Role Purpose:
Under general supervision, leverage advanced technical expertise to engineer, deploy, and manage IT infrastructure. Configure, monitor, and optimize servers, storage systems, routers, switches, firewalls, security appliances, and associated software. Ensure infrastructure reliability by applying best practices to proactively analyze traffic patterns, security risks, system performance metrics, and backup and recovery strategies. Create and maintain detailed documentation of network and system configurations, processes, and dependencies. Adapt engineering efforts and system architecture to the changing needs of the corporate network, data center, ISP core, and customer base.
Essential Duties/Responsibilities:
- Design, deploy, and manage critical IT systems:
Lead the engineering, implementation, and administration of IT infrastructure and network architecture. Oversee end-to-end lifecycle management, from initial planning to deployment and ongoing maintenance. - Develop and implement logging and monitoring strategies for key systems:
Utilize new and existing tools to design comprehensive logging and monitoring frameworks, enabling proactive system management and rapid response to issues. Continuously refine strategies to enhance infrastructure visibility. - Evaluate the relationships and dependencies of interconnected systems:
Continually analyze how various IT systems interact, identifying potential impacts and implications on performance, security, and scalability. Proactively manage dependencies. - Contribute to strategic technology vision: Work collaboratively to maintain a forward-looking vision for the IT department, identify emerging technology trends, and potential roadmaps. Actively pursue learning opportunities to enhance skills and knowledge. Investigate promising technologies and conduct proof-of-concept testing.
- Partner with other departments on networking, authentication, and security initiatives:
Work closely with adjacent teams to design, implement, and optimize solutions that enhance network performance, strengthen authentication processes, and bolster overall security. Facilitate alignment across departments to ensure seamless integration and robust protection within the organization’s infrastructure.
- Share expertise and drive knowledge exchange within the department:
Regularly update team members on advancements and emerging industry trends in your area of specialization. Present insights from conferences and training sessions, fostering an environment of continuous learning. Facilitate discussions on potential future interoperability challenges. - Support department manager with annual budgeting:
Assist in planning and managing the annual budget for capital investments, support contracts, and software licensing. Provide insights and recommendations to optimize resource allocation. - Ensure data protection and confidentiality: Handle sensitive information responsibly and in compliance with regulatory and organizational standards. Respect and maintain strict confidentiality of all software, data, files, and related information belonging to the organization and its customers.
- Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new duties may be assigned at any time with or without notice.
Required Skills/Abilities:
- Solid understanding of networking, storage, compute, and security technologies
- Experience deploying and managing switches, routers, firewalls, and servers
- Ability to analyze and troubleshoot complex system interdependencies
- Familiarity with network monitoring tools, concepts, and protocols
- Familiarity with tiered data protection
- Experience securing networks and system endpoints
- Ability to manage and complete projects with minimal supervision
- Self-motivated with a strong commitment to continuous learning and development
- Ability to engage in strategic operational and architectural discussions
- Ability to serve as a primary support contact and participate in a rotating on-call schedule.
Education and Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or equivalent foundational experience
- 5+ years professional experience in an IT-related field
- Has achieved CCNA or equivalent certification
Preferred Qualifications:
- 7+ years professional experience in IT system engineering and operations
- Has achieved CCNP or equivalent certification
- Experience working in mission-critical, high-availability environments
- Comprehensive understanding of data center infrastructure
- Experience with service provider network architectures
- Extensive experience deploying and maintaining Linux and/or Windows servers
- Proficiency with at least one programming or scripting language
- Comprehensive understanding of IT security principles and design considerations
- Ability to coach and mentor junior engineers
- Adept at creating and maintaining detailed technical documentation
- Skilled at conveying complex technical concepts to diverse audiences
Physical Requirements:
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
- Must be able to lift twenty (20) pounds at one time.