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POSITION PURPOSE:

The Infrastructure Engineer is responsible for the administration, configuration, and maintenance of El Pollo Loco’s hybrid IT environment as the company transitions from a traditional datacenter model toward a cloud-native AWS architecture. This role is central to EPL’s cloud-first replatforming initiative — supporting the migration of workloads from the colocation datacenter in Irvine to AWS managed and serverless services, while ensuring the stability of on-premises systems during the transition. The Infrastructure Engineer owns day-to-day operations across cloud infrastructure (AWS), virtualization (VMware), networking (Meraki, Palo Alto, NSX), systems administration, and restaurant connectivity, and will play a hands-on role in driving the decommissioning of legacy datacenter infrastructure as workloads migrate to the cloud.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Administer and evolve EPL’s AWS environment, including compute (EC2, Lambda), databases (Aurora, RDS, DynamoDB), networking (VPC, Transit Gateway), storage (S3), identity (IAM), and cost management (Cost Explorer, Savings Plans), ensuring scalability, security, and optimal performance.
• Support the active migration of datacenter workloads to AWS-native managed and serverless services, working closely with cloud architects and managed service partners on assessment findings and implementation; participate in colo-exit sequencing, workload dependency mapping, and cutover coordination.
• Implement and maintain AWS Landing Zone / Control Tower multi-account structure as EPL’s cloud foundation matures; manage IaC tooling (CloudFormation / Terraform) and CI/CD pipelines supporting infrastructure deployments.
• Evaluate and recommend AI and automation tooling on AWS (e.g., Bedrock, Lambda-based automation) in support of EPL’s AI adoption roadmap.
• Administer VMware vSphere/vCenter environment, including virtual machine lifecycle, resource allocation, NSX network virtualization, and high availability configurations through the active decommission phase.
• Own all aspects of EPL’s colocation facility environment, including physical SQL Server clusters, virtual machines, file servers, storage, network hardware, power and cooling awareness, vendor coordination, and physical access management; support Cohesity backup and disaster recovery operations, ensuring RPO/RTO targets are met for all critical workloads until fully migrated to cloud-native alternatives; partner with the colo facility on escalations, maintenance windows, and capacity planning.
• Administer enterprise networking infrastructure including Meraki SD-WAN/wireless across the Support Center and 500+ restaurant locations, Palo Alto firewalls, and Prisma (PaloAlto) SASE platform; maintain site-to-site VPN connectivity between restaurant locations, the colocation facility, and AWS.
• Administer Active Directory (multi-domain), Azure AD / Entra ID, and OneLogin SSO, including user provisioning, Group Policy, and SCIM/AD sync; manage Microsoft Office 365 tenant administration including Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, and licensing; administer Mimecast email security platform in coordination with the Information Security team.
• Oversee endpoint management platforms including Ivanti (MobileIron) MDM and Atera, ensuring device compliance, patching, and remote support capabilities across corporate and restaurant endpoints; administer restaurant-facing systems including POS connectivity and store communications infrastructure.
• Maintain infrastructure monitoring via SolarWinds HCO; create and maintain detailed technical documentation for all systems, migration runbooks, and operational procedures; provide after-hours on-call support for critical infrastructure incidents.
• Collaborate with the Sr. Manager of Information Security and cybersecurity team to ensure infrastructure changes meet security and compliance requirements (PCI DSS, SOX); assist with New Restaurant Opening (NRO) IT infrastructure buildouts in coordination with the Sr. IT Projects Coordinator.

QUALIFICATIONS – EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, LICENSE/CERTIFICATIONS:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to satisfactorily perform the essential functions of the job.  Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.  The requirements listed below are representative of the education and/or experience required. 

Education/Work Experience:

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, Statistics, or a related field required. Minimum 3–5 years of hands-on infrastructure administration experience. Strong proficiency in SQL and relational databases required.

Experience administering AWS environments required. VMware vSphere/vCenter administration experience strongly preferred. Networking experience (firewalls, SD-WAN, VPN) preferred.

License/Certifications:

• Preferred but not required
  • AWS Certified SysOps Administrator, Solutions Architect, or Cloud Practitioner
  • VMware VCP (vSphere) or Palo Alto PCNSA/PCNSE
  • Cisco/Meraki CMNA or Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104)

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Expertise in AWS cloud administration — EC2, S3, RDS/Aurora, Lambda, VPC, IAM, CloudWatch, Cost Explorer; familiarity with serverless architectures and IaC (CloudFormation or Terraform) strongly preferred.
• Strong VMware vSphere/vCenter administration experience, including NSX network virtualization.
• Working knowledge of LAN/WAN concepts, SD-WAN, VPN (site-to-site, SSL), firewall administration (Palo Alto preferred), and enterprise wireless (Meraki preferred).
• Active Directory administration across multiple domains, GPO management, OneLogin or similar SSO/IdP platform, MFA, and SCIM provisioning.
• Microsoft 365 tenant administration: Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, Intune/MDM, and licensing.
• Experience with Ivanti, Atera, or comparable endpoint management, patching, and remote support platforms.
• PowerShell, Python, or Bash scripting for automation and operational efficiency; interest in infrastructure-as-code practices.
• Ability to independently diagnose and resolve complex infrastructure issues across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments.
• Comfortable operating in a transition environment — able to maintain legacy systems while simultaneously driving modernization initiatives.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to produce clear technical documentation and communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to plan, prioritize, and execute across multiple concurrent projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to work at the Support Center consistent with the hybrid work policy; occasional travel to the Irvine colocation facility and restaurant locations may be required.