Lead Infrastructure Engineer

Photronics is hiring

For more than 50 years, Photronics has been a global leader in photomask technology—powering the innovation behind smartphones, computers, automotive technology, and countless devices used every day. Our success is built on precision, collaboration, and the dedication of our people. Join us and be part of a company recognized for cutting-edge technology, exceptional service, and strong customer partnerships.

We are seeking a
Lead Infrastructure Engineer (m/f/d)
to serve as a pivotal individual contributor responsible for the architecture, standardization, and operational excellence of our global IT infrastructure, with a critical focus on the EMEA region.

This role plays a key part in aligning regional infrastructure with global best practices, driving modernization, resilience, and security across systems, networking, and cloud services. As a technical subject matter expert (SME), you will partner closely with global engineering teams and local site administrators to ensure high availability, seamless interoperability, and consistent performance across regions.

This is a hands-on, senior technical role for an engineer who thrives in complex environments, enjoys solving challenging infrastructure problems, and values both strategic design and operational ownership.

Location:
On-site - Dresden, Germany. This is an on-site position and we are not open to remote or hybrid working arrangements.

Travel:
10-20% globally for site support regional deployments, site assessments, and cross-regional collaboration.

Key Responsibilities

Global Infrastructure Architecture & Standardization

• Lead the design, engineering, and continuous improvement of global infrastructure standards across networking, compute, storage, and end-user computing.
• Develop secure-by-design technical blueprints, configurations, and reference architectures aligned with global security frameworks.
• Assess existing EMEA infrastructure, identify gaps or deviations, and engineer migration paths toward global standardization.
• Collaborate with APAC and AMER engineering teams to ensure cross-regional interoperability and consistent system performance.

Local Operations Leadership & Support

• Act as the primary point of contact for site infrastructure stability and performance in the EMEA region.
• Partner closely with local administrators (including Linux administrators) to capture, analyze, and resolve site-specific incidents.
• Oversee incident management processes, ensuring accurate logging, prioritization, and resolution aligned with service-level objectives (SLOs).
• Provide hands-on Level 2 backup support for the Dresden site during technician absences or high-impact incidents.

Technical Expertise & Problem Solving

• Serve as the Level 3 escalation point for complex infrastructure issues impacting availability, security, or performance.
• Design and execute proof-of-concept (PoC) initiatives for new infrastructure technologies, validating scalability and operational readiness.
• Develop and maintain automation and Infrastructure-as-Code solutions to support standardized deployments and operations.

Documentation & Governance

• Produce and maintain high-quality documentation, including architecture diagrams, configurations, SOPs, and operational runbooks.
• Ensure all infrastructure designs and operations comply with information security policies and regulatory requirements, including GDPR.

Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Deep expertise in enterprise networking, including routing, switching, WAN technologies, and core protocols (BGP, OSPF, VLANs, STP, VPNs).
• Strong ability to lead local operations while collaborating effectively with global teams and site-level administrators.
• Advanced troubleshooting skills, including diagnosing complex issues and modernizing or reverse-engineering legacy environments.
• Experience with scripting and Infrastructure as Code to automate deployment and operational tasks.
• Ability to create clear, professional technical documentation and reference architectures.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; confident serving as a global technical SME.
• Business-fluent English required (reading, writing, and speaking)

Experience

• 8+ years of progressive, hands-on experience in IT infrastructure engineering and architecture.
• Proven experience supporting local IT operations and partnering with Linux administrators.
• Demonstrated success delivering infrastructure standardization or consolidation projects across multiple sites or regions.
• Deep expertise in at least three of the following domains:
• Advanced Networking (Routing, Switching, Firewalls, SD-WAN)
• Enterprise Cloud Architecture (Azure and/or AWS)
• Virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V)
• Enterprise Storage Systems
• EMEA infrastructure experience strongly preferred.

Education & Certifications

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or equivalent practical engineering experience.
• Relevant industry certifications are a plus.

Equal Opportunity & Inclusion

Photronics is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals regardless of gender, age, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or background.

Data Privacy Notice

By applying, you consent to the processing of your personal data in accordance with our applicant privacy policy and applicable GDPR regulations.