Principal Systems Engineer

Colonial has provided a wide range of opportunities for job candidates who are highly qualified, skilled, motivated and team players. Employees find exciting opportunities to grow and develop their careers at a stable company which offers a generous compensation and benefits package that includes annual incentive bonuses, retirement plans, insurance coverage and a host of other features that support a happy, active, productive and rewarding life. Come to Colonial, a great place to work, where people matter most, and where safety 24/7 is paramount.

Ready to work for Colonial Pipeline Company?

Are you intrigued by the thought of being part of revolutionizing the energy industry and a new era in the pipeline industry? Do you want to be a part of a company that is obsessed with excellence in everything we do? A company growing and expanding our business that is full of opportunity? If so, we are seeking smart, safety focused, and energetic professionals to join our team to help us to the next level of excellence!

What is it that we do at Colonial Pipeline Company?

Colonial Pipeline is the largest refined products pipeline in the United States, transporting more than 100 million gallons or 2.5 million barrels per day. Colonial transports various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, jet fuel, and fuels for the U.S. military through a pipeline system. Colonial transports approximately 45 percent of all fuel consumed on the East Coast, providing refined products to more than 50 million Americans.

About the Principal Systems Engineer Position

The Principal Systems Engineer is responsible for the architecture, design, implementation, automation, configuration, and support of complex enterprise infrastructure across on-premises, cloud, hybrid cloud, and Operational Technology (OT) environments. This role improves reliability, resiliency, security, scalability, and operational efficiency while serving as a senior technical subject matter expert and leading medium-to-large technology initiatives. The position is based in Alpharetta and requires approximately 20% travel.

What You Get to Do

• Design, implement, configure, maintain, and support enterprise infrastructure across on-premises, cloud, hybrid cloud, IT, and OT environments.

• Engineer and support compute, storage, virtualization, operating systems, cloud platforms, identity integration, monitoring, backup, and disaster recovery capabilities.

• Improve system reliability, performance, security, availability, and operational efficiency through automation, observability, preventive maintenance, and lifecycle management.

• Develop and maintain infrastructure-as-code, configuration-management, and scripting solutions using technologies such as Terraform, Bicep, Ansible, and PowerShell.

• Apply cloud architecture and governance practices, including landing zones, identity and access controls, networking, security guardrails, resource organization, policy enforcement, monitoring, and cost management.

• Evaluate workloads for modernization, migration, re-platforming, or continued on-premises operation based on business, security, reliability, supportability, and cost requirements.

• Install, configure, optimize, and troubleshoot servers, storage, virtualization platforms, operating systems, cloud services, and related infrastructure.

• Develop and maintain system standards, procedures, architecture documentation, technical roadmaps, and operational support practices.

• Serve as a senior technical SME and escalation point while providing technical direction, guidance, and mentorship to engineering and support teams.

• Lead medium-to-large infrastructure and modernization projects, managing scope, timelines, resources, vendors, risks, and budgets.

• Research and recommend technologies and automated solutions that reduce technical debt, strengthen security, improve resiliency, and simplify operations.

• Support infrastructure security, change management, incident and problem management, service continuity, and continuous improvement initiatives.

What You Bring to the Table

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline.

• Eight years of progressively responsible experience implementing, administering, engineering, and managing complex enterprise technology infrastructure.

• Demonstrated experience designing or supporting production workloads in Microsoft Azure.

• Advanced experience with Windows Server, RHEL/Linux, VMware or comparable virtualization technologies, Microsoft 365, and enterprise infrastructure services.

• Experience with cloud compute, storage, virtual networking, identity and access management, monitoring, backup, disaster recovery, governance, security, and cost management.

• Experience with infrastructure as code, configuration management, automation, and scripting using Terraform, Bicep, ARM templates, Ansible, PowerShell, or comparable technologies.

• Knowledge of SAN/storage, Active Directory, Entra ID, PKI, SQL Server, IP address management such as Infoblox, networking, and cybersecurity practices.

• Understanding of hybrid connectivity, workload migration, cloud shared-responsibility models, least-privilege access, encryption, logging, secrets management, and policy enforcement.

• At least one relevant certification in cloud, operating systems, virtualization, automation, or enterprise infrastructure. Examples include Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, RHCE, VCAP, VCDX, or NCP.

• Strong troubleshooting, analytical, architecture, project management, communication, and technical leadership skills.

Skills That Set You Apart

• Advanced engineering or technology-focused degree.

• Experience supporting OT or critical infrastructure, including pipelines, power distribution, railways, or other highly regulated operational environments.

• Experience designing cloud landing zones, hybrid network connectivity, cloud governance models, disaster recovery solutions, or workload migration programs.

• Experience with Azure Policy, Azure Monitor, Azure Backup, Azure Site Recovery, Key Vault, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, AWS Control Tower, AWS CloudWatch, or comparable cloud services.

• Experience with container platforms, platform engineering, CI/CD pipelines, Git-based workflows, or automated infrastructure testing.

• ITIL certification or practical experience with IT service management processes.

• Experience with Ansible Automation Platform (AAP), SAN technologies, industrial data centers, SCADA, or Industrial Control Systems.

• Knowledge of pipeline operations and infrastructure resiliency within critical infrastructure environments.

Advantages of Working at Colonial Pipeline Company

• Getting to work for a company that helps meet our country's energy needs and keeps us moving!

• Team members who care about each other while accomplishing remarkable things.

• Highly competitive benefits. Check out Colonial's Total Rewards.

Are you up to the challenge? What are you waiting for? Apply today!

Colonial Pipeline is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other reason prohibited by federal, state or local law.

Statement to all Third-Party Agencies and Similar Organizations:

Colonial Pipeline accepts resumes only from agencies with which we formally engage their services. Please do not forward resumes to our applicant tracking system, Colonial Pipeline employees, hiring managers, or send to any Colonial Pipeline facility. Colonial Pipeline is not responsible for any fees or charges associated with unsolicited resumes.