smartTrade Technologies is a software publisher specializing in the trading and finance sector. Its clients primarily include investment banks, stock exchanges, brokers, and pension funds. smartTrade enables real-time computerized management of financial flows among these different stakeholders.

Joining smartTrade means becoming a part of an innovative and international company with offices in Aix-en-Provence, London, Geneva, New York, Toronto, and Tokyo.

Skill development and career progression are top priorities at smartTrade, offering employees numerous opportunities for learning, advancement, and mobility. Sports and their values of teamwork, performance, and dynamism are integral to the company's culture.

Position Summary

We are seeking a hands-on Datacenter Engineer to join our North America Operations team. You’ll be the on‑the‑ground owner for our Secaucus (Equinix) environment and a key contributor to our global private cloud.

The role blends datacenter operations and Linux systems administration (Ubuntu), containerized compute (LXD/LXC, some Docker) and networking.

You will partner with engineering, network, and security teams to ensure reliability, performance, and change control in a 24×7, market‑facing environment.

This is a production‑oriented role: you’ll prepare, review and execute changes, troubleshoot live issues, execute maintenance windows, and continuously improve our platform through automation and rigorous documentation.

Interaction and Hierarchy

• Reports to the North American Operations Team Lead

• Works closely with System and Network Admins, Project & cybersecurity Teams

• Interacts with the following departments or external organizations: Technology, suppliers

The role will consist of:

Data Center Operations

• Perform racking, stacking, cabling, and labeling of servers, network, and storage equipment.Conduct hardware upgrades, component swaps, and replacements for disks, memory, and NICs.

• Perform fiber and copper cable cleaning, routing, and documentation to maintain reliability and performance.

• Track and manage hardware inventory, asset tagging, and lifecycle documentation.

• Coordinate RMA and vendor support for failed components and warranty claims.

• Assist with data center expansion and decommissioning projects, ensuring minimal downtime.

Server Administration

• Deploy, configure, and maintain Linux servers (Red Hat, CentOS, Ubuntu, or similar enterprise distributions).

• Manage virtualization platforms (VMware ESXi, KVM, or Proxmox) and assist with capacity planning.

• Apply patches, updates, and firmware upgrades as part of scheduled maintenance cycles.

• Support system imaging and provisioning for new hardware deployments.

Monitoring & Performance

• Implement and maintain infrastructure monitoring systems (Nagios, Zabbix, Prometheus, Observium, Dynatrace, Centreon) for proactive issue detection.
  Analyze performance metrics to identify and resolve hardware or system bottlenecks.

• Contribute to continuous improvement of deployment and monitoring processes.

• Participating in strategic planning for datacenter & infrastructure improvements.

Change Management

• Contribute to change management (runbooks, maintenance windows, rollback plans)and keep documentation current (network diagrams, inventories, SOPs).

Networking & Connectivity

• Work with network teams to troubleshoot L1–L3 issues, VLAN assignments, link failures, and firewall connectivity.

• Validate and document physical network and fiber patching maps.

Automation & Scripting

• Use scripting (Bash, Python, or Ansible) to automate hardware checks, provisioning, and maintenance tasks.

Security & Compliance

• Ensure systems meet security and compliance standards through access control, patching, and hardening.

• Support audit preparation by maintaining accurate operational documentation.

Incident Response & Support

• Perform root cause analysis and corrective actions for infrastructure incidents.

Documentation

• Maintain detailed rack diagrams, wiring maps, system configurations, and operational SOPs.

• Update change logs and records in asset management systems.

Position Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in a data center operations and Linux systems role.

• Proven hands-on experience with server hardware assembly, cabling, and maintenance.

• Strong knowledge of Linux OS internals, troubleshooting, and system tuning.

• Familiarity with TCP/IP networking, VLANs, DNS, and DHCP.

• Experience with monitoring tools (Nagios, Zabbix, Observium, Dynatrace, OpenTelemetry, or Prometheus).

• Proficiency in Bash or Python scripting for automation.

• Good knowledge of backup, recovery, and DR procedures.

• Ability to lift and install rack-mounted equipment (up to ~25–30kg safely).

• Comfortable working in controlled environments (raised floors, hot/cold aisles, etc.).

• Experience working in global team environments and solving problems28.

• Excellent communication, collaboration, reporting, analytical, and problem-solving skills30.

• Strong autonomy

• High ability to adapt and anticipate

• Languages: English, French (Optional)

• Driver’s licence required

• Standard business hours aligned to Eastern Time with flexibility for maintenance windows such as Friday and Sunday rotating shifts that are longer (Friday: 9am to ~10/11pm EST, Sunday: 9/10:00am to 7:00pm EST)

• Ability to be on call duty or to work on weekends (rotating shifts)

• Travel: 1–2 trips per month to Equinix Secaucus, on Saturdays.

Preferred skills

• Experience with virtualization (VMware, KVM, or Proxmox).

• Exposure to containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).

• Experience with GIT workflows/pipelines

• Familiarity with configuration management tools (Ansible, Puppet, or Chef).

• Knowledge of ITIL processes, ticketing systems (JIRA), and change management.