L1 Operations Engineer

· Perform continuous 24x7 monitoring of Azure cloud and hybrid datacenter infrastructure using Prometheus, Grafana, Azure Monitor, and related observability dashboards.

· Triage incoming alerts — assess severity, validate against known patterns, and determine whether to resolve at L1 or escalate to L2 within defined SLA thresholds.

· Execute approved runbooks and SOPs for all known alert categories; document actions taken for every incident with accurate timestamps and observations.

· Monitor health and availability of compute (VMs), storage, network links, VPN tunnels, and platform services across cloud and on-premises environments.

· Track sFlow and NetFlow dashboards for network traffic anomalies; flag unusual patterns to the L2 team for deeper investigation.

· Log all incidents, service requests, and alerts in the ITSM platform with complete and accurate details — symptoms, affected components, priority, and initial actions taken.

· Update ticket status throughout the incident lifecycle; ensure no incident is left without a current status update beyond the defined response window.

· Coordinate with L2 engineers during escalations — provide clear handover notes including timeline, alert context, initial diagnostics, and business impact assessment.

· Follow the priority matrix strictly: P1 (15 min), P2 (30 min), P3 (4 hr), P4 (8 hr) response and escalation thresholds.

· Execute scheduled shift health checks across all managed platforms — Azure resources, on-premises servers, network devices, security appliances, and employee services.

· Verify availability and performance of core services: DNS, DHCP, NTP, Active Directory, and M365 platform components.

· Monitor security platform dashboards (firewalls, EDR, proxy services) for health status and alert flags; escalate anomalies per defined procedures.

· Review Azure Cost Management dashboards for unusual consumption spikes and flag to the lead for review.

· Execute scheduled batch jobs, backup verifications, replication checks, and housekeeping tasks as per the operational calendar.

· Support L2 and Specialist engineers during planned maintenance windows, patch cycles, and change activities — providing monitoring coverage and rollback readiness.

· Validate post-change infrastructure health after every approved change; raise a flag immediately if anomalies are detected post-implementation.

· Maintain precise shift handover reports — open tickets, ongoing incidents, recent changes, and watch-items for the next shift.

· Contribute to the knowledge base by documenting recurring alert patterns, resolution steps, and workarounds for L1-resolvable issues.

· Flag gaps in runbooks or SOPs to the operations lead so that documentation is continuously improved.

· 2 – 5 years of experience in IT operations, infrastructure support, or cloud managed services.

· Working knowledge of Microsoft Azure: Azure Portal navigation, VM status checks, resource monitoring, and basic troubleshooting using Azure Monitor and Log Analytics.

· Hands-on familiarity with Windows Server (2016/2019/2022) and Linux (RHEL/Ubuntu) — service management, log file reading, process monitoring, and basic fault diagnosis.

· Understanding of hybrid infrastructure models — on-premises datacenter integrated with Azure cloud via ExpressRoute or VPN.

· Basic familiarity with storage concepts: disk performance thresholds, capacity monitoring, backup job status, and replication health checks.

· Experience reading and interpreting Prometheus metrics and Grafana dashboards — understanding panel thresholds, alert states, and trend data.

· Familiarity with Azure Monitor alerts and Log Analytics at a basic level — understanding alert rules, severity levels, and affected resources.

· Ability to read sFlow or NetFlow traffic dashboards for high-level network health assessment.

· APM dashboard familiarity — understanding response time trends, error rates, and service health indicators from tools such as Dynatrace, AppDynamics, or Azure Application Insights.

· Good understanding of core networking concepts: TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, NTP, VLANs, and basic routing.

· Practical diagnostic skills: ping, traceroute, nslookup, netstat — to perform first-level connectivity checks and provide meaningful diagnostics to L2.

· Familiarity with VPN tunnel health monitoring and firewall status dashboards at an operational level.

· Experience working with ITSM platforms (ServiceNow, Zoho Desk, Freshservice, or equivalent) for incident logging, ticket updates, and escalation workflows.

· Understanding of ITIL incident management concepts — priority, impact, urgency, escalation paths, and SLA tracking.

· Ability to follow runbooks and SOPs precisely and consistently, including under pressure during major incident scenarios.

· Clear and concise written communication for incident tickets, shift handover notes, and escalation summaries.

AZ-900 (Azure Fundamentals) | AZ-104 (Administrator — working towards)

ITIL v4 Foundation

CompTIA Network+ | Cisco CCNA (advantageous)

Grafana Certified Associate (advantageous)