Senior Systems Engineer in IT - Communications Applications

About the role

The Senior Systems Engineer in IT Communications is responsible for the end-to-end technical health, designing, configuration, and lifecycle management of key robust communications platforms, including GM’s Brand Experience platform, Heritage Archive, and related survey/polling and search applications. This role serves as innovation owner for multiple applications, ensuring they remain secure, compliant, stable, and aligned with GM’s long-term technology roadmap (e.g., cloud migration and NextGen hosting strategies).

Responsibilities

• Platform Ownership & Configuration - Own the technical configuration and operational readiness of core communications applications such as GM Brand Experience (GMBX), GMBX Cloud, GM Heritage Archive (GMHA), and custom polling/survey tools.
• Configure and maintain web, application, and integration components that support global news and brand sites, ensuring performance, reliability, and scalability.
• Maintain accurate technical documentation, including server inventories, topology diagrams, and configuration details across environments (Dev, Test, PreProd, Prod).
• Collaborate with stakeholders to effectively determine IT System Requirements, translating business needs into technical specifications.
• Application Lifecycle & Tech Fitness - Lead OS, middleware, and platform upgrades (e.g., Linux/Ubuntu, JDK, AEM versions) to keep applications compliant with GM tech standards and security requirements.
• Drive remediation of vulnerabilities and patching issues by partnering with infrastructure teams, tracking status, and validating successful remediation.
• Ensure application health metrics and “star” ratings are maintained through proactive monitoring, clean-up activities, and periodic technical reviews.
• Cloud Migration & NextGen Hosting - Contribute to defining and executing the NextGen and cloud strategy for communications applications, including on-prem to cloud migrations and SaaS adoption.
• Collaborate with platform and vendor teams (e.g., Adobe, Red Hat, GM hosting teams) to validate support models, define deployment destinations, and plan go-live timelines.
• Coordinate and support smoke testing and UAT in PreProd and other non-prod environments to validate migration outcomes.
• Incident, Problem & Change Management - Act as primary technical contact for incidents and service requests involving communications applications, driving timely triage, root cause analysis, and resolution.
• Manage and execute configuration changes (e.g., firewall rules, web server updates, DNS/caching/404 behavior, queue configuration) through GM’s change and request processes (ServiceNow, Jira, etc.).
• Document and communicate incident impact, remediation steps, and preventive actions to stakeholders.
• Perform Deployment Validation for new and updated systems, ensuring seamless integration and functionality.
• Collaboration, Governance & Continuous Improvement - Partner closely with business owners, UAT leads, and communications stakeholders to understand requirements, plan deployments, and validate changes.
• Engage architecture, platform engineering, and PE resources to align application design and changes to GM standards and reference architectures.
• Advocate for improvements in internal tools, processes, and documentation; surface systemic issues and work with owners to resolve them.
• Contribute to governance of the communications application landscape, including application services data, service offerings, and integration points.
• Conduct thorough Capacity Planning to ensure IT resources meet current and future business demands, proactively identifying potential bottlenecks.
• Mentoring & Knowledge Sharing - Mentor less experienced engineers and configurators by pairing on upgrades, migrations, and complex incidents.
• Share domain knowledge on AEM, communications platforms, and hosting patterns through documentation, walkthroughs, and informal coaching.
• Promote a culture of ownership (“It’s On Me”), accountability, and continuous learning within the team.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field; or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of experience in enterprise application administration, systems configuration, or similar technical roles.
• Proven / Hands-on experience with enterprise web platforms and content management systems (Adobe Experience Manager or equivalent) and their implementation.
• Strong background in Linux-based environments, scripting, and troubleshooting distributed web applications.
• Demonstrated expertise in Capacity Planning methodologies and tools.
• Demonstrated experience with incident, problem, and change management in large enterprises (e.g., ServiceNow, Jira).
• Solid background in Data Governance principles and practices.
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to perform comprehensive Deployment Validation processes.
• Track record of successfully Determining IT System Requirements and translating them into technical solutions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience as an innovation owner or technical owner for one or more business-critical applications.
• Familiarity with Adobe Experience Manager architecture (author/publish tiers, dispatcher/web tiers, caching).
• Experience supporting global, multilingual web properties and search experiences.
• Background in mentoring junior engineers and leading cross-functional technical workstreams.
• Understanding of GM’s enterprise processes for tech fitness, security, and governance (or similar processes in a large enterprise).