Principal IT Systems Engineer

At ExtraHop, we’re on a mission to protect and empower the connected enterprise. We reveal what is happening in the very infrastructure that sustains businesses, lives, and communities, and ensure the integrity of networks, data, systems, and processes. Organizations rely on ExtraHop to provide visibility into the cyber threats, vulnerabilities, and network performance issues that evade their existing security and IT tools. With this insight, organizations can investigate smarter, stop threats faster, and keep operations running.

Our mission is fueled by a profound social and moral responsibility to be the best at what we do, ensuring a secure world where everyone can thrive. If this sounds like a place you’d like to spend the next chapter of your career, we’d love to hear from you.

Position Summary

We are seeking a Principal IT Systems Engineer to provide technical leadership in the design, implementation, and evolution of our enterprise infrastructure, cloud services, and systems operations. This role combines deep hands-on engineering expertise with architectural ownership and strategic influence, ensuring the scalability, reliability, security, and performance of business-critical systems.

As a senior technical leader, you will drive infrastructure strategy, establish engineering standards, and lead complex cross-functional initiatives across networking, systems, identity management, security, and business systems. You will serve as a trusted advisor to IT leadership, mentor engineers across the organization, and help shape the future direction of our technology ecosystem through automation, modernization, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

Define and drive the technical roadmap for infrastructure, cloud services, identity management, and systems operations.

Architect and implement secure, scalable, and highly available hybrid and multi-cloud solutions.

Lead the design and continuous improvement of production monitoring, observability, and operational support practices.

Serve as the highest-level technical escalation point for complex infrastructure and operational challenges.

Design and implement automation solutions, infrastructure-as-code frameworks, and operational workflows that improve efficiency and reliability.

Establish and promote engineering standards, architectural best practices, and operational processes across the IT organization.

Partner with security teams to proactively identify and mitigate infrastructure and operational risks.

Lead cross-functional projects involving infrastructure, networking, security, and business systems teams.

Mentor engineers and provide technical guidance to support professional growth and knowledge sharing.

Driving strategic efforts over projects up to months in duration, while concurrently addressing smaller tactical needs and escalations from Tier 1 and 2 support teams.

Required Qualifications

10+ years of experience in systems engineering, infrastructure architecture, cloud engineering, or related technical disciplines.

Deep expertise in Linux/Unix systems administration, automation, and infrastructure operations.

Working knowledge of Windows systems and services in an enterprise environment.

Strong proficiency with Shell/Bash, Python, or similar scripting and automation technologies.

Experience designing and operating enterprise-scale cloud and hybrid infrastructure environments.

Advanced knowledge of networking and application protocols, including TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP/S, SSH, and TLS.

Deep experience with federated and bilateral authentication and authorization technologies (SAML, OAuth, Active Directory, LDAP) and platforms such as Okta, Google, and AWS.

Experience with infrastructure-as-code and configuration management tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Puppet, or Chef.

Strong understanding of security principles and secure systems design.

Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical initiatives and influence decisions across teams and stakeholders.

Excellent communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with AWS, Azure, and/or GCP.

Experience supporting enterprise SaaS applications such as Google Workspace and other business-critical systems.

Familiarity with virtualization platforms, container technologies, and modern infrastructure practices.

Understanding of network, firewall, and other security principles at the system level.

Skills and Competencies

Technical Leadership: Ability to influence technical direction, establish standards, and guide engineering decisions across teams.

Systems Architecture: Deep expertise in designing secure, scalable, and highly available infrastructure solutions.

Automation Innovation: Passion for leveraging automation and modern technologies to improve operational efficiency and reliability.

Problem Solving: Ability to analyze complex technical challenges, identify root causes, and implement sustainable solutions.

Collab…