Senior Systems Administrator

Senior Systems Administrator

JOB VACANCY

Position: Senior Systems Administrator (Contract)

1. Summary

The Senior Systems Administrator will lead the secure design, operation, and continual improvement of TATECO’s on-premises and cloud infrastructure—covering servers, operating systems, identity services, virtualization, storage/backup, and endpoint platforms—while owning the organization’s IT security program (governance, monitoring, incident response, and compliance). The Senior Systems Administrator ensures systems are available, resilient, and audit-ready, enabling TATECO meet member‑service and regulatory obligations.

2. Contract Period – 2 years

3. Key Accountabilities

• Infrastructure & Platform Reliability – Servers, OS, virtualization, storage, M365/Entra ID, core applications
• Information Security Leadership – Governance, Identity and Access Management, monitoring, vulnerability/patch, incident response
• Backup, Recovery & DR – Strategy, testing cadence, compliance evidence
• Change, Configuration & Release – Standards, documentation.
• Vendor & Contract Oversight – SLAs, renewals, performance reviews
• People & Knowledge Leadership – Mentoring, training, cross‑functional enablement

4.Reporting

This position reports directly to the General Manager.

5.Essential Functions-Duties and Responsibilities

1. a.     Infrastructure Operations & Architecture

• Design, implement, and maintain Windows Server/Linux platforms, Active Directory/Entra ID, Group Policy, PKI, DNS/DHCP, and virtualization platforms. 
• Oversee storage, file services, and capacity planning; ensure observability for availability, performance, and capacity trends.
• Coordinate maintenance windows, version upgrades, and lifecycle management with minimal business impact.
• Ensure key business systems meet performance/availability targets; publish weekly status as needed.

1. b.     Information Security

• Governance & Policy: Maintain the IT security framework (policies, standards, baselines), security roadmap, and risk register; champion security‑by‑design.
• Identity & Access Management: Enforce least privilege, role‑based access, MFA/Conditional Access, privileged access workflows, periodic access reviews, and joiner‑mover‑leaver controls.
• Hardening & Configuration: Apply secure baselines (e.g., CIS‑aligned) to servers/endpoints; maintain patch compliance dashboards and exceptions workflow.
• Threat Detection & Response: Operate SIEM/EDR/AV tooling, triage alerts, coordinate investigations, and lead incident response (containment, eradication, recovery, RCA, corrective actions).
• Vulnerability Management: Run regular scans, prioritize and remediate findings within SLAs; track closure to completion.
• Data Protection & Compliance: Oversee encryption in transit/at rest, backup immutability, and logging/auditing to meet regulatory and audit needs; coordinate security awareness training.

1. c.     Backup, Recovery & Disaster Recovery

• Own backup and restoration strategy and evidence, with routine restore testing and DR exercises; ensure RPO/RTO adherence.
• Supervise daily/weekly/monthly backup execution carried out by the team; maintain logs and manage escalations.

1. d.     Change, Release & Documentation

• Chair/participate in change control; maintain runbooks, diagrams, CMDB, and audit‑ready artifacts.
• Ensure standard build images (“gold images”), hardening guides, and SOPs are maintained and followed.

1. e.     Vendor/Contract & Financial Stewardship

• Define SLAs/OLAs with MSPs and key vendors; review performance, costs, renewals, and roadmap fit.
• Recommend investments (capacity, licensing, security tools) and cost optimization.

1. f.      Leadership, Mentoring & Communication

• Coach the Systems Administrator and IT Assistant; set standards, review work, and guide professional development.
• Deliver user training where required

6.Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field
• Certifications (preferred):
• Microsoft: Windows Server/Azure Administrator or equivalent
• Security: CompTIA Security+/CySA+, (ISC)² SSCP/CISSP (nice‑to‑have)
• Virtualization: VMware VCP / Microsoft Hyper‑V
•  ITIL Foundation (service management) (nice‑to‑have)

1. a.     Experience

• 7+ years’ experience in systems administration, technical support, or similar role; 2+ years in a senior/escalation or supervisory capacity.
• Experience working in a financial or regulated environment is an asset

1. b.     Skills, Behavioural & Leadership Competencies

• Platforms: Windows Server, basic Linux; AD/Entra ID, Group Policy, PKI; M365 core services.
• Virtualization/Cloud: VMware vSphere or Hyper-V; Azure/AWS IaaS familiarity.
• Networking: TCP/IP, VLANs, VPN, firewalls, DNS/DHCP fundamentals.
• Security Tooling: EDR/AV, SIEM/log analytics, vulnerability scanners, privileged access tooling.
• Resilience: Backup/restore platforms; DR orchestration basics.
• Automation: PowerShell/Bash scripting; configuration baselines and imaging.
• Ownership under pressure: Calm, structured incident leadership.
• Risk-aware decision‑making: Balances availability, security, and cost.
• Clear communication: Adapts detail for executives vs. technical staff.
• Mentorship & teamwork: Builds capability in the IT team; models best practice.
•  Documentation discipline: Audit-ready mindset.

7. Authorities

•  Enforce information security policies and standards.
• Quarantine/isolate compromised systems; suspend accounts if risk requires.
• Approve/deny standard changes within policy; recommend strategic changes to the General Manager.