Columbia Association, headquartered in Howard County, Maryland, is known for engaging our diverse community, cultivating a unique sense of place, and enhancing the quality of life in Columbia, Maryland, all thanks to the efforts of our remarkable team members. If you share in our passion for teamwork and our vision, we want you to fast-forward your career with us at Columbia Association. WHY YOU SHOULD APPLY? CA offers a positive and fun work environment; competitive pay; and a generous benefits package, including health, dental, and vision coverage; 401(k) retirement saving plan with CA contributing 6% of the team member’s salary and more if eligible.
IT - SYSTEMS ENGINEER
Summary:
The Systems Engineer (SE) serves as a technical expert in system administration for complex operating systems and recommends configuration of operating systems and applications. The SE investigates and analyzes feasibility of system requirements, develops system specifications, and identifies methods and solutions to ensure a high level of service to the customers of Columbia Association’s (CA) Information Technology (IT) division.
Essential Duties:
- Effectively participate in all aspects of design, development, testing, and implementation of all internal and external CA’s system features on an as-needed basis.
- Provide excellent customer support and address customer issues to resolve them in a timely and efficient manner.
- Resolve product or service problems by clarifying customer concerns, determining the cause of the problem, selecting & explaining the best solution to solve the problem.
- Fully document solutions to issues in ticketing system/knowledge base.
- Lead one or more architecture assignments, working closely with the CA IT personnel and partners to manage tasks and deliverables accordingly.
- Ensure that the aspects of the architecture are driven by the business goals of the organization and that the requirements driving the overall architecture are managed consistently and effectively.
- Present the technical benefits of adopting a consistent architectural approach.
- Assess requirements and present System Engineering-based recommendations in line with the strategic CA IT objectives for the enterprise and wider best practice.
- Ensure that the various frameworks comprising enterprise architecture are consistent and coherent, developed at an appropriate level of detail, and that changes are controlled to maintain consistency.
- Serve as a subject matter expert for architectural frameworks, methods, and tools.
- Advise and assist CA personnel and external partners’ personnel in any architecture disciplines.
Additional Duties:
- Manage and monitor all installed systems and infrastructure.
- Install, configure, test, and maintain operating systems, application software and system management tools.
- Proactively ensure the highest levels of systems and infrastructure availability.
- Monitor and test application performance for potential bottlenecks, identify practical solutions, and work with vendors to implement those fixes.
- Maintain security, backup, and redundancy configurations
- Write and maintain custom scripts to increase system efficiency and lower the human intervention time where appropriate.
- Participate in the design of information and operational support systems.
- Provide 2nd and 3rd level support for CA Help Desk.
- Liaise with vendors and other IT personnel for problem resolution.
- Effectively facilitate installation of all updates and patches to CA systems in a timely yet tested/secure manner.
- Effectively plan and facilitate any other ongoing CA system support both on-site and with all CA’s facilities.
- Effectively assist as technical resource with all universal support and infrastructure problems and projects.
- Under the guidance of CA IT Network Manager, monitors and maintains CA’s
- Virtual Server and Azure environment.
- Monitors and maintains a comprehensive set of performance metrics for all system features.
- Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of best practices, policies, and technical specifications for endpoint computing and server hardware.
- Interact with team members in developing new service programs and in efficiently providing services offered.
Requirements:
Experience
- Have strong technical and analytical background and experience in desktop/server configuration and integration - sufficient to allow for performance as single technical security support person or a lead in a security systems team.
Education
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Systems, or relevant Software Engineering experience or related field, or equivalent combination of education and work experience.
Certification
- Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) preferred
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert preferred
- Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert preferred
- Microsoft 365 Certified: Fundamentals preferred
- VMWare Certified Professional (VCP) or higher preferred
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Problem Solving
- Demonstrated skill in problem solving and troubleshooting computer hardware, software, and network connectivity.
- Experience as primary technical support contact for a client.
- Proven working experience in installing, configuring, and troubleshooting Windows based environments.
- Solid experience in the administration and performance tuning in Windows Enterprise.
- Solid Cloud experience, preferably in Azure and AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- Experience with virtualization and containerization (e.g., VMware,)
- Experience with monitoring systems
- Solid scripting skills (e.g., shell scripts, Perl, Ruby, Python)
- Solid networking knowledge (OSI network layers, TCP/IP)
Communication/Professionalism
- Demonstrated excellent technical and non-technical communication skills, both written and oral.
- Experience providing technical customer support on the phone, online, and in person.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team providing timely, high-quality services.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality when accessing records for business needs.
Technical Skills
- Cisco Meraki knowledge is a plus
- 8 x8 VOIP Platform is a plus
- Security experience is a plus
Salary Range:
$32.50 - $48.50 Hourly
Columbia Association is an equal employment opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals without regard to the following legally protected characteristics: race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, military/veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal law. EOE/ADA. We encourage applications from candidates who can contribute to the diversity of our organization. Over and above non-discrimination, CA’s mission includes engaging our diverse community and meeting the evolving needs of a dynamic and inclusive community. That’s why we welcome folks of diverse or marginalized backgrounds and abilities to apply to become part of the CA team.