Purpose of Position

The System Administrator I position works with a team of systems administration professionals to support an enterprise computing infrastructure that includes a variety of servers, storage, and supporting equipment. Additionally, this position along with the team, oversees two data centers as well as strategic cloud/hosted services.  The Systems group is responsible for a wide range of services ranging from client hosting to university-wide mission critical applications. Reports to the Lead Systems Engineer.
 

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Implement, maintain, monitor, server operating systems (Windows, Linux, and Unix) and processes on diverse server hardware platforms.
• Expediently resolve system problems working independently, with coworkers, and vendors as necessary.
• Configure, monitor, and maintain system security in accordance with departmental standards.
• Develop and maintain technical system documentation.
• Manage/monitor server hardware, memory, resources, processing, and maintenance
• Apply Windows upgrades on server
• Manage metadata access, authorization, loading, maintenance, and backup
• Set and maintain authorizations between vendor's web, mobile, middle-tier, and server processes
• Installation, deployment, and migration of new/updated software
• Maintain Oracle/NetID/WKU-specific accounts and permissions

Secondary Duties and Responsibilities

• Technical assistance for peer and student worker positions.
• Apply regular system upgrades and patches in test and production environments.
• Provide upper tier technical support to other IT staff and in limited cases directly to clients.
• Other duties as required

Knowledge and Skills Considered Essential for Success

• An understanding of Windows and Linux/Unix client and server architectures, with experience in their installation, maintenance, monitoring, and configuration.
• Proficiency in a form of shell scripting (PowerShell, bash, etc.)
• A thorough understanding of TCP/IP networking, firewalls, and industry best practices for securing server-to-server communications and client access to server resources.
• Familiarity with high-availability concepts including but not limited to fault tolerant hardware, load balancing, and clustering.
• Excellent oral, written, and computer-mediated communication skills; experience with technical writing.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and professional decision-making skills.
• Methodical and highly detail-oriented mindset.
• Ability to troubleshoot and work effectively with co-workers, faculty, staff, students and external clients for successful incident resolution in potentially stressful situations.
• Must be self-motivated and possess the ability to work independently, one-on-one, or with a team where situationally appropriate.
• Ability to perform the duties and responsibilities of this position in a competent manner following the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, accountability, responsibility, cooperation, and customer service.
• Ability and willingness to learn new skills as needed, at times as a self-study endeavor.
• Excellent and demonstrable troubleshooting skills.
• Ability to simultaneously manage and organize several projects and regular duties.
• Must be able to work from a ladder, lift up to 50lbs. and be able to differentiate colors without assistance.

• 4 year degree
• A minimum of 1 year relevant experience.
• Experience in enterprise server and storage hardware and related implementation and operation.
• Experience in system monitoring, auditing, and alerting.
• Experience working with modern multi-tier application environments that may consist of diverse web servers, middleware, and database architectures.
• Must possess a current valid Driver's License and maintain it in good standing in accordance with University policies.
• Demonstrate an understanding of network technologies.
• Ability to participate in on-call rotation for unplanned outages and work outside of regular University hours, typically planned in advance, as needed.
• Must be able to provide and maintain Internet connectivity from personal residence. Must be able to travel to the Bowling Green campus in a time frame congruent to the group's on-call policy which, among other details, states a maximum of 1 hr. under normal travel conditions.

Salary Grade:   108       Salary Range:   $50,000 - $58,000

Kentucky state law requires all public institutions of postsecondary education to conduct pre-employment criminal background checks to determine suitability for employment.

Western Kentucky University (WKU) is committed to a policy and practice of providing equal employment and educational opportunities to all individuals. In accordance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Revised 1992, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, no form of discrimination or harassment will be tolerated at WKU on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, marital status, age, uniformed services, veteran status, genetic information, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, or physical or mental disability in admission to career and technical education programs and/or activities, or employment practices.

Persons with disabilities, who need reasonable accommodations to participate in the application and/or selection process, should notify the office of Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action/University ADA Services (EEO). To request an accommodation, report/express a complaint, or ask questions regarding WKU's Discrimination and Harassment Policy (#0.2040), please contact Mr. Joshua Hayes, EEO Director/Title IX Investigator/University ADA Coordinator, via email at joshua.hayes@wku.edu or by phone at (270) 745-5121.

The University is also required to investigate complaints of sex and gender-based harassment, also a form of discrimination, and has designated the Title IX Coordinator as the individual responsible for coordinating the investigation and response to such complaints. The Title IX Coordinator for the University is Ms. Deborah Wilkins, who can be contacted via email at deborah.wilkins@wku.edu or by phone at (270) 745-5396. Additional information regarding Title IX is accessible via WKU's https://www.wku.edu/titleix/ website.

Information concerning educational programs offered by WKU are provided at: http://www.wku.edu/atwku/academics.php

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