Position Title: Systems Administrator

Department: Information Technology Services

Advertised Pay: $69,697

Campus Location: Washburn University

The screening committee will review all eligible applications submitted by August 19, 2024

Position Summary: The Systems Administrator performs various complex duties to plan, design, build, and support the technology infrastructure of Washburn University and the Washburn Institute of Technology. This position will work in a multi-platform, multi-site environment with Windows, Unix, Linux, and Macintosh clients and servers, and will work with both locally-hosted systems and cloud-hosted systems and applications.

Essential Functions:
As part of the Systems and Network Services group, the Systems Administrator will deliver high-quality service to internal and external customers; understand the needs of the customer and the University; respond promptly to customers and be accessible to them; maintain positive, long-term working relationships with customers; and assume ownership of process issues and take appropriate steps to mitigate problems. The position shares responsibility for the following job functions and duties:
• Designs, builds, and supports solutions that meet Washburn’s requirements for functionality, performance, reliability, and security.
• Analyze customer requirements to provide design, purchase, implementation, and upgrade guidance.
• Review, validate, and implement configuration changes to systems requested by customers.
• Plan, design, and build full solutions for various needs, using ITS’s preferred technologies and meeting ITS’s standards for functionality, performance, reliability, and security.
• Build and configure local standalone and virtual servers running Linux, Unix, and Windows Server.
• Create and configure cloud-hosted virtual servers running Linux, Unix, and Windows Server.
• Maintain back-end data storage and virtual machine hosts, both locally and in the cloud.
• Use existing automation systems (e.g. Ansible) and write and maintain programs to automate processes and workflows to improve the functionality, performance, reliability, and security of systems, and to improve the ability of the team to manage large numbers of systems.
• Provide higher-level support for helpdesk staff and end users. For example, investigate and resolve problems and outages reported by monitoring systems or other means (such as customer or user tickets).
• Propose and implement system enhancements (e.g. design changes, configuration changes, and software updates) to improve functionality, performance, reliability, and security.
• Maintain on-site and off-site backups of all systems.
• Understand and apply current security practices for the protection of Washburn’s systems and networks.
• In consultation with the ITS Security Director, maintains security systems which interact with ITS-managed systems and servers. Assist in building and maintaining standalone security systems.
• Update systems according to ITS’s system patching schedules and emergency requirements.
• Create and maintain documentation on all hardware, systems, and software for which the employee is responsible, using designated documentation facilities.
• Provide internal ITS staff documentation, training, and support as necessary.
• Track assignment and project status using Washburn’s ITSM system and other designated means.
• Review professional literature to stay abreast of relevant industry developments, technical best practices, and relevant state-of-the-art technology, equipment, and systems.
• Attend classes, seminars, or conferences as approved or directed by the supervisor.
• Participate in a 24×7 on-call rotation as assigned to support critical services or respond to emergencies.
• Perform additional job-related duties as assigned and appropriate.

Required Qualifications:
• An associate degree in CIS or CS and two years of relevant experience, or a combination of information technology education and related experience equivalent to four years.
• Proven experience administering Windows and/or Unix/Linux servers.
• Ability to communicate technical information in a clear and concise manner to a diverse user base including non-technical users.
• Skilled in self-directed learning and research of new technology concepts and products.
• Demonstrated effective skills in troubleshooting, diagnosing, analyzing, and identifying system malfunctions to determine the source and fix the cause of the problem.
• Proven knowledge of a scripting/programming language such as Perl, Python, Ruby, or PowerShell.

Physical Requirements:
• Participates in a 24×7 on-call rotation (rotates weekly) as assigned.

Preferred Qualifications:
• Helpdesk experience is a plus.
• Knowledge of and experience with virtualized environments (especially VMware).
• Experience operating infrastructure in a public cloud (especially AWS).
• Knowledge of and experience with Ansible or a similar configuration management system.
• Preferred certifications include: VMware VCSA or VCP; Amazon AWS; Red Hat RHCSA.

Special Instructions to Applicants:

Full-time, Exempt, Mon-Fri 8am-5pm   
Background Check Required