Senior Server Administrator

University of California, San Francisco · San Francisco, CA · 2 wk ago

Information TechnologyFull-time

About the role

The Senior Server Administrator will drive the day-to-day maintenance and operations of on-premises and virtual servers to ensure stability and security of University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) computing environment. This role will coordinate server needs between a broad range of customers, partners, and key stakeholders in administrative and academic units. The Senior Server Administrator will act as a technical subject matter expert for Information Technology (IT) colleagues and provide training assistance and technical mentorship.

This role supports hypervisor deployment and configuration as well as maintains day-to-day operations of centralized, distributed, physical, and virtual servers. The Senior Server Administrator will positively impact UCSF’s operations and culture by ensuring UCSF's IT infrastructure is operable, secure, efficient, and effective in service of UCSF’s academic mission. This team member will advance UCSF’s mission by delivering exceptional information technology services comprehensively and consistently across faculty, staff, and students.

This role is expected to support the strategic modernization of UCSF’s UNIX platform services, including the transition of AIX-based workloads to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on virtualized infrastructure. The incumbent will provide technical leadership in planning, migration, performance tuning, and operational stabilization of RHEL environments supporting critical healthcare and other Tier 0/Tier 1 applications.

About the team

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is distinguished as a leading academic healthcare organization, home to groundbreaking discoveries, world-class education, and exceptional healthcare services. Infrastructure Services (IS) is the backbone of the technological infrastructure, assuring the technical services that enable the academic, medical, and research missions of the organization. Beyond maintaining systems and resolving issues, IS is committed to nurturing the potential of team members and empowering them to excel.

UCSF Infrastructure Services provides 24x7 support to the University community, upholding the highest level of responsiveness and reliability. The Platform Services team within Infrastructure Services empowers the academic, medical, and research mission of UCSF by ensuring seamless, secure, and accessible technological support. The team oversees the management and maintenance of various technology platforms, including system and cloud services, to guarantee they are secure, available, and performing optimally.

Platform Services handles the management of critical software, such as Epic, ensuring it supports high-level medical service delivery by operating at peak performance. The team also oversees data center operations, including server management, storage, and networking equipment, to ensure reliable delivery of health services. Additionally, it manages databases with a focus on data security, availability, and performance.

Responsibilities

Maintain day-to-day operations of centralized, distributed, physical, and virtual servers.
Coordinate server needs between customers, partners, and stakeholders in administrative and academic units.
Act as a technical subject matter expert for IT colleagues, providing training and mentorship.
Support hypervisor deployment and configuration.
Lead the strategic modernization of UCSF’s UNIX platform services, including transitioning AIX-based workloads to RHEL on virtualized infrastructure.
Provide technical leadership in planning, migration, performance tuning, and operational stabilization of RHEL environments for critical healthcare and Tier 0/Tier 1 applications.
Implement and support clustering technologies such as PowerHA and Linux-based HA solutions.
Integrate UNIX/Linux systems with enterprise storage platforms.
Deploy and manage Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) and Managed File Transfer (MFT) frameworks.
Automate deployments, scaling, and management of infrastructure components using IaC tools.
Monitor, audit, tune, and optimize system performance, security, and capacity planning.
Apply system management actions while understanding their impact on other systems and users.
Design, configure, operate, repair, track, and tune technology systems.
Apply computer security best practices and policies to secure complex server-based software.
Triage and escalate issues to supervisors or other teams for resolution.
Communicate technical information to diverse stakeholders.
Balance competing priorities and support concurrent projects in a fast-paced environment.
Propose innovative ideas, including incorporating new technologies or processes.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent combination of experience/training, in computer science, engineering, computer information systems, or related fields.
5 years of experience with enterprise server administration, primarily focused on IBM AIX on IBM POWER platforms in large-scale production environments.
3 years of experience administering Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in enterprise environments.
3 years of experience supporting high availability (IBM PowerHA), clustering, and disaster recovery architectures for mission-critical applications.
3 years of experience managing UNIX (PowerVM) and other virtualization technologies, including logical partitioning and I/O virtualization.
3 years of experience planning and executing operating system migrations or platform modernization initiatives.
3 years of experience deploying automation frameworks (Ansible, etc.).

Qualifications

Advanced knowledge of IBM AIX system administration, including LPAR management, VIOS, PowerVM, and Live Partition Mobility.
Advanced knowledge of Red Hat Enterprise Linux administration, including system hardening, lifecycle management, and performance tuning.
Ability to implement and support clustering technologies such as PowerHA and Linux-based HA solutions.
Proficiency in integrating UNIX/Linux systems with enterprise storage platforms.
Ability to deploy and manage Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) and Managed File Transfer (MFT) frameworks using scripts or third-party products (e.g., GoAnywhere).
Extensive experience with installing, configuring, modifying, and supporting hypervisors, Unix, Linux, and other operating systems.
Experience with platform automation and orchestration methodologies and tools.
Extensive experience with monitoring, auditing, tuning, and optimizing system performance, security, and capacity planning.
Proven ability to interpret, analyze, and apply service level agreements, policies, procedures, and regulations.
Understanding of system performance monitoring and corrective actions.
Demonstrated skills in adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
Comprehensive understanding of how system management actions affect other systems and users.
Advanced problem-solving skills for system identification and resolution.
Proficiency in Infrastructure as Code (IaC) methodologies and tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Chef, Puppet, or equivalent.
Proficiency in scripting languages associated with IaC tools.
Advanced knowledge of computer security best practices and policies.
Strong customer service, written, and verbal communication skills.
Strong organizational skills and ability to balance competing priorities.
Experience working in a project-based environment using leading project management practices.
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to scope solutions based on available resources and timelines.
Ability to think creatively and propose innovative ideas.
Ability to work with agility in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

Server Certification (Microsoft, Red Hat).
CompTIA Server+ or equivalent.
VMware Certified Professional (VCP) or equivalent.
Citrix Certified Associate – Virtualization (CCA-V) or equivalent.

Benefits

To learn more about the benefits of working at UCSF, including total compensation, please visit: UCSF Benefits.