Senior Systems Engineer

Company Description

A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact. 
As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

What We Offer:
•    Impact - The work you do here matters to millions. 
•    Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it? 
•    Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs.
•    Benefits - We care about your well-being.
 

The Office of Innovation & Technology (OIT) is the central IT agency for the City of Philadelphia headed by the Chief Information Officer (CIO). OIT oversees all major information and communications technology initiatives for the City of Philadelphia - increasing the effectiveness of the information technology infrastructure, where the services provided are advanced, optimized, and responsive to the needs of the City of Philadelphia’s businesses, residents, and visitors. OIT responsibilities include: identifying the most effective approach for implementing new information technology directions throughout city government; improving the value of the city’s technology assets and the return on the city’s technology investments; ensuring data security continuity; planning for continuing operations in the event of disruption of information technology or communications services; and supporting accountable, efficient and effective government across every city department, board, commission and agency.

Job Description

The PPD Platform Engineering team is responsible for the cross-platform technologies that provide technical delivery of applications and services used in day-to-day operations. The Senior Systems Engineer is responsible for areas of infrastructure, which includes data storage, business continuity management, Active Directory, server virtualization, disaster recovery strategy, and other related infrastructure needs. In addition, this role is expected to act as primary subject matter expert on specified IT platforms. This is a technical position which encompasses management of backup policy, Active Directory needs, storage architecture administration, server engineering, infrastructure planning, design, and implementation as well as network security. This role is critical within the Philadelphia Police Department's IT infrastructure, thus sound technical knowledge in these subject areas as well as consistent reliability is required. Professional skills along with the ability to work within a team are also necessary. The applicant will also be part of on-call rotation once the probation period as has been successfully completed.

Essential Functions

• Providing primary engineering support and administration of storage and server infrastructures
• Performing active security and vulnerability monitoring of systems on platforms such as Crowdstrike, ActiveEye, Rapid7, CyberSence, and MS-ISAC
• Administrating enterprise storage (SAN and NAS), including performance tuning, activity monitoring, capacity planning, and firmware management
• Acting lead on on-prem virtualization and cloud infrastructures
• Acting lead on tier 3 systems incident assessment and problem management
• Managing backup infrastructure including schedules, retentions, and quality assurance
• Planning and implementing software and firmware upgrades
• Being engaged in applications deployment projects and migration activities
• Participating in server monitoring, including performance and security assessments
• Active lead on Active Directory implementation, administration, and maintenance activities
• Provide technical feedback as SME on infrastructure projects, efforts, and activities
• Participate in peer mentoring exorcises for team development
• Address infrastructure needs as circumstances arise

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Strong background in VMWare technologies on administration and management including:

• VMware vCenter and vSphere
• Site Recovery Manager
• ARIA Operations (Formerly vRealize Operations) 
• Aria Operations for Networks (Formerly vRealize Network Insights)
• NSX
• Strong foundation with networking technologies including DNS, DHCP, SNMP, RADIUS, NTP, VLAN, routing/switching protocols, load balancing, and firewalls
• Strong background in data protection operations including backup, recovery, data restoration, analysis, archiving, and policy scheduling
• Managing and configuration of desktop and server systems including: 
• Windows 10 and 11
• Windows Server 2016 and above
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Windows Admin Center and InTune
• Ansible

Identity and Authentication Management including:

• Active Directory Domain Services
• AzureAD (AKA Entra ID)
• Group Policy
• Forest-level Replication and Global Catalogue
• Domain user, group, and permissions administration
• Microsoft 365 integration and provisioning
• Performing file management task including quotas, network shares, and data report monitoring
• Testing systems for vulnerabilities in hardware and software
• Knowledge of scripting technologies for automation
• VB Script, Powershell, BASH, DOS, Python, or similar
• Design, configuration, and implementation of hyperconverged infrastructures such as DellEMC VXrail 
• Configuring and deploying SQL server environments including Microsoft SQL, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB
• Strong knowledge with industry standard security protocols such as SSL, TLS, IPSec, HTTPS, PGP, Kerberos, DNSSEC, SSH, etc..

Qualifications

• Completion of a Bachelor’s degree program at an accredited college or university, which has included major course work in Computer Science, systems analysis, software engineering, information systems, or a closely related field is a plus, but not required.

AND/OR

• Minimum of 6 years of active technical experience in areas of IT infrastructure and data center operations including asset management, incident escalation, change management, capacity planning, systems security, IT audits, and business continuity practices.
• Advanced experience with Microsoft Active Directory/AzureAD is highly preferred
• Advanced experience in technical assessment and troubleshooting methodologies and techniques.
• IT Industry certifications such as VMware, CompTIA, DellEMC, HP, or Microsoft preferred.
• Software defined networking experience is a plus.
• IT Infrastructure automation experience is a plus.
• Linux SysAdmin experience is a big plus.

Additional Information

Salary Range: $80,000 - $90,000

Starting salary to be determined based on experience and qualifications.

Important: To apply, candidates must provide a cover letter and a resume.

Additionally, the successful applicant will be required to submit to a fingerprint background check per FBI CJIS policy. 

Discover the Perks of Being a City of Philadelphia Employee:
•    We offer Comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents
•    Our wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan
•    Employees receive paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
•    Generous retirement savings options are available
•    Pay off your student loans faster - As a qualifying employer, City of Philadelphia employees are eligible to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Join the ranks of hundreds of employees who have already benefited from this program and achieved student loan forgiveness.
•    Enjoy a Free Commute on SEPTA - Starting September 1, 2023, eligible City employees will no longer have to worry about paying for SEPTA public transportation. Whether you're a full-time, part-time, or provisional employee, you can seize the opportunity to sign up for the SEPTA Key Advantage Program and receive free Key cards for free rides on SEPTA buses, trains, trolleys, and regional rails.
•    Unlock Tuition Discounts and Scholarships - The City of Philadelphia has forged partnerships with over a dozen esteemed colleges and universities in the area, ensuring that our employees have access to a wide range of tuition discounts and scholarships. Experience savings of 10% to 40% on your educational expenses, extending not only to City employees but in some cases, spouse and dependents too!
Join the City of Philadelphia team today and seize these incredible benefits designed to enhance your financial well-being and personal growth!

*The successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

Effective May 22, 2023, vaccinations are no longer required for new employees that work in non-medical, non-emergency or patient facing positions with the City of Philadelphia. As a result, only employees in positions providing services that are patient-facing medical care (ex: Nurses, doctors, emergency medical personnel), must be fully vaccinated.

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to faqpchr@phila.gov.