Systems Engineer-IT

Who We Are: Challenge Manufacturing’s mission is to manufacture with operational excellence by empowering our employee-owners. As a leading tier 1 supplier of complex metal assemblies for the global automotive industry, we drive innovative solutions for future mobility. We believe the best ideas come from individual unique perspectives. These ideas combined with the teamwork of industry leaders allow us to accomplish any challenge. Our team members take pride in the work we do and embody our core values of safety, ownership, and teamwork every day; they are the true driving force in our operations.

Challenge is proud to be one of the largest employee-owned automotive companies in North America. One of the many benefits of joining the Challenge team is the ESOP program. This program allows Challenge to give shares of the Company to all employee-owners annually. These shares are an additional retirement benefit that will continue to grow during your time at Challenge. Being part of an ESOP means our employee-owners share in Challenge’s success!

Challenge is #QualityDriven and #PeoplePowered!

Who We Want:

We are seeking a detail-oriented, proactive, and technically skilled Systems Engineer to join our IT Infrastructure team. This role is responsible for designing, implementing, and supporting core server infrastructure across both Windows Server and Linux environments.

The ideal candidate will manage enterprise services such as Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Group Policy, Exchange, PKI, Microsoft System Center, Nutanix AHV/Hyper-V, and SAN storage, while driving automation, performance optimization, and security best practices. If you thrive in a fast-paced environment and enjoy balancing innovation with reliability, we would like to hear from you.

What You'll Do:

• Design and engineer infrastructure solutions to meet project and operational requirements.
• Build, configure, patch, and maintain Windows and Linux servers according to best practices.
• Administer and optimize Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Group Policy, Microsoft Exchange, PKI, and Microsoft System Center.
• Implement and support virtualization platforms (Nutanix AHV, Hyper-V) and manage SAN storage infrastructure.
• Monitor system health, track KPIs, perform tuning, and conduct capacity planning for physical and virtual environments.
• Develop and maintain technical documentation, standards, and process workflows.
• Diagnose and resolve hardware, software, and connectivity problems quickly and effectively.
• Ensure systems are secure through regular patching, adherence to security best practices, and proactive threat hunting using SIEM platforms.
• Oversee and enhance backup processes to safeguard data integrity and availability.
• Prepare and deliver audit reports and provide clear documentation to support compliance and management requirements.
• Recommend and implement automated approaches to improve efficiency and reduce manual tasks.
• Administer Microsoft licensing for compliance/cost optimization and manage email security solutions to prevent phishing, malware, and unauthorized access.
• Work flexibly with other departments and share knowledge
• Participate in IT on-call rotation and maintain availability outside of normal business hours to respond to critical system outages, emergencies, and other business impacting incidents as needed.

When and Where:
This will be a 8am - 4:30pm M-F position located at our Corporate Office in Walker, MI
Occasionally, this may require you to arrive early, stay late, or work on weekends, outside of our regular hours, to ensure we successfully meet customer needs, deadlines, or urgent requests.

What You Need to Have:

Required Qualifications:

• Associates degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field.
• 3 years of network/support experience.
• Proven experience with Windows Server and Linux administration.
• Hands-on expertise in Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, Group Policy, Exchange, PKI, and System Center.
• Experience with virtualization technologies (Nutanix AHV, Hyper-V).
• Experience with security tools such as; Sentinel One, Cisco Umbrella, Duo, and Cisco ISE.
• Familiarity with SAN infrastructure and performance monitoring.
• Experience with SCCM and Intune.
• Strong troubleshooting and analytical abilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft products.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines.
• Customer-focused mindset with urgency in addressing business needs.
• Willingness to work weekends and after-hours to support scheduled maintenance or projects.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field.
• 5 years of network/support experience.
• Experience with automated infrastructure management and scripting (e.g., PowerShell, Bash, Python).
• Exposure to cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP) in hybrid environments.
• Prior experience in enterprise-scale, manufacturing, or global business environments.