Network Engineer I

The Systems Administrator III is a senior-level role responsible for leading the design, implementation, and optimization of the organization's server and IT infrastructure. This position involves overseeing the county's physical and virtual server environments, ensuring their reliability, scalability, and security. The ideal candidate will bring extensive experience in server architecture, advanced problem-solving abilities, and a proven track record of strategic IT solutions.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to complete the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodations. Reasonable accommodations may be requested by contacting Pender County Human Resources.

• System Design and Deployment: Lead the design, deployment, and maintenance of both physical and virtual server environments, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and industry best practices.
• Security Management: Architect and implement robust server security measures, including access controls, encryption, intrusion detection/prevention systems, and vulnerability management to mitigate security threats and ensure compliance.
• Performance Optimization: Develop and maintain server capacity planning models and performance optimization strategies. Utilize monitoring tools to ensure optimal resource utilization and system performance.
• Automation and Configuration Management: Automate server provisioning, configuration management, and deployment processes using scripting languages (e.g., PowerShell, Bash) and configuration management tools to enhance efficiency and consistency.
• Policy and Procedure Development: Collaborate with IT leadership and stakeholders to develop and implement server-related policies, standards, and procedures, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
• Technical Leadership: Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior team members. Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning within the server administration team.
• Issue Resolution: Serve as a subject matter expert and escalation point for complex server-related issues. Conduct root cause analysis and lead corrective and preventive action efforts.
• Technology Evaluation: Stay informed about emerging technologies, trends, and best practices in server architecture, virtualization, and cloud computing. Evaluate and recommend new technologies for potential adoption.
• Strategic Planning: Participate in IT strategic planning and technology roadmap development. Provide insights and recommendations to align server infrastructure investments with organizational priorities and objectives.
• Other Duties as assigned.

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience: Minimum of 5 years in server administration, with a focus on designing, implementing, and optimizing enterprise-level environments.
• Certifications: Industry-standard certifications such as VMware Certified Professional (VCP), Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, CompTIA Server , or Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) are highly desirable.

• Technical Skills: The ideal candidate will possess extensive hands-on experience with server virtualization technologies such as VMware, as well as enterprise storage solutions and cloud platforms like AWS and Azure. A strong understanding of server security principles and best practices is essential, alongside proficiency in scripting and automation tools, including PowerShell and Bash. Additionally, the ability to install, configure, and manage physical servers, coupled with skills in hardware troubleshooting, performance optimization, and lifecycle management, is required.
• Leadership and Communication Skills: The ideal candidate will exhibit excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to collaborate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. They should have a demonstrated track record of successfully leading server-related projects from conception to implementation, ensuring alignment and engagement across diverse teams.

Additional Requirements

• Occasional evening or weekend work may be required for system maintenance, upgrades, or critical incident response.
• The Systems Administrator III will be expected to participate in an on-call rotation to provide after-hours support as needed.

• Valid North Carolina Driver’s License.

This work requires the occasional exertion of up to 50 pounds of force; work regularly requires sitting, speaking or hearing and using hands to finger, handle or feel, frequently requires reaching with hands and arms and occasionally requires standing, walking, climbing or balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching or crawling, pushing or pulling, lifting and repetitive motions; work has standard vision requirements; vocal communication is required for expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word; hearing is required to perceive information at normal spoken word levels; work requires preparing and analyzing written or computer data, visual inspection involving small defects and/or small parts, using of measuring devices, assembly or fabrication of parts within arm's length, operating machines, operating motor vehicles or equipment and observing general surroundings and activities; work occasionally requires exposure to the risk of electrical shock; work is generally in a moderately noisy location (e.g. business office, light traffic).

Salary : $61,144 - $75,666