Employment and Careers Overview

Systems Engineer

Account Executive

Systems Engineer - Microsoft/Cisco/HP/Citrix (ie: Ninja):

Overview

VNS is seeking talented, organized, smart, and determined professionals as we continue to develop our central valley presence. This is a primarily field-based position which entails providing IT consulting, design, support and deployment services to our customers in the Central Valley. Our customer base varies from SMB (small-medium businesses from 1-1,000 employees) to state/local government, to K12 education.

The type of work varies as well but we predominately work with 3 major partners: Microsoft (Windows, Exchange, SBS, Active Directory, SQL), Cisco (routers, switches, VOIP, and WLAN) and HP (ProLiant, ProCurve desktops, etc.). Our secondary partners include: Citrix, VMware, APC, Xerox, Symantec, WatchGuard, GFI, EMC, Dell, Barracuda, Axis, etc.

Experience and Certification Requirements

The primary day-to-day responsibility for a VNS Systems Engineer (SE) is the proactive management and support of our managed services customers (VNS was ranked the #23 MSP globally), supplemented by design and deployment of new customer solutions. This requires experienced, well-rounded SE's with at least 3-5 years of hands-on experience designing, deploying and supporting business networks. Our customer base provides a ton of variety each day, but the primary systems and technologies we recommend, sell and support are: HP, Cisco and Microsoft.

We love finding “diamond in the rough” candidates, but the reality of our business is that you must be able to do the work. Every candidate tells us they are a “quick learner” but we aren’t in business to train people – we charge customers for our ability to do the work, so the right candidates must have a strong working knowledge of the basics of Microsoft Windows/AD/Exchange, basic networking and the OSI model, and the array of secondary support products that are used in every network – backup software, AV, anti-spam, firewalls, switches, routers, and UPSs, etc. We’re willing to teach and train the right candidate in specific products (ie: if you understand ARCserve, it’s implied that you understand backup, so we can teach you the specifics of Symantec Backup Exec). Conversely, if you don’t have the experience but have the entry level certifications and commensurate knowledge for our SE position (A+, MCSE/MCITP, CCNA), then we’d like to talk with you.

Obviously a solid foundation in Microsoft systems technologies is a requirement, and systems knowledge of HP and/or Dell is certainly helpful. Certified candidates are preferred (ie: CCA, CCEA, MCSE, MCSA, ASE, etc.), but if you have experience and a passion to learn, and you are willing to attain your certifications, we'll work with the right person to help get you there. Our top priority is finding someone with the knowledge, experience and passion to keep learning - but our manufacturer partners mandate that we are also certified so acquiring certifications, if hired, is non-negotiable.

The variety of the job extends to projects, which supplement our managed services. Projects range from design and deployment of new networks, to ongoing support and proactive maintenance of customer networks, including dealing with backup problems, spam and virus problems, SAN/NAS and DAS storage, hardware issues, WLAN and wired routing projects, VOIP and IP video surveillance, Citrix, SQL, and security issues. Although we have specialists in specific technologies on our technical team, each member of the team is afforded the opportunity to work with a wide variety of technologies and customer needs on a daily basis. Variety and the opportunity to learn are abundant here.

We are always seeking experienced self-motivated technical professionals with a strong degree of expertise in any of the following key technology areas, and desire to develop those skills on an ongoing basis, through real-world, hands-on applied experience:

•  Citrix: CCA, CCEA (Presentation Server, XenServer, VMware) or Novell CNA, CNE
•  Microsoft: MCSE/MCITP, MCDBA, MS Dynamics CRM certified, etc.
•  Cisco: CCDA, CCNA, CCVP, CCNP (CCDA or CCVP preferred - VoIP/WLAN/Unified Communications expertise is preferred)
•  CompTIA: A+, Network+, Security+, Linux+, etc.
•  Vendor Certifications: HP APS, AIS, ASE, Dell DCSE, Symantec, WatchGuard, APC, etc.

Ideal candidates will posses what VNS considers entry-level general skills and certification (see below). We will consider candidates with minimal certification and extensive experience if you can demonstrate that you really know your stuff, but you must be willing to obtain industry-accepted certifications that quantify this knowledge shortly after joining us.

Recent graduates or those with limited industry experience are generally not advised to apply for this type of a consulting position, as it's rare that will provide you with the depth and breadth of experience that we require to fill a consulting position, however, we're always willing to consider an applicant who might be a "diamond in the rough". 

If you have done independent consulting or worked for an MSP/VAR/integrator in the past, you might be a great fit. Applicants who've previously done professional computer consulting, and/or who have an existing local customer base will be of particular interest to us.

Certification is a requirement at VNS, and necessity in our industry because our vendors require it and because we've found that it forces us to fill in the weak areas of our skillsets. We also want to be the BEST and certification is one way to demonstrate that. Many people say they can accomplish specific tasks, but many less are prepared to prove that through certification. However, we do not want "paperboys/papergirls" - ability comes first, but we have also met dozens of people over the years who devalued certifications as nothing more than paper, but then struggled (or failed) to attain them, so we are looking for people that are either certified, or will make the commitment to back their knowledge up by attaining required certifications - VNS pays for all passing exams and provides study materials. VNS is also a Pearson-VUE/Prometric testing center, so all exams can be taken right in our office.

The idea candidate should have a passion for technology and learning, be organized, flexible, detail-oriented, have a friendly personality and be able to comfortably multi-task, and thrive on a fast-paced, detail-oriented work environment. This position is salaried, with pay increases provided commensurate with your certification training progress. Tenured employees are offered utilization bonuses. Position includes annual performance and salary reviews, along with our other standard benefits. We generally will start minimally certified people off at a lower salary range until they've proven themselves through technical capability, satisfied customers, and billable utilization.

To apply for this position, click here.