Citrix Infrastructure Engineer - VP (London Area)

Purpose of Job

• We are seeking a Senior Citrix Infrastructure Engineer to join our technology team in a leading financial services organization. The role will focus on designing, implementing, and maintaining a high-performance Citrix Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and associated application delivery technologies that supports critical front-office and back-office applications. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in Citrix environments, Windows Server, automation, and security, ensuring a seamless and secure end-user experience.
• The Senior Engineer is responsible for the technical ownership of specific elements of the organisation’s global IT platform, providing subject matter expertise and acting as the point of escalation for any significant technical system issues.
• The Senior Engineer leads and actively participates in the delivery of global IT projects for the organisation, including technical resource management and task planning. Furthermore, they define the expected standards, policies, and documentation with which to administer and maintain the platforms operationally.
• The role requires strong cross-team and cross-region collaboration and the management of key vendor relationships on behalf of IT Infrastructure.

Background

• The Senior Engineer is a key resource within IT Infrastructure with technical ownership of key IT systems deployed across EMEA and North America. The role requires a strong and broad technical skillset, exemplary communication skills, project management discipline and the capacity to balance operational support and strategic project delivery requirements fluidly and efficiently. The senior nature of the role necessitates technical mentorship of junior staff and knowledge transfer to other related IT teams.
• The primary focus of the Senior Engineer is to maintain operational oversight and ultimate technical responsibility of existing systems whilst developing, building, and deploying new IT systems and initiatives to the organisation.
• Through close partnership with the Architecture and Engineering function (A&E) the Senior Engineer realises the conceptual designs then builds and operationally introduces the new technology platform/solution for the organisation. They oversee the handover to operational support colleagues and ensure that documentation is current and accurate.
• The Senior Engineer will work in a discrete, focussed team dedicated to a specific technology area but will foster core relationships with other IT teams in both EMEA and North America.

Facts / Scale

• The Senior Engineer is part of an IT Infrastructure team with ~60 members. The Client Computing team in London comprises 9 people at present.
• Typically leads 3+ Global IT infrastructure related projects/deployments annually.
• Provides technical escalation for IT systems situated throughout 4 enterprise class datacentres and multiple branch sites across EMEA and North America. 5000+ client endpoints. 3000+ Servers.
• No direct reports – resource management as part of global IT projects
• No direct budget responsibility – influences and drives budget requirements.

Accountabilities & Responsibilities

Design, Implement & Maintain:

• Design, deploy, and optimize Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops (CVAD), Citrix Cloud, and Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS/MCS).
• Working with the organisation's architecture team to recommend and scope tactical and strategic enhancements to the organisation's EMEA IT environment, engaging 3rd party suppliers where appropriate.
• Maintain and enhance Citrix NetScaler (ADC) / Gateway for secure remote access and load balancing.
• Manage Citrix StoreFront, Delivery Controllers, and Licensing Server for a resilient VDI environment.
• Ensuring all technical documentation is maintained to an appropriate level and reflects the as installed environment.

Performance & Optimization:

• Proactively monitor and tune Citrix environments using tools like ControlUp, Citrix Director, or other monitoring platforms, ensuring alerts generated are managed and progressed.
• Optimize application performance, user experience (UX), and logon times through GPOs, Citrix Profile Management (UPM), and Ivanti Environment Manager.
• Managing the environment's hardware and software lifecycles, ensuring that the organisation’s systems do not become affected by end-of-life or end-of-support milestones.

Security & Compliance:

• Implement and maintain Citrix security best practices, including nFactor authentication, WAF, IP reputation filtering, and session recording.
• Evaluate emerging security threats and action / implement patching schedules to protect the organisation’s systems against threats accordingly.
• Ensure compliance with financial services security policies and regulatory requirements, including audit logging, access controls, and patch management.

Automation & Infrastructure as Code (IaC):

• Develop and maintain automation scripts using PowerShell, Citrix REST APIs, and Ansible to streamline deployments, updates, and configurations.
• Support infrastructure as code (IaC) methodologies for scalability and reliability in the Citrix environment.

Incident Management & Support:

• Act as a technical lead for troubleshooting complex Citrix and Windows-based issues, collaborating with trading desks, application support, and IT operations teams.
• Provide Level 3 support for escalated incidents impacting front-office and back-office users.
• Act as the point of escalation for out-of-hours issues in the area of expertise.
• Undertaking other reasonable tasks at the discretion of the Client Computing team manager and head of the section.

Collaboration & Project Delivery:

• Work closely with Platform Engineering, Networking, Security, and Application teams to integrate Citrix solutions into the wider IT landscape.
• Managing and developing collaborative relationships with other groups within the IT division, locally and globally.
• Lead Citrix-related projects, including Windows Server OS upgrades, VDI migrations, and hybrid cloud deployments.
• Provide mentorship and technical guidance to junior engineers.
• Work closely with counterparts to develop global standards.

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Qualifications

Experience and Qualifications

Citrix Expertise:

• Excellent, demonstrable experience of managing the implementation and administration of Citrix technologies
• Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops (CVAD) – MCS/PVS
• Citrix NetScaler (ADC), Gateway, StoreFront
• Citrix Cloud, Citrix Workspace, Citrix Profile Management (UPM)
• Citrix Hypervisor (optional)

Windows Infrastructure:

• Windows Server (2016/2019/2022), Active Directory (GPOs, LDAP, Kerberos)
• PowerShell scripting for automation and administration
• Group Policy Management and Windows OS optimization for VDI
• FSLogix Profile Management

Security & Networking:

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Citrix nFactor, Conditional Access
• Application Layer Firewalls (WAF), SSL Certificates, and Zero Trust security principles
• Network protocols: DNS, DHCP, TCP/IP, VPN, and load balancing concepts

Monitoring & Troubleshooting:

• Experience with ControlUp, Citrix Director, Splunk, or other monitoring tools
• Deep understanding of performance tuning, application layering, and log analysis
• Strong troubleshooting skills across Citrix, Windows, and networking layers

Automation & DevOps Mindset:

• PowerShell, REST API, Ansible, Terraform (preferred)
• Experience with IaC and CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure automation
• Experience integrating Citrix solutions with Azure/AWS cloud services (preferred)

Preferred Certifications

• Citrix Certified Expert - Virtualization (CCE-V)
• Citrix Certified Professional - Networking (CCP-N)
• Microsoft Certified: Windows Server, Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)
• ITIL v4 Foundation (preferred)

Ancillary

• Good knowledge of Ivanti AppSense Products (Application and Enterprise Manager)
• Working knowledge of Application Packaging (App-V/MSI etc)
• A proven track record of managing projects to delivery within financial institutions (or other heavily regulated industry)
• Working experience within strict change control and mature process driven environments
• Ongoing development of technical skills pertinent to role.

Personal Characteristics

• Preparedness to work outside of core hours, on weekends and be contactable when away from the office.
• An individual with excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills who can communicate effectively with end users, peers across the IT function and direct management.
• A dependable self-starter who can take appropriate action with minimal direction.
• An individual who can leverage project management methodologies and effectively manage multiple projects and