Data Center Server Lab Engineer

Job Title: Data Center Server Lab Engineer

Job Location: Secaucus, NJ

Job Type: Contract

Pay Range: $65.04hr - $73.92hr

Job Overview:

We are seeking a hands-on and detail-oriented professional to support and maintain our development lab environment. This role is responsible for ensuring that lab systems, hardware, and infrastructure are fully operational, organized, and accessible to support engineering and development teams. The successful candidate will provide day-to-day technical support, troubleshoot hardware and system issues, and coordinate closely with IT and engineering teams to resolve problems efficiently.

Candidate Profile:

In this role, the candidate will manage lab setup and organization, maintain accurate inventory and asset tracking, and support the full lifecycle of rack level server systems from configuration and deployment to refresh and decommissioning. The candidate will play a key role in enabling developer productivity by maintaining reliable lab operations, supporting remote access needs, and ensuring systems are properly configured, updated, and compliant with internal standards.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys working hands-on with hardware, solving technical problems, and contributing to a well-organized, high-functioning data center/lab environment.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: Server Lab Operations & Developer Support:

• Provide first-line troubleshooting and technical support for server platforms, GPUs, accelerator cards, networking equipment, storage systems, firmware, operating systems, and lab infrastructure.
• Support engineers and developers by performing hardware and configuration changes including server installation, component replacement, BIOS and BMC configuration, firmware updates, operating system deployment, and network configuration.
• Diagnose platform failures, performance issues, hardware compatibility concerns, and infrastructure-related problems while documenting findings and escalating issues to engineering, IT, vendors, or product teams as required.
• Validate server functionality following hardware modifications, firmware updates, deployments, and repair activities.

Data Center Lab Infrastructure Management:

• Build, organize, and maintain server lab environments including rack layouts, structured cabling, network connectivity, power distribution, cooling infrastructure, and equipment labeling.
• Develop and maintain laboratory standards for system deployment, asset identification, cabling practices, rack organization, safety compliance, and operational readiness.
• Monitor rack power utilization, cooling capacity, and space availability to support current and future hardware deployments.
• Coordinate lab relocation, expansion, and refresh activities including system decommissioning, equipment moves, rack installation, and restoration of services.

Server Deployment & Lifecycle Management:

• Rack, stack, cable, configure, and commission server hardware including compute, storage, networking, and GPU platforms.
• Manage server imaging, operating system installation, firmware compliance, BIOS configuration standards, and system validation procedures.
• Support hardware qualification, proof-of-concept testing, and platform bring-up activities for new server technologies.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance, hardware refreshes, upgrades, and end-of-life replacement planning.

Inventory & Asset Management:

• Maintain accurate inventory records for servers, GPUs, switches, storage devices, PDUs, optics, cables, test equipment, and associated infrastructure assets.
• Track asset ownership, rack location, deployment status, warranty information, RMA activity, lifecycle stage, and utilization.
• Conduct routine audits to ensure inventory accuracy and identify missing, underutilized, or retired equipment.
• Manage spare parts inventory to support rapid replacement and minimize system downtime.

Network, Storage & Remote Access Administration:

• Support lab network infrastructure including switch configuration, port assignments, VLAN validation, IP management, and connectivity troubleshooting.
• Coordinate storage and remote access solutions to ensure reliable access for engineering, validation, and development teams.
• Maintain out-of-band management solutions including BMC, iDRAC, iLO, Redfish, serial console, and KVM access systems.
• Partner with IT and security teams to ensure compliance with corporate security standards, patching requirements, and access control policies.

Operational Excellence & Process Improvement:

• Develop and maintain documentation including rack elevations, network diagrams, deployment procedures, troubleshooting guides, and standard operating procedures.
• Establish service request, escalation, change management, and equipment checkout processes.
• Identify opportunities to improve lab efficiency through process automation, scripting, monitoring, and infrastructure optimization.
• Support capacity planning efforts for power, cooling, rack space, networking, and hardware resource utilization.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Hands-on experience supporting server hardware, enterprise infrastructure, or large-scale data center laboratory environments.
• Experience with rack-and-stack activities, structured cabling, power distribution systems, and data center best practices.
• Strong knowledge of server platforms from Dell, HPE, Supermicro, AMD, NVIDIA, Intel, or similar enterprise hardware vendors.
• Experience configuring and troubleshooting BIOS, BMC, firmware, storage controllers, network adapters, and GPU platforms.
• Familiarity with server management technologies such as iDRAC, iLO, Redfish, IPMI, OpenBMC, and remote KVM solutions.
• Experience supporting Linux and Windows Server operating systems including imaging, deployment, patching, and troubleshooting.
• Understanding of networking fundamentals including TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VLANs, routing, switching, and network diagnostics.
• Experience maintaining hardware inventory, CMDB, asset management, or data center infrastructure management (DCIM) platforms.
• Working knowledge of data center power and cooling concepts including PDU management, rack density, power budgeting, and thermal considerations.
• Experience using scripting and automation tools such as Python, Bash, PowerShell, or Ansible.
• Knowledge of SQL, databases, telemetry collection, infrastructure monitoring, and reporting tools is considered a plus.
• Experience supporting AI, HPC, GPU cluster, server validation, or engineering lab environments is highly desirable.

ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS:

• Bachelor s degree in Computer Engineering, Network Engineering or Information Systems.

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• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Disability Insurance (Short-Term and Long-Term)
• Life and AD&D Insurance
• Paid Sick Leave (where required by applicable state or local law)
• Supplemental Insurance Plans
• Identity Theft Protection
• Pet Insurance
• Employee Wellness Programs
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Career Growth and Professional Development Opportunities