Senior Systems Engineer [CAMPUS ONLY recruitment]

About the role

The Senior Systems Engineer serves as a high-level technical leader at UC Observatories (UCO), providing independent oversight and frontline support for astronomical research at the UCSC technical laboratories and the Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton. The incumbent leverages advanced IT professional concepts to manage and optimize a complex, specialized infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Manage and maintain UCO virtual machine (VM) infrastructure and handle VM provisioning for both research and administrative needs.
• Manage and maintain UCO physical servers, including storage arrays.
• Manage and update UCO firewalls for campus and Mt. Hamilton locations.
• Manage UCO VPN infrastructure, including user provisioning and support for VPN access for both Campus and Mt. Hamilton.
• Maintain a periodic physical presence for system maintenance to perform tasks such as disk replacements, racking/deracking of systems, physical troubleshooting, power outage restoration, and UPS system management.
• Provide specialized desktop support and server support for research workstations and servers, including installation and configuration of research-specific software and troubleshooting research computing needs.
• Manage user account creation, modification, and deactivation, password resets, and access management for internal staff and external collaborators.
• Manage UCO’s separate Google Workspace domain, including email routing, mailbox administration, and support for unique UCO mail routing requirements.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training.
• Advanced knowledge of IT infrastructure, including Linux OS, networking, storage, server hardware support, and virtualization infrastructure management.
• In-depth knowledge of complex IT areas of specialization necessary to resolve highly complex issues.
• Knowledge of firewall, VPN, DNS, and DHCP services, including IP address management and allocation.
• Demonstrated ability to resolve highly complex issues independently by evaluating variable factors and recommending technical methods and techniques.
• Skills in performing physical system maintenance, including disk replacements, racking/deracking, troubleshooting, power outage restoration, and UPS system management.
• Able to manage the user account lifecycle, including creation, modification, deactivation, password resets, and access management.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of information security policies, procedures, and standards applicable to UC Institutional Information and IT Resources.
• Advanced systems administration skills in design, installation, maintenance, and optimization of complex, specialized IT infrastructure.
• Strong technical leadership skills to provide independent oversight and frontline support for astronomical research computing.
• Ability to act as a strategic partner to faculty and researchers, translating scientific requirements into robust IT solutions.
• Advanced troubleshooting and support skills for research workstations, servers, and research-specific software installation/configuration.
• Ability to contribute to the scoping, estimation, and resourcing of significant project work, infrastructure upgrades, and technical debt remediation.
• Excellent written communication skills for documenting complex system configurations, processes, and project scope requirements.
• Interpersonal skills to effectively coordinate with Central ITS teams and clearly communicate complex issues to technical and non-technical personnel and leadership.

Special Conditions of Employment

• Selected candidate will be required to pass a pre-employment criminal history background check.
• Selected candidate must pass the employment misconduct disclosure process.
• Must possess a valid license to drive in the state of California and participate in the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) pull notice program.
• Ability to work long periods of time at a computer with or without accommodation.
• Ability to work a variable schedule.
• Ability to work a variable schedule including evenings and weekends.
• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends as directed.
• Ability to respond to emergencies after hours as necessary.
• Selected candidate will be required to complete training within established time frames as directed including UC compliance training.
• The University of California has implemented a Vaccination Policy covering all employees. Employees, including new hires, are required to comply with any applicable policies relating to the University of California vaccine program.
• The selected candidate will be required to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect as defined by CANRA and will be required to sign a Statement Acknowledging Requirement to Report Child Abuse prior to commencing employment.
• The selected candidate will be required to exercise the utmost discretion in managing sensitive information learned in the course of performing their duties.
• The selected candidate will be required to understand and follow organizational policies and laws on data protection and privacy.

Pay

Budgeted Salary: $122,620 - $132,300/year. Salary commensurate with skills, qualifications and experience.

Schedule

Full-time, FixedPercentage of Time: 100%, 40 Hours per WeekDays of the Week: Mon-FriShift Includes: Day Employee Classification: Career appointment Job End Date: None Work Location: UC Santa Cruz Main Campus Union Representation: Non-Represented Job Code Classification: 000499 (INFO SYS ANL 4) - Grade 25 Travel: Up to 25% of the time