Data Center Smart Hands Technician

Position: Data Center Smart Hands Technician

Location: Rensselaer, NY 12144

Duration: 12 months contract to hire

Pay rate $31.29/hr on w2

Work hours: 8-5 M-F

On Call: Yes / every other week

Travel: No

Key Responsibilities

Perform routine data center, server-room, IDF, and MDF walkthroughs and identify/report equipment, environmental, security, cabling, or facility concerns.

Support scheduled site audits, inspections, inventory validations, and operational checks.

Provide onsite Smart Hands support for servers, network devices, racks, cabinets, IDF/MDF closets, and related infrastructure.

Install, remove, rack, stack, label, and organize servers, switches, network devices, and other IT infrastructure equipment.

Replace approved field-replaceable hardware components, including power supplies, hard drives, memory, fans, cables, and similar components.

Trace, install, replace, label, test, and organize copper and fiber cabling.

Perform cable management and maintain clean and organized racks, cabinets, patch panels, IDF/MDF closets, and data center spaces.

Verify equipment status, power, indicator lights, ports, physical connections, and cabling during troubleshooting activities.

Perform requested reboots, power cycles, visual inspections, connectivity checks, and basic diagnostic activities under direction from remote engineering or support teams.

Support network equipment installation and replacement activities, including switches, routers, access points, and related infrastructure.

Assist with server and infrastructure installations, moves, additions, changes, and removals.

Support equipment decommissioning, asset validation, packing, equipment staging, and approved disposition/disposal activities.

Coordinate and support scheduled equipment disposal pickups when required.

Support hard-drive replacement, removal, handling, validation, and vendor-related activities in accordance with established security procedures.

Escort authorized vendors and third-party service providers while work is performed within secured data center or infrastructure areas.

Maintain the physical organization of data center, IDF/MDF, rack, cabinet, and equipment areas, including cleanup and removal of retired or abandoned equipment/cabling when authorized.

Maintain accurate documentation of equipment locations, asset changes, cabling changes, hardware replacements, inspections, and work performed.

Update incidents, service requests, change records, inventory/asset records, and associated tickets as required.

Follow established data center, security, safety, access-control, change-management, and documentation procedures.

Communicate site conditions, work status, issues, and exceptions clearly to remote engineering teams and local stakeholders.

Provide onsite support for infrastructure refreshes, deployments, lifecycle activities, and related projects as required.

Participate in the rotating after-hours/on-call schedule approximately every other week.