Senior IT Systems Administrator
Position Summary
The Senior IT Systems Administrator serves as one of the organization's lead technical experts and subject matter authority for enterprise infrastructure systems. This position is responsible for the architecture, security, administration, maintenance, and continuous improvement of the organization's network, firewall, wireless, server, virtualization, storage, and data center environments. This role is onsite and remote work is not available.
This role functions as one of highest technical escalation points within the IT Systems Administration team, providing leadership, mentoring, and expert guidance to IT technicians and support staff. The Senior IT Systems Administrator is responsible for ensuring the stability, security, availability, and performance of all core infrastructure systems while supporting business operations through proactive planning, problem resolution, and technology modernization initiatives.
The position requires a strong commitment to operational excellence, cybersecurity, disaster recovery preparedness, and maintaining highly available enterprise systems that support mission-critical business functions.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Technical Leadership & Mentorship
- Serve as the primary technical authority and escalation point for infrastructure-related issues across the organization.
- Provide technical leadership, mentoring, coaching, and guidance to IT technicians and support personnel.
- Assist team members in troubleshooting complex technical issues and developing effective solutions.
- Lead root cause analysis activities for major incidents, service interruptions, and recurring technical problems.
- Establish and maintain infrastructure standards, best practices, operational procedures, and technical documentation.
- Collaborate with IT leadership to develop and execute infrastructure strategies and technology roadmaps.
- Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend improvements that enhance reliability, security, scalability, and operational efficiency.
- Act as a trusted advisor to IT staff and business leaders regarding infrastructure technologies, architecture, and cybersecurity risks.
Network Infrastructure Management
- Design, implement, maintain, and support enterprise network infrastructure, including switches, routers, firewalls, VPNs, and wireless networking systems.
- Ensure maximum availability, performance, and reliability of all network services.
- Monitor network performance and proactively resolve issues before service disruptions occur.
- Manage network configurations, documentation, capacity planning, and system upgrades.
- Lead troubleshooting efforts related to connectivity, performance, and network security concerns.
Cybersecurity & Compliance
- Maintain and strengthen the security posture of the organization's infrastructure environment.
- Administer firewalls, security appliances, intrusion prevention systems, and network access controls.
- Ensure operating systems, firmware, applications, and infrastructure components remain current with security updates and patches.
- Identify and remediate vulnerabilities through proactive monitoring and vulnerability management practices.
- Participate in incident response efforts and lead infrastructure-related security investigations.
- Support compliance initiatives and ensure adherence to organizational security policies and industry best practices.
Data Center, Server & Virtualization Management
- Administer and maintain VMware virtualization environments, including hosts, clusters, storage, and virtual machines.
- Manage enterprise server infrastructure supporting business-critical applications and services.
- Ensure data center equipment remains operational, secure, and highly available.
- Monitor server performance, capacity, and utilization to ensure optimal operation.
- Perform system maintenance, upgrades, and lifecycle management activities.
- Coordinate vendor support and maintenance activities related to infrastructure systems.
Storage, Backup & Disaster Recovery
- Manage enterprise storage arrays and related technologies.
- Ensure data backup solutions operate successfully and consistently meet recovery objectives.
- Develop, test, and maintain disaster recovery and business continuity procedures.
- Monitor storage utilization and forecast future capacity requirements.
- Lead recovery efforts during infrastructure failures and critical incidents.
Infrastructure Operations & Monitoring
- Implement and maintain infrastructure monitoring and alerting solutions.
- Ensure infrastructure software, operating systems, firmware, and management platforms remain current and supported.
- Monitor health, performance, and availability of all critical infrastructure systems.
- Develop preventative maintenance schedules and coordinate planned maintenance activities.
- Maintain comprehensive documentation for infrastructure systems, configurations, and operational procedures.
On-Call & Incident Management
- Participate in a rotating 24x7 on-call schedule, currently serving approximately every five weeks.
- Respond to infrastructure outages, cybersecurity incidents, and critical operational issues outside normal business hours.
- Lead technical response efforts during major incidents and coordinate recovery activities.
- Ensure timely resolution and communication during infrastructure-related service disruptions.
Project Leadership
- Lead infrastructure implementation, upgrade, migration, and modernization projects.
- Plan and execute technology refresh initiatives for network, server, storage, and security platforms.
- Develop project plans, technical requirements, implementation strategies, and risk mitigation plans.
- Work closely with vendors, consultants, and internal stakeholders to ensure successful project delivery.
Desired Qualifications
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
- Minimum of 7 years of progressive experience supporting enterprise infrastructure environments.
- Minimum of 3 years of experience serving as a senior technical resource or lead engineer.
- Experience supporting multi-site enterprise networks and business-critical systems.
- Proven experience leading technical projects and mentoring IT staff.
Technical Competencies
Strong experience in the following areas:
- Enterprise Routing and Switching
- Firewall Administration and Network Security
- Wireless Network Design and Management
- VMware vSphere and Virtualization Technologies
- Windows Server Administration
- Active Directory and Group Policy
- Enterprise Storage Arrays
- Backup and Recovery Solutions
- Data Center Operations
- Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
- Infrastructure Monitoring and Alerting Systems
- Vulnerability Management and Cybersecurity Best Practices
- Cloud and Hybrid Infrastructure Technologies
- Network Performance Analysis and Troubleshooting
Key Competencies
- Technical Leadership and Mentorship
- Advanced Problem Solving and Troubleshooting
- Strategic Thinking and Infrastructure Planning
- Strong Written and Verbal Communication Skills
- Incident Management and Decision Making
- Customer Service Excellence
- Project Leadership and Execution
- Attention to Detail and Operational Discipline
- Commitment to Security, Reliability, and Continuous Improvement
Working Conditions
- Participation in a rotating 24x7 on-call support schedule is required.
- Occasional evening and weekend work required for maintenance activities, upgrades, and critical incident response.
- Ability to work in data center environments and lift infrastructure equipment when necessary.
Success Factors
Success in this role is measured by:
- Maintaining high levels of network and infrastructure uptime.
- Ensuring the reliability and availability of all data center systems, servers, storage, and virtualization platforms.
- Maintaining a strong cybersecurity posture through proactive security management.
- Successfully leading infrastructure projects and technology initiatives.
- Serving as a trusted technical leader and mentor to the IT team.
- Driving continuous improvement in infrastructure performance, security, and operational efficiency.
This position serves as one of the senior technical leaders for enterprise infrastructure and is expected to provide expert guidance, architectural direction, and mentorship across the IT organization while ensuring the security, stability, and availability of all core technology systems.