Job Description

Our mission is to create the Experience of a Lifetime for our employees, so they can, in turn, create the Experience of a Lifetime for our guests. We own and operate the most renowned destination resorts in the world as well as regional and local ski areas outside major cities, and connect them all through one unrivaled network. We are looking for ambitious leaders, innovators and creators to join our talented team. If you’re ready to pursue your fullest potential, we want to get to know you!

Candidates for year-round positions are reviewed on a rolling basis. Applications will be accepted up to 90 days after the posting date, or until the position is filled (whichever is first).

Job Summary:

As Principal Architect – Disaster Recovery, you will design and own the end ‑ to ‑ end recovery strategy that ensures rapid, reliable fail ‑ over of on ‑ premise infrastructure to Microsoft Azure. You’ll lead the migration of legacy virtualized workloads (VMware, Nutanix) to modern cloud ‑ native and container platforms, and architect an automated, continuously ‑ updated DR playbook that is embedded in our entire development lifecycle. Your expertise will help Vail Resorts keep guests safe, staff productive, and revenue streams resilient—no matter what the future holds.

Job Specifications:

• Starting Wage: $104,000 - $140,000 + annual bonus
• Employment Type: Year Round
• Shift Type: Full Time
• Minimum Age: At least 18 years of age
• Housing Availability: No

Job Responsibilities:

DR Strategy & Architecture

• Define, document, and evolve a repeatable, Azure ‑ centric disaster ‑ recovery blueprint that maps every critical on ‑ prem service to its cloud counterpart.
• Design fail ‑ over pathways, recovery time objectives (RTOs), and recovery point objectives (RPOs) that align with business continuity requirements.

Virtualization Migration:

• Own and execute VMware ‑ to ‑ Nutanix, VM ‑ to ‑ Container, and VMware/Nutanix ‑ to ‑ Cloud ‑ Native migrations.
• Implement “lift ‑ and ‑ shift” as well as re ‑ platforming strategies, guiding teams to move workloads to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Container Instances, or serverless where appropriate.

Criticality & Dependency Mapping:

• Conduct systematic assessments of system criticality, create dependency matrices, and identify fail ‑ over boundaries.
• Translate organizational risk profiles into concrete DR controls.

Business Continuity & Exercises:

• Design, schedule, and run full ‑ scale DR drills across environments.
• Post ‑ exercise retrospectives, gap analyses, and corrective action plans.

Automation & Knowledge “Source of Truth”:

• Build a dynamic, version ‑ controlled recovery playbook using DevOps tooling (Git, Terraform, ARM/Blueprints, Azure Policy).
• Automate recovery orchestration with Azure Automation, Logic Apps, Azure Arc, and custom scripts.

Cross ‑ Functional Partnership:

• Collaborate with Enterprise Architecture, DevOps, Security, Compliance, and Site ‑ Reliability teams to embed DR checks in CI/CD pipelines.
• Champion DR as a pillar of the development lifecycle and product delivery.

Thought Leadership & Continuous Improvement:

• Stay ahead of emerging DR/Cloud technologies, industry standards (IRIS, ISO 22301, NIST), and vendor roadmaps.
• Mentor architects and engineers in DR best practices.

Job Requirements:

Experience:

• 10+ years in IT architecture, with 5+ in disaster recovery, cloud migration, or resiliency engineering.
• Proven record of delivering multi ‑ cloud DR solutions at scale.

Technical Expertise:

• Deep knowledge of Azure services (AKS, Azure Site Recovery, Azure Backup, Automation, Blueprints).
• Hands ‑ on proficiency with VMware vSphere, Nutanix AHV, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, and PowerShell/Bash scripting.
• Experience orchestrating large ‑ scale VM conversions to containers or cloud ‑ native deployments.

Architectural Thinking:

• Ability to assess system criticality and map intricate inter ‑ service dependencies.
• Comfortable designing end ‑ to ‑ end recovery paths that balance RTO/RPO with cost and operational constraints.

Business Continuity:

• Track record of developing, testing, and maintaining business ‑ continuity plans in regulated or high ‑ availability environments.

Automation & DevOps:

• Comfortable using Git CI/CD, IaC, and configuration management to create “source of truth” recovery artefacts.

Communication & Leadership:

• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Skilled at leading cross ‑ organizational initiatives and mentoring teams.

Education:

• Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (Master’s preferred).
• Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert or equivalent.
• VMware Certified Professional (VCP) and Nutanix Certified Administrator (NCA).
• Experience managing DR for high ‑ traffic public ‑ facing services (e.g., reservation engines, mobile app backends).
• Familiarity with ISO 22301, ITIL, or ISO 27001 frameworks.

The expected Total Compensation for this role is $104,000 - $140,000 + annual bonus. Individual compensation decisions are based on a variety of factors.
 

Job Benefits

• Ski/Mountain Perks! Free passes for employees, employee discounted lift tickets for friends and family AND free ski lessons
• MORE employee discounts on lodging, food, gear, and mountain shuttles
• 401(k) Retirement Plan
• Employee Assistance Program
• Excellent training and professional development

Full Time roles are eligible for the above, plus:

• Health Insurance; Medical Insurance, Dental Insurance, and Vision Insurance plans (for eligible seasonal employees after working 500 hours)
• Free ski passes for dependents
• Critical Illness and Accident plans

Vail Resorts offers a ‘Hybrid’ work environment where employees living within 50 miles of the Broomfield office work on-site Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and have flexibility to work off-site on Mondays and Fridays. Employees living outside of a commutable distance can work remotely from British Columbia, Washington D.C., and the 16 U.S. states* in which we currently operate. This includes: California, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington State, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Please note that the ability to work in person or off-site, and the particulars related to such work, are subject to change at any time; and, accordingly, the Company reserves the right to change its policies and/or require in-person/in-office work or off-site work at any time in its sole discretion.

In completing this application, and when submitting related documentation, applicants may redact information that identifies their age, date of birth, and/or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution. 

We follow all federal, state, and local laws including restrictions on child/minor labor. Minors hired into this position will not be asked or permitted to engage in any activities restricted to adult workers.

Vail Resorts is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other status protected by applicable law.

Requisition ID 511979
Reference Date: 10/07/2025 
Job Code Function: Applications   

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