At Cadence, we hire and develop leaders and innovators who want to make an impact on the world of technology. IT Staff Systems Engineer - Infrastructure Automation & Virtualization ABOUT THE ROLE We are looking for a Staff engineer to join our Infrastructure team with a primary focus on infrastructure automation and development. In this role, you will design, build, and maintain automation frameworks using Terraform, Ansible, and Python that drive the provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management of our on-premises and hybrid cloud environments. You will also bring strong hands-on experience with virtualization platforms — including Nutanix, KVM, and VMware — to support and evolve our HCI infrastructure. You operate as a skilled individual contributor, executing within established engineering standards, collaborating with senior engineers on architecture decisions, and helping level up junior teammates through mentorship and code review. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES • Design and maintain infrastructure-as-code (IaC) solutions using Terraform and Ansible to automate provisioning, configuration, and lifecycle management of compute, storage, and networking resources • Write and maintain Python and Bash automation scripts to reduce manual operational overhead, integrate tooling, and support CI/CD pipelines • Build and manage CI/CD pipelines in GitHub Actions or equivalent tooling to automate infrastructure deployments, enforce policy-as-code, and streamline testing and validation workflows • Administer and optimize virtualization platforms including Nutanix (AHV, Prism, AOS), KVM, and VMware vSphere/ESXi, ensuring performance, availability, and capacity targets are met • Support hybrid cloud operations across AWS and/or Azure, integrating on-premises infrastructure with cloud services using automation-first practices • Contribute to infrastructure design discussions, providing input on architecture decisions related to automation, virtualization, HCI, and cloud integration • Monitor infrastructure health using observability tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog), respond to incidents, and drive root-cause analysis and remediation • Develop and maintain documentation for automation frameworks, runbooks, and infrastructure standards to ensure operational consistency and knowledge sharing • Participate in security and compliance reviews, applying hardening practices and policy-as-code across infrastructure pipelines • Mentor junior engineers through pair programming, code review, and knowledge transfer, contributing to team growth and a culture of automation-first thinking REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS • 5–8 years of experience in infrastructure engineering with a strong emphasis on automation and infrastructure-as-code • Expert-level proficiency in Terraform — writing modular, reusable HCL configurations for multi-environment deployments • Solid hands-on experience with Ansible for configuration management, idempotent playbook development, and role-based automation • Proficiency in Python for automation scripting, tooling development, and API integration; Bash scripting for operational tasks • Production-level experience with at least two of the following virtualization platforms: Nutanix (AHV/Prism/AOS), KVM/QEMU, VMware vSphere/ESXi • Familiarity with CI/CD platforms (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins) and GitOps workflows for infrastructure automation • Working knowledge of AWS or Azure, including compute, networking, IAM, and hybrid connectivity (VPN, Direct Connect / ExpressRoute) is an advantage. • Foundational networking knowledge: VLANs, routing, DNS, load balancing, and firewall rules in virtualized environments • Experience with GitHub or GitHub Enterprise for version control, branching strategies, and pull-request-based workflows • Strong communication skills and ability to produce clear technical documentation, runbooks, and architecture diagrams We’re doing work that matters. Help us solve what others can’t. Additional Jobs Equal Employment Opportunity Policy: Cadence is committed to equal employment opportunity throughout all levels of the organization. Read the policy(opens in a new tab) We welcome your interest in the company and want to make sure our job site is accessible to all. If you experience difficulty using this site or to request a reasonable accommodation, please contact staffing@cadence.com. Privacy Policy: Job Applicant If you are a job seeker creating a profile using our careers website, please see the privacy policy(opens in a new tab). E-Verify Cadence participates in the E-Verify program in certain U.S. locations as required by law. Download More Information on E-Verify (64K) Cadence plays a critical role in creating the technologies that modern life depends on. We are a global electronic design automation company, providing software, hardware, and intellectual property to design advanced semiconductor chips that enable our customers create revolutionary products and experiences. Thanks to the outstanding caliber of the Cadence team and the empowering culture that we have cultivated for over 25 years, Cadence continues to be recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For.
Our shared passion for solving the world’s toughest technical challenges, our dedication to pushing the limits of the industry, and our drive to do meaningful work differentiates the people of Cadence. Cadence is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, basis of disability, or any other protected class.