Lead Systems Engineer

About UMass Amherst

UMass Amherst, the Commonwealth's flagship campus, is a nationally ranked public research university offering a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University sits on nearly 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, and offers a rich cultural environment in a bucolic setting close to major urban centers. In addition, the University is part of the Five Colleges (including Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College), which adds to the intellectual energy of the region.

Job Summary

The Lead Systems Engineer designs, implements, monitors, and continually improves procedures and resource allocations to ensure technology support and services to the Administration and Finance Division. The Lead Systems Engineer also researches and recommends new technologies, helps plan the future directions of Administration & Finance Information Technology (AFIT), and leads implementation projects through leadership, training and mentoring.

Essential Functions

• Serves as primary technical designer, implementer, and administrator for the systems used and supported by Administration and Finance.
• Mentors, coaches and trains IT system engineers and administrators on developing, designing, deploying and supporting enterprise class Windows and Linux configuration management and system deployment.
• Develops and implements security policies and procedures to provide security, confidentiality and audibility of administrative information resources. Designs and implements hardware and software configurations to support these policies.
• Facilitates meetings to enhance communications on IT-related subjects across campus.
• Works on multiple projects as a project leader to research, propose and implement strategies in the migration and consolidation of complex distributed systems to a more centralized enterprise model.
• Analyzes, monitors and keeps systems current with changing technologies.
• Designs, analyzes and configures Windows and Linux servers in a heterogeneous environment to install, upgrade, monitor, maintain, troubleshoot, patch, compile, secure, and repair the system. Provides enterprise class Windows and Linux hosts in both physical and virtual environments. Installs new software, trouble shoot, grants permissions to users, groups, applications and trains administrators.
• Monitors system performance and tunes system resources to maintain efficient and equitable use of managed resources. Performs system upgrades, makes recommendations on server configurations, and designs and implements changes in multiple environments from test or development to production.
• Responds to escalated alerts and customer reported issues.
• Develops tools for automation of tasks and integration of other IT services.
• Actively participates in the planning of both short- and long-term goals and directions for AFIT. Researches, recommends, and implements industry best practices.

Other Functions

• Performs related duties as assigned or required to meet department, executive area/division, and university goals and objectives.
• Provides consulting to AFIT and other campus staff on matters related to system provisioning and centralized maintenance and monitoring, as well as other IT Technologies.

Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Education, Experience, Certifications, Licensure)

• High School Diploma (or equivalent) and more than 10 years' experience with Windows and Linux systems administration in a large complex environment.
  • An Associate's Degree may be substituted for 2 years of the required experience.
  • A Bachelor's Degree may be substituted for 4 years of the required experience.
• Experience providing support for Windows or Macintosh desktops, including software image creation and deployment experience.
• Cross-platform Systems Administration experience, including experience with UNIX/Linux and Windows.
• Experience with programming and/or scripting languages such as PowerShell, Perl, Bash is required. Must have extensive knowledge of the system internals for at least one multi-user computer system.
• Knowledge and experience working with virtualization environments and tools such as VMWare or Vagrant.
• Knowledge of system and network security, including virus and spam management, intrusion detection, firewalls, various authentication schemes (LDAP, Kerberos, Shibboleth), VPN (Virtual Private Network), and disaster management.
• Experience with system monitoring solutions such as Nagios and Solarwinds.
• Demonstrated abilities to work effectively, in a highly organized manner. Must be flexible to changing needs and priorities and able to work accurately and productively in an environment that can involve many interruptions and changing priorities.
• Demonstrated experiences as a technical team lead or project manager, and a proven history of implementing cross-departmental initiatives.
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills to plan, recommend, implement and monitor effective and efficient processes and to identify problems and implement solutions.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Education, Experience, Certifications, Licensure)

• Experience providing support for Windows desktops preferred.
• Experience working in a large complex educational environment.
• Experience managing Web and Internet services on Windows and/or UNIX/Linux platforms, including Apache, IIS, PHP, Ruby on Rails, Perl, and/or shell scripting. Experience with Web services.

Physical Demands/Working Conditions

Typical office environment.

Additional Details

• Understands responsibilities with respect to conflicts of interest and behaves in ways consistent both with law and with University policy.
• Contributes toward creating a positive and respectful workplace defined by personal and professional competence, integrity, and collaboration.
• Understands and contributes to implementation of departmental and institutional goals for achieving non-discrimination and creating a respectful, inclusive environment that is supportive of diversity.
• Uses access to sensitive and/or not yet public university related information only in the performance of the responsibilities of position and exercise care to prevent unnecessary disclosure to others.

Work Schedule

• Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 5:00pm.
• Required to work some nights and some weekends.
• Participates in team on-call rotation.
• This position has the opportunity for a hybrid work schedule, which is defined by the University as an arrangement where an employee's work is regularly performed at a location other than the campus workspace for a portion of the week. As this position falls within the Professional Staff Union, it is subject to the terms and conditions of the Professional Staff Union collective
  bargaining agreement.

Salary Information

Salary Level 30

PSU Hiring Ranges

Special Instructions to Applicants

Along with the application, please submit a resume and cover letter. References will be checked at the finalist stage, please be prepared to provide contact information for three (3) professional references.

UMass Amherst is committed to a policy of equal opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, caste, creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin, disability, political belief or affiliation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related condition(s), veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information, natural and protective hairstyle and any other class of individuals protected from discrimination in employment, admission to and participation in academic programs, activities, and services, and the selection of vendors who provide services or products to the University. To fulfill that policy, UMass Amherst is further committed to a program of affirmative action to eliminate or mitigate artificial barriers and to increase opportunities for the recruitment and advancement of qualified minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and covered veterans. It is the policy of UMass Amherst to comply with the applicable federal and state statutes, rules, and regulations concerning equal opportunity and affirmative action.