System Administrator III

About the role

Photronics is seeking a seasoned Windows Systems Administrator to join our team at the Allen, TX site. This role serves as a senior technical authority and escalation point for Windows services, supporting Photronics' global Windows infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and enhance system performance, leading standardization efforts, and support both local and global IT operations while ensuring consistency across the Windows ecosystem.

• Own and administer Windows Server (2012–2022+), including lifecycle management, hardening, and upgrades.

• Manage Active Directory Domain Services (forests, trusts, FSMO roles, Sites & Services).

• Design and troubleshoot Group Policy (security baselines, delegation, issue resolution).

• Support enterprise DNS, DHCP, and AD Certificate Services (PKI), including lifecycle, automation, and recovery.

• Own and support Microsoft Azure services as they relate to infrastructure, identity, and security (excluding Office 365 workloads).

• Administer and maintain Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), including hybrid identity design, synchronization, authentication flows, and conditional access integration.

• Manage Azure IaaS and PaaS components relevant to enterprise infrastructure (e.g., Azure virtual machines, networking, storage, backup, recovery, and monitoring).

• Implement and maintain secure identity practices including MFA, privileged access, role based access control (RBAC), and identity lifecycle management.

• Partner with Security and Architecture teams to ensure Azure configurations align with enterprise security, compliance, and governance standards.

• Support Azure logging, monitoring, and operational visibility using native Microsoft tooling.

• Contribute to Azure platform standardization, documentation, and operational runbooks across global sites.

• Data Center Operations & Resiliency:

  • Support storage integrations (SAN/NAS, iSCSI, multipathing).

  • Operate and validate backup and recovery solutions (e.g., Veeam), ensuring RPO/RTO alignment.

  • Implement high availability solutions (Failover Clustering, load balancing coordination).

  • Support disaster recovery planning, testing, and failover execution.

• Global Support & Technical Leadership:

  • Serve as senior escalation point for complex incidents and platform issues.

  • Lead root cause analysis (RCA) and corrective action planning.

  • Ensure alignment between enterprise standards and global site execution.

  • Collaborate with Network, Virtualization, Linux, Security, and Application teams.

  • Mentor junior administrators and promote operational consistency.

• Automation & Operational Excellence:

  • Develop automation using advanced PowerShell and configuration management tools (e.g., DSC).

  • Leverage monitoring and patching tools (SCOM, Nagios, CheckMK, WSUS, SCCM) to improve stability.

  • Create and maintain runbooks, procedures, and operational documentation.

• Security, Compliance & Risk:

  • Implement Windows security hardening aligned to CIS/STIG standards.

  • Enforce credential and authentication best practices (Kerberos, NTLM reduction, LSA protections).

  • Support audits (SOX, ISO, CMMC) and drive remediation efforts.

• Change, Incident & Problem Management:

  • Strong documentation and communication skills (technical and executive-level).

  • Lead incident response and support global issue resolution.

  • Review changes for risk, readiness, and maintenance window alignment.

  • Identify recurring issues and implement permanent fixes to reduce technical debt.

  • Provides global Windows administration support and backfill coverage across regions as needed.

  • May require occasional off-hours support for global operations and major incidents.

Qualifications

• Strong documentation and communication skills (technical and executive-level).

• In-depth understanding of Windows Server, Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS/DHCP, and PKI.

• Advanced PowerShell scripting and automation for operational efficiency.

• Strong troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and problem-solving skills.

• Familiarity with high-availability, clustering, and enterprise storage concepts.

• Ability to lead, mentor, and collaborate effectively with cross-functional and global teams.

• Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure infrastructure services (non-O365).

• Extensive experience with Fortinet FortiGate firewalls; Fortinet NSE certification strongly preferred.

• Deep knowledge of Juniper and Cisco platforms, including advanced routing and switching concepts.

• Proven experience designing and deploying Layer 2 / Layer 3 WAN architectures, including large-scale Ethernet WANs.

• Experience with monitoring and automation tools such as SolarWinds, Datadog, Grafana, Prometheus, or similar platforms.

• Familiarity with automation and scripting (Python, Ansible, Netmiko) and AIOps methodologies.

Pay

Competitive salary + bonus potential

Schedule

On-site position, limited travel as needed