What are the responsibilities and job description for the Systems Administrator position at Universal Systems?
Company Description
Universal Systems is an integrated technology enablement partner (ITEP) dedicated to helping organizations design, deploy, and manage technology throughout its lifecycle. With a focus on providing structured and integrated approaches, we combine hardware, infrastructure, and services under one accountable team to ensure consistent results, faster execution, and improved long-term outcomes. Established in 1989 and based in Salt Lake City, Universal Systems serves businesses nationwide, enabling them to maximize the value of their technology investments.
Position Overview
The Systems Administrator sits at the operational core of our service delivery. You will be the second-line authority for our clients' Microsoft 365 tenants, SharePoint environments, on-premises and cloud server estates, and backup/recovery posture. You'll own outcomes - not just tickets - and you'll partner closely with Desktop Support and System Engineering to keep our clients secure, productive, and audit-ready.
This role reports to the Director of Information Systems and is based out of our Salt Lake City office.
What You'll Own
Microsoft 365 & Identity
- Day-to-day administration of multiple M365 tenants: Exchange Online, Teams, OneDrive, Defender, Purview, and Entra ID (Azure AD)
- Conditional Access policy design, MFA enforcement, license optimization, and tenant hardening against the CIS M365 benchmark
- User lifecycle automation via PowerShell, Graph API, and Microsoft Entra
SharePoint Online
- Site collection architecture, permissions models, and governance for client tenants
- Migration and consolidation projects (file shares → SharePoint/OneDrive), including content-type and metadata design
- Troubleshooting sync, sharing, and external collaboration issues at scale
Server & Infrastructure
- Windows Server administration (2016–2025): Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, file/print, certificate services
- Hyper-V and VMware vSphere host and guest administration
- Patch management via WSUS, Intune, or RMM tooling
Backup, Recovery & Business Continuity
- Day-to-day administration of backup platforms (Veeam, Datto, Acronis, or equivalent) across cloud, on-prem, and SaaS workloads
- Restore testing on a documented cadence — not just when something breaks
- Contributing to client BCDR runbooks and RTO/RPO design
Operations & Client Service
- Tier 2 escalation across the Systems Administration queue with documented SLAs
- Clear, professional client communication — written and verbal
- Documentation in our knowledge base (IT Glue / Hudu / SharePoint) so the next person can pick up where you left off
What We're Looking For
Required
- 3–5 years of hands-on systems administration experience, ideally in an MSP, MSSP, or multi-tenant environment
- Demonstrable, quantifiable scope — for example: administered M365 tenants totaling 500 seats, managed 25 Windows servers, owned backup posture across 10 client environments, or led a SharePoint migration of 1 TB of file data
- Strong working knowledge of Microsoft 365 administration (Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online, Entra ID)
- Working PowerShell skills — you can write and modify scripts, not just run ones you find online
- Solid understanding of backup methodologies, the 3-2-1-1-0 rule, and recovery testing
- Networking fundamentals: TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VLANs, VPNs, and basic firewall concepts
- Excellent written and verbal communication; comfortable being client-facing
- Eligible to work in the U.S. without sponsorship
Preferred
- Microsoft certifications: MS-102, AZ-104, AZ-500, or MCSE-equivalent
- Experience with one or more of: Veeam, Datto, ConnectWise, Kaseya, NinjaOne, IT Glue, Hudu, Auvik, or SentinelOne
- Familiarity with NIST CSF 2.0, CIS Controls, or SOC 2 environments
- Intune / endpoint management experience
- Prior MSP experience and the time-management discipline that comes with it