Systems Engineer - Herndon, VA

About the role

Cogent Communications is a global, Tier 1 facilities-based ISP, consistently ranked as one of the top five networks in the world and publicly traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the ticker symbol CCOI. Cogent specializes in providing businesses with high-speed Internet access and Ethernet transport services. Cogent's facilities-based, all-optical IP network backbone provides IP services globally. Since its inception, Cogent has built one of the largest and highest capacity IP networks in the world, enabling it to offer large bandwidth connections at highly competitive prices. Cogent also provides superior customer support through end-to-end control of service delivery and network monitoring.

The Systems Engineer works as part of the IT Team providing 24x7 operational support of Windows servers, storage systems and virtual environments in the corporate datacenters and offices. This includes general administration, Tier II/Tier III support, design, engineering and implementation. This role includes communicating, participating in, and documenting best practices for the general administration and management of servers, storage platforms, and applications in our datacenters. The individual is responsible for actively managing their projects and achieving deadlines and milestones. As a subject matter expert, they will utilize their strong technical background and related experience to achieve the organization's goals and vision.

Responsibilities

• Conduct general system administration, security patching, OS upgrades, and troubleshooting of problems to ensure critical system availability
• Initiate and sometimes lead technical discussions and projects and work collaboratively with teams to meet deadlines
• Monitor systems to ensure system health and functionality as well as remediate problems/issues in a timely manner
• Design and implement standards (hardware, software, configurations, security, etc.), and policies and procedures around these standards
• Evaluate, define and manage infrastructure strategy to ensure capabilities of supporting current and future business demands at optimal cost
• Prepare, submit, and manage operating and capital expenditures for technology needed to support the organization's technology projects
• Implement technical controls to support Cybersecurity initiatives, ensuring secure operations in network and computing environments
• Identify and evaluate potential hardware and software solutions which will contribute to the organization's overall goals
• Support 24/7 operations including periodic on-call rotation
• Collaborate with Director, Cybersecurity and other team members on risk assessment, response and remediation
• Provide weekly updates with project timelines and goals to Director, IT
• Keep abreast of new knowledge, research, products, and services in technology that will benefit the organization
• Rack and stack server and storage hardware
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

• 6+ years of relevant IT systems administration/engineering experience in a hands-on capacity
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks and priorities for operational deliverables
• Ability to interact and work effectively with internal and external customers while providing the highest quality of customer service
• Detail oriented with strong problem-solving skills
• Manage vendor relationships and negotiations
• Excellent communication and organization skills
• Ability to write and present formal documentation

Skills

• Windows Server OS: AD Certificate, Domain and Federation Services, DHCP, DNS, File, NPS, Print, RDS, IIS, WSUS, Failover Clustering/AOAG, Group Policy
• Email: Exchange on-prem/hybrid (Mailbox/Edge Transport roles, databases, DAGs, virtual directories, certificates, load balancing)
• DNS & Authentication: SMTP, IMAP, MX, A/AAAA, PTR, SPF, DKIM, DMARC
• Security: Spam, phishing, and malware filtering
• Collaboration: SharePoint on-prem/online
• Server Hardware: Dell PowerEdge hardware or similar including management thereof via Lifecycle Controller, iDRAC, OpenManage, etc.
• Storage: DAS, NAS, SAN, CIFS/SMB, iSCSI, NFS, FC, FCoE, NVMe-oF
• Backup & Recovery: Backup, disaster recovery, high availability and fault tolerance
• Monitoring & Optimization: System monitoring, performance tuning and capacity planning
• Scripting: Scripting for automation and system administration

Bonus Experience: Microsoft Dynamics GP, Dynamics NAV, Microsoft stack licensing, Datacenter buildout (racks, PDUs, structured cabling, cable management), Cisco switching, routing and firewall, VMware vSphere (vCenter, ESXi), NetApp AFF/CDOT, Rubrik CDM, Zoom Enterprise suite

Physical Requirements

• Remains in a sitting/stationary position continually or almost continually during the work day
• Operates a computer and performs desk-based computer tasks continually; frequently viewing a computer screen
• Ability to lift, carry, push, pull objects and/or equipment that weighs up to 50 pounds on rare occasions

Pay

Compensation: Starting/Base Salary Pay Range: $100,000–$130,000/year. Specific offers within the listed pay ranges are determined by a variety of factors such as experience, education, skills, certifications and business needs.

Benefits

• Health, Dental, Vision
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Short- and Long-Term Disability
• Life Insurance
• Holidays
• Parental Leave
• 401(k) plan with employer match
• Stock options
• Employee Assistance Program

Most benefits take effect within 30 days of employment; some require a waiting period.