Senior Systems Administrator

The College of Public Health Department of Information Technology is seeking a Senior Systems Administrator to be responsible for the design, configuration, administration, security, operational integrity, support, and integration of diverse systems in an enterprise environment, including both cloud computing and on-premises resources. This position performs complex administrative tasks and collaborates effectively with other IT staff across the University of Iowa in support of the College of Public Health.

Analysis and Design:

Evaluate technology and tools and recommends buying decisions for departments, centers, research projects, and outreach programs in the College of Public Health. Include budget and regulatory requirements in analysis. Implement infrastructure and system design changes within the College of Public Health IT environment. Evaluate and implement changes in an enterprise environment to improve efficiency in the College of Public Health, optimize system performance, and ensure compliance with security policies and best practices. Develop complex Puppet Enterprise configurations for servers, Linux workstations, and cloud environments. Design and implement complex high-availability web services in both cloud and on-premises virtual environments. Design and maintain diverse Collegiate Linux systems, including servers and workstations. Implementation (Installation, Configuration, Integration). Perform advanced and complex systems administration tasks such as hardware setup and upgrades, software upgrades, system backups, and preventive maintenance on College of Public Health servers and firewalls. Manage, maintain and monitor automated operating system and software patching, including the development of scripts and enterprise software configurations for all College of Public Health servers. Develop and maintain a secure environment for College of Public Health servers and data in both cloud and on-premises environments, including the management of file system access control lists, Cisco ASA firewalls, and processes for identity authentication. Configure, maintain, and monitor collegiate backup/restore servers and software, including Veeam Backup software and Amazon cloud backup services. Develop, manage and maintain College of Public Health software licensing and asset management databases. Build, install, and configure Linux software from source files when necessary. Manage Shibboleth Service Provider in cloud environment and integrate with ITS Shibboleth Identity Provider. Maintain, configure, and integrate various services with database engines, including Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database, MySQL, and Amazon Aurora. Configure CI/CD pipelines and integrate with complex infrastructure. Implement infrastructure as code (IAC) designs across on-premises and cloud environments to configure many systems in a consistent and reliable manner.

Documentation:

Write, maintain, and audit documentation relating to College of Public Health servers and server administration processes. Maintain public knowledgebase to assist end-users and IT staff with common support questions and complex configurations. Assist in developing and writing DR/BC plans for mission-critical collegiate services, including shared network file systems and web services. Develop cost estimates, service agreements, and memorandums of understanding (MoU) for administrative and research projects. Assist researchers in reviewing and writing data use agreements.

Support:

Provide direct support to both end users and other technical support staff on advanced issues involving processes and software used within the College. Support end users from other colleges and UI Healthcare, as well as users external to the University, in technical issues involving Collegiate services and research projects.  Create complex system scripts and/or programs to diagnose and solve systems administration challenges within the College of Public Health IT environment. Maintain and extend automation of Active Directory security groups and e-mail distribution lists according to the business requirements of the College. Support Active Directory security groups and Amazon IAM users, groups, and policies for user rights delegation and system access. Maintain security by implementing principle of least privilege (PoLP) in access granted to users and systems. Support MECM and Puppet Enterprise environments for the College of Public Health. Provide on call support for critical issues and complex problems. Monitor uptime of critical services and configure alerts for issues which may impact operations. Support enterprise VMware cluster environment. Relationship Management (Vendor/Customer). Interface directly with hardware and software vendors at the University and collegiate levels. Serve as a mediator between end-users and product or service vendors. Communicate with end-users regarding pertinent system changes within the College. 

Leadership:

Mentor and train peer staff in the areas of networking, security, scripting, version control, and cloud computing. Develop and deliver presentations to senior management in the College and peer groups in the University. Participate in University-wide campus communities such as the IT Admins, Linux Admins, and AWS Users Group. Lead projects to successful outcomes by setting direction, delegating tasks, and engaging with Collegiate/University/external resources as necessary. Participate in the planning process for developing operating procedures, guidelines, and policies at a collegiate level. Collaborate with peers across the University to find ways to enhance research and IT services in the College of Public Health. Identify shifting trends in technology and align with forward thinking strategies.