| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Information Technology |
| Level | Manager |
| Reports to | Head of IT Infrastructure |
| Direct reports | Infrastructure Engineer, System Administrator, Network Engineer, Storage Engineer, VMware Administrator |
| Experience | 9 to 13 years in IT infrastructure, with 2 or more years managing server and network engineers |
Infrastructure Manager job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Infrastructure Manager
Department: Information Technology
Reports to: Head of IT Infrastructure
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
An Infrastructure Manager runs the servers, storage, virtualization, network and backup platforms that a company's applications depend on. They manage system, network and storage engineers, plan capacity and hardware refresh, run changes and patching, and keep infrastructure incidents short. The role sits between the hands-on engineers and the Head of IT Infrastructure in mid-sized and large Indian companies, BPOs and IT services firms. A good Infrastructure Manager keeps systems patched, backed up and ahead of demand, and knows exactly what runs where.
Key responsibilities
- Plan and assign daily infrastructure work across server, storage, network and backup engineers, including shift and on-call cover.
- Watch capacity for compute, storage, network links and licences, and raise purchase requests before limits are reached.
- Run the monthly patch cycle for servers, hypervisors and network devices within agreed downtime windows.
- Present infrastructure changes at the change advisory board and make sure each one has a tested rollback.
- Lead the technical response to infrastructure incidents and write the root cause analysis.
- Check backup success reports daily and run quarterly restore tests for critical systems.
- Keep the CMDB, network diagrams, IP plan and rack layouts accurate after every change.
- Deliver hardware refresh, data centre moves and server consolidation projects to plan.
- Manage OEM and AMC vendors for servers, storage and network equipment, and log every SLA breach.
- Provide audit evidence on patching, backups, access and change control.
Requirements
- B.E., B.Tech, B.Sc IT or MCA
- VCP, MCSE or RHCE certification is an advantage
- ITIL Foundation is an advantage
- 9 to 13 years in IT infrastructure, with 2 or more years managing server and network engineers
KRAs and KPIs for a Infrastructure Manager
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Infrastructure availability | Server, storage and network uptime of at least 99.9 percent each month |
| Patching | At least 95 percent of servers patched within 30 days of release, with approved exceptions for the rest |
| Backup and restore | Daily backup success above 98 percent and a successful quarterly restore test for every critical system |
| Change success | At least 97 percent of infrastructure changes completed without causing an incident |
| Capacity | No outage or slowdown caused by storage, compute or bandwidth running out |
| Documentation | CMDB and network diagrams updated within 5 working days of every change |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: VMware vCenter, Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, NetApp or Dell EMC storage, Veeam or Commvault, Zabbix, PRTG or SolarWinds, ServiceNow or ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Head of IT Infrastructure, IT Head, Data Centre Manager
Interview questions for a Infrastructure Manager
- A datastore is 95 percent full and the purchase order will take three weeks. What do you do now?
- How do you plan monthly patching for 300 servers when application teams resist downtime?
- Walk me through the root cause analysis of an infrastructure outage you handled.
- How do you know your backups are good, not just that the jobs succeeded?
- What should a change request for replacing a core switch contain?
- How do you split work between senior and junior engineers in your team?
Managing a Infrastructure Manager in ZeniaHR
Hire and manage your information technology team in one place
Post the role, onboard the new hire, and track attendance, leave and KRAs in ZeniaHR. Free for your first 50 employees.
Book a free demoSee pricingFrequently asked questions
What does an infrastructure manager do?
An infrastructure manager runs the servers, storage, virtualization, network and backup systems that applications run on. They assign work to engineers, plan capacity and patching, run change control, lead the technical response to outages, manage hardware vendors and keep documentation such as the CMDB and network diagrams current.
What is the difference between an infrastructure manager and an IT manager?
An IT manager usually covers all IT operations for a company or site, including the helpdesk, laptops, email and vendors. An infrastructure manager focuses on the platforms behind the applications: servers, storage, virtualization, networks and backups. The split is common in larger companies where end-user support is a separate team.
What skills are needed for an infrastructure manager?
You need hands-on depth in Windows and Linux servers, virtualization such as VMware, storage, networking and backups, plus ITIL change and incident discipline. The management side covers capacity planning, vendor handling and organizing a team of engineers. Certifications such as VCP, RHCE or CCNP help, but experience counts most.