Systems Engineer / Citrix Ninja (msp-var/network Integrator, Visalia/hanford/fresno)
Valley Network Solutions (Central Valley, California)

This job posting has expired.

You may wish to try a search for Systems Engineer / Citrix Ninja (MSP-VAR/Network Integrator, Visalia/Hanford/Fresno)

Or visit the FlipDog home page
 

About the Opportunity
Systems Engineer / Citrix Ninja:

Are you a Citrix Ninja?  Do you want to design, build and support networks with a special emphasis on Citrix, VMware, XenServer and Virtualization technologies?

VNS is seeking a talented, organized, smart, and determined professional as we continue to grow.  This is a field-based position which entails providing IT consulting, design, support and deployment services to our customers in the Central Valley, with a specific focus on designing, building and supporting Citrix and/or virtualization-based business solutions. 

Our customer base varies from SMB (small-medium businesses from 1-1,000 employees) to state/local government, to K12 education.  The type of work varies as well but we predominately work with 3 major partners: Microsoft (Windows, Exchange, SBS, SQL), Cisco (routers, switches, VOIP and WLAN) and HP (ProLiant, desktops).  We are a Citrix Silver and XenServer partner and VMware Partner.  We also deal with quite a bit of HP ProCurve, APC, Xerox, Symantec, Watchguard, SonicWall, Linksys, Dell, etc. 

Standard projects range from design and deployment of new networks, to ongoing support and proactive maintenance of customer networks, including dealing with backup problems, spam and virus problems, SAN/NAS and DAS storage, hardware issues, WLAN and wired routing projects, VOIP and IP video surveillance, Citrix, SQL, and security issues.  Although we have specialists in specific technologies on our technical team, each member of the team is afforded the opportunity to work with a wide variety of technologies and customer needs on a daily basis.  Variety and the opportunity to learn are abundant here.  For this particular position, we are looking for someone that can understand the basics of working with Microsoft operating systems, and hardware, but the real focus will be Cisco and Cisco-based networking solutions - specifically VOIP and the integration of Cisco VOIP technology with other network-connected business systems.

Key certifications and real-world, hands-on applied experience that are relevant to this position include:

Citrix: CCEA, CCA (CCEA preferred) Microsoft: MCSE, MCSA CompTIA: Network+, Linux+ HP: HP APS, ProCurve ASE
 

Ideal candidates will posses what VNS considers entry-level general skills and certification (see below). We will consider candidates without certification and extensive experience if you can demonstrate that you really know your stuff, and are willing to obtain industry-accepted certifications that quantify this knowledge shortly after joining us. 

Recent graduates or those with limited industry experience are generally not advised to apply for a consulting position as it's rare that that will provide you with the depth and breadth of experience that we require to fill a consulting position, however, we're always willing to consider an applicant who might be a "diamond in the rough". 

If you have done independent consulting or worked for a VAR/integrator in the past, you'll be a great fit.  Applicants who've previously done professional computer consulting, and/or who have an existing local customer base will be of particular interest to us.

Certification is a requirement at VNS, and necessity in our industry because our vendors require it and because we've found that it forces us to fill in the weak areas of our skillsets.  We also want to be the BEST and ceritifcation is one way to demonstrate that.  Many people say they can accomplish specific tasks, but many less are prepared to prove that through certification.  However, we do not want "paperboys/papergirls" - ability comes first, but we have also met dozens of people over the years who devalued certifications as nothing more than paper, but then struggled (or failed) to attain them, so we are looking for people that are either certified, or will make the committment to back their knowledge up by attaining required certifications - VNS pays for all passing exams and provides study materials.  VNS is also a Pearson-VUE testing center (and soon Prometric) so all exams can be taken right in our offices.

The idea candidate should have a passion for technology and learning, be organized, flexible, detail-oriented, have a friendly personality and be able to comfortably multi-task, and thrive on a fast-paced, detail-oriented work environment.  This position is salaried plus a utlization bonus, and includes annual performance and salary reviews, along with our other standard benefits.  We generally will start uncertified, or minimally certified people off at a lower salary range until they've proven themselves through technical capability, satisfied customers, and and billable utilization. 

