.
Problem-Solving: Practice solving complex problems related to virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking, with a focus on system design and capacity planning.
Performance Optimization: Brush up on your knowledge of performance optimization techniques and be ready to discuss your approach to identifying and resolving performance bottlenecks.

Company & Culture Questions:

Fortinet's Mission: Familiarize yourself with Fortinet's mission to provide advanced threat protection to customers worldwide, and be prepared to discuss how your work as an SRE Specialist 3 contributes to this mission.
Team Dynamics: Research Fortinet's team structure and culture, and be ready to discuss how you would collaborate with other departments to ensure high service availability and reliability.
Customer Success: Understand Fortinet's commitment to customer success and be prepared to discuss how you would work with customers to understand their unique needs and deliver solutions that meet their requirements.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

Highlight Your Experience: Emphasize your experience in managing and maintaining private cloud platforms, automating operational tasks, and monitoring performance across servers, VMs, containers, applications, and networks.
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills: Present case studies of complex system issues you've resolved, including network components, security appliances, servers, and storage.
Demonstrate Your Automation Skills: Highlight your experience with tools like Ansible and Terraform, and present projects where you've used these tools to increase efficiency and reduce human error.
Focus on Results: Quantify the impact of your work, emphasizing improvements in service availability, reliability, and performance.

📝 Enhancement Note: The SRE Specialist 3 interview process is designed to assess the candidate's technical expertise, cultural fit, and problem-solving skills. The portfolio presentation strategy and interview preparation tips provided are tailored to the SRE Specialist 3 role and Fortinet's tech stack.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this SRE Specialist 3 position at Fortinet:

Customize Your Portfolio: Highlight your experience in managing and maintaining private cloud platforms, automating operational tasks, and monitoring performance across servers, VMs, containers, applications, and networks. Include case studies of complex system issues you've resolved and projects where you've used tools like Ansible and Terraform to increase efficiency and reduce human error.
Optimize Your Resume: Tailor your resume to emphasize your experience with virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking. Highlight your problem-solving skills and any relevant certifications or industry-recognized qualifications.
Prepare for Technical Interviews: Brush up on your knowledge of virtualization, open-source technologies, and networking, focusing on the tools and concepts relevant to Fortinet's tech stack. Practice solving complex problems and be ready to discuss your approach to system design, capacity planning, and performance optimization.
Research Fortinet: Familiarize yourself with Fortinet's mission, values, and company culture. Be prepared to discuss how your work as an SRE Specialist 3 contributes to the company's success and how you would collaborate with other departments to ensure high service availability and reliability.

⚠️ 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.

SRE Specialist 3