Organization Overview, Mission, Vision, and Values
Our mission is to improve the health of people in the communities we serve through compassionate, high-quality care, prevention, and wellness education. Washington Regional Medical System is a community-owned, locally governed, non-profit health care system located in Northwest Arkansas in the heart of Fayetteville, which is consistently ranked among the Best Places to live in the country. Our 425-bed medical center has been named the #1 hospital in Arkansas for six consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report. We employ 3,200+ team members and serve the region with over 40 clinic locations, the region’s only Level II trauma center, and five Centers of Excellence - the Washington Regional J.B. Hunt Transport Services Neuroscience Institute; Washington Regional Walker Heart Institute; Washington Regional Women and Infants Center; Washington Regional Total Joint Center; and Washington Regional Pat Walker Center for Seniors.
Position Summary
The Network Administrator II independently administers, supports, and optimizes the enterprise network infrastructure that enables clinical, operational, and administrative services across Washington Regional Medical System. This position is responsible for the availability, reliability, performance, capacity, and security of wired, wireless, wide-area, remote-access, and related network services. The Network Administrator II resolves complex connectivity issues, implements approved network changes, supports infrastructure projects and lifecycle initiatives, maintains accurate technical documentation, and collaborates with Information Services teams, operational departments, vendors, and telecommunications carriers to sustain secure and dependable network operations in a 24/7 health care environment.
Essential Position Responsibilities
- Independently configure, administer, monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot enterprise switches, routers, wireless controllers, access points, firewalls, virtual private network services, and related network infrastructure within assigned scope.
- Administer network services and configurations, including TCP/IP, subnetting, virtual local area networks, switch ports, routing, dynamic host configuration protocol, domain name system integration, access control lists, network segmentation, quality of service, and network access control.
- Monitor network availability, performance, capacity, and security using enterprise management, logging, alerting, packet-analysis, and diagnostic tools; proactively identify trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
- Troubleshoot and resolve complex wired, wireless, voice, clinical-device, internet, wide-area, and remote-access connectivity issues; perform or support root-cause analysis and implement sustainable corrective actions.
- Perform wireless surveys, radio-frequency analysis, coverage validation, interference assessment, and capacity planning to support reliable connectivity in clinical, administrative, and public spaces.
- Plan and execute network equipment installations, replacements, configuration changes, firmware updates, upgrades, and lifecycle activities while minimizing disruption to patient care and business operations.
- Lead assigned technical work for construction, renovation, clinic expansion, technology implementation, and infrastructure improvement projects; coordinate requirements, schedules, testing, and operational handoff.
- Develop implementation, validation, rollback, and communication plans for network changes and complete work in accordance with established change-management requirements.
- Collaborate with Information Security to apply network security standards, support vulnerability remediation, investigate suspicious activity, and maintain appropriate segmentation and access controls.
- Coordinate with telecommunications carriers, technology vendors, managed service partners, and internal Information Services teams to resolve incidents, manage escalations, and support service improvements.
- Create and maintain accurate network diagrams, configuration records, inventories, standards, procedures, knowledge articles, and support documentation.
- Provide technical consultation and escalation support to team members and customers; communicate service impacts, technical findings, restoration progress, and recommended actions clearly and professionally.
- Support network resilience, downtime preparedness, disaster recovery, and business continuity activities, including testing and response to infrastructure incidents.
- Follow organizational requirements for cybersecurity, privacy, change management, incident management, vendor access, documentation, and protection of sensitive information.
- Participate in scheduled maintenance, after-hours implementations, incident response, and the on-call rotation as assigned.
- Maintain current knowledge of network technologies, security practices, vendor platforms, and health care technology requirements through continuing education and professional development.
- Perform other duties as assigned to support the objectives of Information Services and Washington Regional Medical System.
Qualifications
- Education: Associate degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Networking, or a related field required. An equivalent combination of education, relevant experience, and industry certifications may be considered. Bachelor’s degree in a related field preferred.
- Licensure/Certifications: Cisco Certified Network Associate or comparable network certification preferred. Additional certification in wireless networking, network security, cloud networking, or an applicable vendor platform preferred.
- Experience: Three years of progressively responsible experience supporting enterprise wired and wireless networks required. Demonstrated experience with switching, routing, TCP/IP, subnetting, virtual local area networks, dynamic host configuration protocol, domain name system, virtual private networks, network monitoring, and advanced troubleshooting required. Experience supporting a health care organization, high-availability environment, or similarly regulated enterprise preferred.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Working knowledge of enterprise local-area, wide-area, wireless, internet, and remote-access network architectures and operations.
- Working knowledge of switching, routing, TCP/IP, subnetting, virtual local area networks, dynamic host configuration protocol, domain name system, quality of service, network access control, firewalls, virtual private networks, and network segmentation.
- Knowledge of wireless networking principles, including radio-frequency fundamentals, coverage, interference, roaming, authentication, and capacity.
- Knowledge of network security controls, secure configuration practices, vulnerability remediation, incident response, and protection of regulated or sensitive information.
- Knowledge of hybrid-cloud connectivity concepts, including site-to-site virtual private networks, routing, security, and connectivity between cloud and on-premises environments.
- Ability to use network monitoring, logging, packet-analysis, testing, and diagnostic tools to isolate and resolve complex issues.
- Ability to assess operational risk, develop effective implementation and rollback plans, and complete network changes with appropriate testing and documentation.
- Ability to organize and prioritize concurrent operational, incident, maintenance, and project responsibilities with limited supervision.
- Ability to communicate technical information clearly to technical and nontechnical audiences and provide timely, service-focused support.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, documentation, collaboration, organization, and customer-service skills.
- Ability to work effectively with clinical, operational, administrative, security, and technical stakeholders in a complex, 24/7 health care environment.
- Ability to exercise sound judgment, maintain confidentiality, and respond effectively during outages, cybersecurity events, and other time-sensitive operational situations.
Work Environment: This position operates in professional, clinical, data-center, telecommunications-room, and other technical environments throughout Washington Regional facilities. Work requires frequent computer use and regular interaction with technical, clinical, operational, administrative, vendor, and carrier contacts. Duties may require work in confined or elevated technical spaces, use of appropriate ladders or equipment, and exposure to the normal environmental conditions of equipment rooms. Participation outside normal business hours is required as assigned for scheduled maintenance, upgrades, implementations, outages, cybersecurity events, and other operational needs. The position requires frequent sitting, standing, walking, speaking, hearing, and use of hands for computer and equipment work; travel between Washington Regional locations; and the ability to lift, carry, position, or install network equipment weighing up to 50 pounds occasionally, with assistance or appropriate equipment when needed.