The System Administrator is responsible for effective provisioning, installation/configuration, operation, and maintenance of systems hardware and software and related infrastructure. The ideal candidate participates in technical research and development to enable continuing innovation within the infrastructure. The ideal candidate ensures that system hardware, operating systems, software systems, and related procedures adhere to organizational values, enabling staff, customers, and business partners.
They will assist project teams with technical issues in the Initiation and Planning phases of our standard Project Management Methodology. These activities include the definition of needs, benefits, and technical strategy; research & development within the project life-cycle; technical analysis and design; and support of operations staff in executing, testing and rolling-out the solutions. Participation on projects is focused on smoothing the transition of projects from development staff to production staff by performing operations activities within the project life-cycle.
The ideal candidate is accountable for the following systems: Linux and Windows systems that support enterprise customer application software to include custom developed and COTS.
Roles and Responsibilities
System Administrator Engineering and Provisioning
• Install new / rebuild existing servers and configure hardware, peripherals, services, settings directories, storage, etc. in accordance with standards and project/operational requirements
• Install and configure systems such as enterprise custom, COTS and web applications
• Develop, document and maintain installation and configuration procedures
• Contribute to and maintain system standards
• Research and recommend innovative, and where possible automated approaches for system administration tasks. Identify approaches that leverage our resources and provide economies of scale
Operations and Support
• Perform daily system monitoring, verifying the integrity and availability of hardware, server resources, systems and key processes, reviewing system and application logs, and verifying completion of scheduled jobs such as backups
• Create, change, and delete user accounts per request
• Provide Tier II and Tier III support per request from various customers
• Investigate and troubleshoot issues
• Serve as subject matter expert in support of security/configuration audits
Maintenance
• Apply OS patches and upgrades on a regular basis and upgrade administrative tools and utilities. Configure / add new services as necessary
• Upgrade and configure system software
• Maintain operational, configuration, or other procedures
• Perform periodic performance reporting to support capacity planning
• Perform ongoing performance tuning, hardware upgrades, and resource optimization as required
• Maintain data center environmental and monitoring equipment
Working Conditions/Physical Effort
• Responsibilities sometimes require working evenings and weekends, sometimes with little advanced notice
• Must be able to lift 50 lbs.
Travel
• Local Baltimore-Washington D.C.
• Long-Distance travel may occasionally be required
Required Skills and Experience
• Two-plus years of experience as a Windows System Administrator
• Strong problem determination and resolution skills
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Must be able to write procedures and technical content related to position responsibilities
• Ability to create and maintain positive and professional business relationships with both internal associates and external customers
• Must work effectively in a team environment, multi-team setting, as well as independently
• Must know how to provide a status on assigned deliverables (i.e., estimate their work)
• Must be a U.S. Citizen
• Must be able to pass a basic criminal background check
• Bachelor (4-year) degree, with a technical major, such as engineering or computer science, or commensurate certifications/work experience
• Solid understanding of basic Windows operating system administration
• Solid understanding of basic Linux operating system administration
• Experience with remote administration techniques (RDP, WinRM, SSH, etc.)
• Experience with Virtualization/Hypervisor technologies
• Basic Active Directory administration
Preferred Skills and Experience
• MCSE or MCITP certification
• RHCT or RHCE certification
• Knowledge of Dell PowerEdge hardware
• Basic understanding of LAN/WAN technologies
• Knowledge of Hyper-V virtualization technologies
• Knowledge of RSA security technologies
• Scripting (BASH, PowerShell, Python, etc.)
• AWS Experience/Certifications
EOE M/F/D/V
