Systems Administrator

The purpose of this position is to provide the highest level of system administrator services and expertise, under limited supervision, to support, administrate, and maintain the installation, configuration, performance, and operation of enterprise systems. These systems include Microsoft Server, IIS, and SQL in addition to Linux, VMware and storage. Responsibilities also include the provisioning of Hewlett-Packard hardware as physical, virtual, clustered, and standalone servers in a high availability architecture between multiple data centers. Focus on completion of all appropriate written documentation, extension of outstanding customer and technical support. Availability for on-call after hours support and routine monthly maintenance through an on-call rotation and established monthly system weekend patch window. Critical decision making involving the use of limited resources in an effort to repair and restore services during system outages.

Position Qualifications:

Minimum Education and/or Experience:

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Information Systems, Business, or a closely related field. An equivalent combination of post-secondary education and/or job-related experience (in the field of systems administration) may substitute for the education requirement on a year for year basis.

Specialized Training, Certifications, and/or Other Special Requirements:

Must possess, or have the ability to obtain by the time of hire, a valid Arizona driver’s license.

Moderate proficiency with Microsoft Windows operating systems and Microsoft Office products. Moderate proficiency with Hewlett Packard and Dell servers and storage devices.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Knowledge with Microsoft WIN20XX system administration, installation and on-going maintenance experience. Knowledge with VMware software and tools for file server migrations, troubleshooting and performance tuning. Knowledge of Microsoft Windows desktop operating systems and Microsoft Office products. Knowledge of hardware skills with Hewlett Packard or Dell file servers and storage. Skilled in communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. Skilled in verbally communicating with others to convey information effectively. Ability to effectively troubleshoot systems, provide users technical support, and make critical decisions on the use of limited premier support services. Ability to Interface with database administrators and other IT professionals to coordinate installation and maintenance of client server applications to support enterprise line of business systems. Ability to be detail oriented, be a proactive self-starter, demonstrate a positive, and willing attitude. Ability to multitask and follow through on all assigned tasks. Ability to use effective time management skills to handle multiple tasks. Ability to consistently meet or exceed expectations on projects and provide guidance on County policies to other departments. Ability to exhibit skills required to embrace change and actively participate in planning short and long term goals to meet shifting business requirements. Ability to interact positively and effectively with staff members at all levels within the organization and work with management to resolve critical matters of significance that effect the team or customers. Ability to adjust smoothly to changes in priorities and manages time effectively with little or no supervision. Ability to provide on-call 24×7 services on a rotation, visit data centers in different geographical locations, and apply system patches on the established monthly patch weekend. Operational knowledge of Microsoft Windows desktop operating systems and Microsoft Office products. Intermediate hardware skills with Hewlett Packard or Dell file servers and storage.

Preferred Education and/or Experience:

Experience with Microsoft web servers, Active Directory, file/print servers, Lync servers, Exchange servers, and DNS in a multi-forest and multi-domain environment, VMware, storage systems, backup systems, and SQL databases.

Working Conditions:

Position requires the ability to work a 24/7 on-call rotation schedule in order to perform functions that occur during non-business hours and weekends. May require travel to and from job related locations during the course of a scheduled workday, subject to County policies regarding use of County vehicles and/or private vehicles used on County business.

Essential Job Tasks:

Perform enterprise systems and application support at the highest level of technical expertise mostly independently, but occasionally with assistance from other information technology (IT) professionals and premier support services, of enterprise systems including, Windows servers and services, file/print services ,IIS, SQL, VMware, and Active Directory in addition to the backup and storage resources utilized by these systems. This support is provided often with the coordination and collaboration of PC/LAN Managers and the Customer Care Center’s Service Desk system. Manage the day-to-day operations, monitoring, and performance tuning of an enterprise Active Directory Windows 20xx environment supporting multiple domains and IT divisions for the entire County. Work with and maintain Active Directory accounts, security groups, group policies, server based shared directories and user permissions. Assure adherence to departmental Service Level Agreements. Provide on-call support based on a rotation and apply necessary patches during the established patch window that occurs once a month on a weekend. Install, configure, monitor, troubleshoot and maintain enterprise server class software and hardware with little or no assistance. This includes file servers and load balanced applications within a high availability environment that includes multiple data centers. Maintain and service Hewlett-Packard hardware as physical, virtual, clustered, and standalone servers in a high availability architecture between multiple data centers. With limited supervision, install, configure and support various line-of-business applications using Active Directory or other automation techniques and services. Interface with appropriate individuals, which includes contractors and customers both within and external to the IT department, to coordinate support, installation, and maintenance of enterprise systems. Maintain backup system and ensure backups are successfully completed, periodically tested, and are in compliance with best practices. Assist in maintaining off site inventory and rotation of tapes for disaster recovery. Complete appropriate written documentation as necessary. Provide outstanding customer and technical support. Provide routine maintenance on an on-call, after hours, support rotation during established monthly system weekend patch window. Provide critical decision making involving the use of limited resources in an effort to repair and restore services during system outages.

Selection Procedure:

The Maricopa County Human Resources Department reserves the right to admit to the selection process only those candidates considered to be the most highly qualified. Those selected will be assessed based on evaluation of listed education and experience. The hiring authority will interview and select the successful candidate from a list provided by Human Resources.

Typically, successful candidates are hired at a salary rate up to midpoint of the range, based on applicable experience, internal equity and budgetary allowances.