Senior Windows Platform Engineer

Job description

Position Title: Senior Windows Platform Engineer The Senior Windows Platform Engineer serves as the organization's technical authority for enterprise Windows platforms, combining operating system expertise with automation-first engineering principles. This role is responsible for designing, automating, and operating Windows infrastructure across hybrid cloud environments (Azure, AWS, on-premises VMware) while serving as an escalation point for critical Windows operations. The ideal candidate is a pragmatic technologist who partners with application teams, security, and business units to deliver standardized, compliant, and highly automated Windows platforms that accelerate pharma innovation while maintaining rigorous GxP regulatory standards.   This position is pivotal to our organization's digital transformation journey. As pharma increasingly relies on cloud infrastructure, data platforms, AI/ML capabilities, and advanced analytics, the Windows platform becomes the foundation enabling innovation. This role ensures our scientists, researchers, and business partners have reliable, secure, and agile infrastructure that accelerates drug discovery and improves patient outcomes while maintaining the compliance rigor and quality standards our industry demands.   By leveraging our existing AAP investment and GitHub Actions integration, you'll drive automation maturity that reduces operational toil, accelerates delivery, and enables the organization to focus on high-value innovation rather than repetitive infrastructure tasks.   Key Responsibilities Platform Engineering & Automation • Enhance and extend our enterprise Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) implementation, building sophisticated automation workflows for Windows provisioning, configuration management, and orchestration • Design and maintain CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions integrated with PowerShell scripts, Ansible playbooks and AAP for automated Windows image baking, testing, and deployment • Develop and optimize golden image pipelines for Windows Server (2016, 2019, 2022, 2025) across Azure, AWS, and VMware environments using Infrastructure as Code principles • Create reusable Ansible modules for Windows, PowerShell DSC configurations, and Python-based automation tools that enable self-service capabilities for application teams • Build integration workflows between GitHub Actions, AAP, and enterprise tooling via REST APIs (ServiceNow, monitoring platforms, CMDB, orchestration tools) • Drive Windows containerization initiatives, supporting application teams with Windows container and Docker on Windows strategies • Continuously improve automation framework performance, reliability, and maintainability based on operational feedback   Enterprise Windows Operations & Architecture • Serve as subject matter expert for Windows Server across all versions, editions and deployment models • Architect and manage Windows update (like WSUS/SCCM/Intune/Windows Update for Business) infrastructure for patch management, content lifecycle, and GxP compliance reporting • Own the Windows platform lifecycle: planning, hardening standards (CIS, STIG, Microsoft Security Baselines), patching strategies, and end-of-life migrations • Design and implement scalable solutions for Windows workloads across multi-cloud and hybrid environments • Establish and enforce Windows standards, best practices, and architectural patterns aligned with pharma GxP compliance requirements • Evaluate and integrate emerging Windows technologies (Azure Arc, Windows Admin Center, Azure Automanage) as business needs evolve • Ensure Windows platforms meet validation requirements for GxP-regulated systems • Manage Active Directory integration, Group Policy design, and domain services architecture in partnership with Identity teams   Stakeholder Partnership & Integration • Partner with application owners, SQL Server DBAs, .NET development teams, integration teams, and Oracle administrators to understand requirements and embed them into standardized platform offerings • Translate complex business and application requirements into technical Windows platform capabilities • Collaborate with Cloud Engineering, Security, Network, and Storage teams on cross-functional initiatives • Lead technical discovery sessions and provide consultative guidance on Windows platform capabilities • Participate in architecture review boards and provide Windows expertise for new initiatives and M&A integrations • Work with Quality Assurance and Validation teams to ensure Windows automation supports GxP compliance and validation activities • Support IIS web server configurations and .NET application hosting requirements</spa