To apply for this position, click here.

About the Company
VNS Company Information: www.vns.net/about

VNS Employment Overview & Openings: www.vns.net/jobs

VNS is based in Fresno, CA. and we do business throughout the Central San Joaquin Valley.  VNS is a Panduit PCSI, an HP Gold partner, Cisco Premier partner with specializations in VOIP and WLAN, Microsoft Gold partner with 6 specializations including Dynamics/CRM, an APC Gold partner, and a Xerox Peak partner and ASP. 

Our customer base varies from SMB (small-medium businesses from 1-1,000 employees) to state/local government, to K12 education.  We build reliable, cost-effective network infrastructures for our customers in the Central San Joaquin Valley.  The type of work varies as well but we predominately work with 3 major partners: Microsoft (Windows, Exchange, SBS, SQL), Cisco (routers, switches, VOIP and WLAN) and HP (ProLiant, desktops).  We also deal with quite a bit of APC, Xerox, Symantec, Watchguard, SonicWall, Linksys, Dell, etc. 

Projects range from design and deployment of new networks, to ongoing support and proactive maintenance of customer networks, including dealing with backup problems, spam and virus problems, SAN/NAS and DAS storage, hardware issues, WLAN and wired routing projects, VOIP and IP video surveillance, Citrix, SQL, and security issues.  Although we have specialists in specific technologies on our technical team, each member of the team is afforded the opportunity to work with a wide variety of technologies and customer needs on a daily basis.  Variety and the opportunity to learn are abundant here.

Hiring Criteria

VNS hires based on 3 basic criteria:

1) Experience and raw capability.

2) Proven success through certification and satisfied customers.

3) A person who is clearly customer focused. 

To succeed here, you must not only be extremely talented technically, but you must also be the kind of person who takes ownership of customer problems and treats them with the same degree of priority, and respect as you would if they were your network problems.  Lastly, we look for mature, professional people who are looking to develop a career, and prosper with us as we grow.  We are not interested in short-timers or people who do not intend to be with us long-term.

Additionally, we are a service company, and derive our revenue from providing consulting services to our clients, so it's extremely important that technical staff members make themselves billable here.  To that end, compensation is driven by your billable work, requiring the employee to successfully demonstrate that they can be a productive member of the team.  The salaried rate we pay is based upon technical skills/ability, certification(s) and the ability to effectively communicate with, and manage your customers.  We also pay a utilization bonus in addition to salary to reward folks who maintain high levels of utilization (with of course high levels of customer satisfaction).  Technical staff who can effectively collaborate with the sales team, and keep a good channel of communications open with their customer base will be successful here.

Entry Level Technical Qualifications

Our entry level candidates have either an A+/MCSE/CCNA, or have the ability to demonstrate they have equivalent skill sets to an A+/MCSE/CCNA certification through applied experience and training.  This means you must be extremely comfortable with, and adept at servicing and supporting Intel-based PCs and servers, have a thorough understanding of Microsoft client/server operating systems and have a solid understanding of TCP/IP and the OSI model.  You must also be highly motivated to learn and continue learning.  Simply attaining a certification is never enough here.  Employees are encouraged and expected to constantly pursue and achieve new certifications and not just to "coast" on an MCSE or some other certification.  We look to hire technical "Ninjas", who want to be part of the very best in Central California.  We're pretty hard-core type-A workaholics, although if you're really, really, really good, you can get away with being an 8-5'er here.

We pride ourselves on being a learning organization and provide the resources to make this a reality. Valley Network Solutions offers significant opportunities for growth and career advancement. The culture is truly collaborative. Everyone's input is valued. You'll get the chance to work with bright, highly motivated people.

Sound Interesting?

VNS offers:

Stability - we're one of the few companies in our industry that has been at it >10 years, and we're not going anywhere - we're on a forward growth trajectory and expanding our base of operations. Base salaries + generous comissions. Mobile phones / iPaqs. 401K with match and medical (Kaiser), & optional dental benefits.  Training - our technical and sales teams are constantly learning and developing their skills to keep up with the pace of technology.  We regularly have vendors come to our offices for training as well.

VNS also provides technical and sales training materials and pays for all passing tests for our team members.  We offer all employees the opportunity to  purchase computer products at our cost, in addition to the opportunity to learn from and work with the strongest technical team in the valley.  Please submit all resumes via email.

Opportunity Knocks...

Thank you for your interest in employment opportunities at VNS.  So here's the deal:

We hate mediocrity - we embrace meritocracy (where an individual is promoted not upon his or her age, race or other things that one can't control, but upon his or her abilities).  That also means this is a challenging place to work, but you don't get to be the best, or enjoy the rewards of being the best without stepping up to the plate.  You'll earn it here but you'll be supported and trained and molded into more than you probably think you're capable of.  We are big believers in people doing that which they may not think is possible.We always promote from within first.  We're also very aggressive about rewarding and promoting based on ability.This is a place where things are happening FAST - that means there's plenty of opportunity for you to take ownership of projects and run with them.  We've been growing 70-100% annually for the last several years.Flexible schedules - work in a caffeine-enhanced blur at 3am (if that works for you).  Take care of your kids, spouse, dog, cat, or whoever.  Go to the doctor when you need.  We don't care, as long as you get the job done.Enjoy the low cost of living in Central California - typically 50% of what it costs to live in the Bay Area.We have a relaxed dress code.  We're cool with dogs too but we just don't have room for any yet - otherwise we'd all probably have our dogs here.Have a voice in the company.  We're small and growing, and we'll continue to grow by listening.Compensation based entirely upon performance and contribution to the company.Our "executives" are not autocrats in oak-lined glass houses.  We're professionals who've all worked in the field and continue to do so, working side-by-side with everyone else to get the job done.

Our Human Resources department will gladly consider all qualified candidates. If you are interested in any of the positions listed below, please e-mail, fax (559-650-2601, although email is strongly encouraged), or mail us your resume with a cover letter indicating the job title to the address listed below.  Make sure to include an email address though - applicants not providing an email address won't even be considered...after all, you are applying to work at a technology company.  If you don't have email, you are probably looking in the wrong place <grin>.

To apply for this position, click here.

You will receive a general acknowledgment when we receive your resume, if it's a match for us.  If we feel that you are qualified for the position you have applied for, we will contact you directly to schedule an interview. VNS is an equal opportunity employer, and we're proud to employ a diversified workforce.

Benefits

Valley Network Solutions is a fast-growing consulting company and our employees are the most important aspect of our business. Our goal is to keep our employees happy and encourage their growth.  Because VNS was founded by a former consultant who understood what it's like to be in the field, our goal is to create an excellent working environment where consultants can grow their skills and further their careers and engineers and technicians can develop into field consultants.

 

An annual salary with sick pay and personal time as per salaried employee reviews occurring annually.Full medical benefits for employee.  Eligible dependants can also obtain coverage at a cost to the employee.401K retirement and profit sharing plan for all full-time employees.One week of holiday vacation annually.An average of 1-2 weeks of paid training per year.Computer hardware and software purchases at cost.Reimbursement of all mileage and travel costs.Technical and sales employees are provided with two-way radio/cell phones, and HP/Compaq iPaq PDAs.And... the opportunity to work with one of the most talented teams of people around.  We only hire type-A "tech Ninjas" - we are some of the best and that's who we want to work with.

If you think you have what it takes to join our elite team of professionals, please let us know.

*Valley Network Solutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Valley Network Solutions is committed to workforce diversity. M/F/D/V encouraged to apply. Valley Network Solutions sponsors H1 visas. Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin. Applicants encouraged to confidentially self-identify when applying. Local applicants encouraged to apply. Smoke-free workplace. No recruiters or agencies without a previously signed contract. Relocation costs not covered by employer.