Systems Operations Specialist

About the role

As a Systems Operations Specialist reporting to the VP - Systems and Network Administration, you'll play a critical role in ensuring the reliability, performance, and scalability of Nasdaq's mission-critical platforms and infrastructure. You'll thrive in this position if you're analytical, accountability-driven, and collaborative, with a passion for technology and automation in a fast-paced, 24/7 global environment. This position is based in New York or Toronto.

Responsibilities

• Monitor, maintain, and support production systems and applications running on-premises, AWS cloud environments and Kubernetes (EKS) clusters, ensuring consistent uptime, performance, and rapid incident resolution in a 24/7 global environment.
• Contribute to the design, implementation, and deployment of cloud-native platform capabilities, leveraging Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) and CI/CD pipelines (GitLab) to deliver scalable and reliable solutions.
• Build and maintain automation tools using Python, Bash, and PowerShell, while automating infrastructure provisioning, configuration management, and operational workflows across cloud environments.
• Collaborate with engineering and development teams to resolve operational issues, identify documentation gaps, and drive continuous improvements.
• Respond to incidents, service requests, and escalations in a timely manner, maintaining high standards of quality and clear communication across stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

• Must be able to work on weekends on a rotational schedule.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field – or equivalent practical experience in technology or infrastructure operations.
• At least 4 years of experience in systems or technical operations, including application support and infrastructure management.
• Strong proficiency in scripting and automation using Python, Bash, or PowerShell, with experience building and maintaining operational tooling and automated workflows.
• Strong hands‑on experience supporting Linux environments (RHEL preferred), including command‑line administration, system troubleshooting, security best practices, and networking concepts such as TCP/IP, DNS, routing, load balancing, and connectivity troubleshooting.
• Experience with Kubernetes, including production support of containerized workloads and orchestration platforms such as Amazon EKS.
• Experience with public cloud platforms, preferably AWS, including core infrastructure, monitoring, networking, and security services.
• Clear communicator with experience working in collaborative, globally distributed teams; ability to work a rotating schedule including weekends.

Preferred Qualifications

• Relevant industry certifications in cloud, infrastructure, or operations.
• Experience with observability and monitoring platforms such as Datadog, Grafana, CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Prometheus, or similar technologies.
• Hands‑on experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) and configuration management and deployment automation tools such as Chef, Puppet, Ansible, or similar technologies.
• Passion for continuous improvement and automation, with experience leveraging AI‑assisted tools such as GitHub Copilot, Large Language Models, or similar technologies to optimize workflows, reduce manual effort, and enhance operational effectiveness.

Pay

The base pay range for this role is $90,000 - $153,000. In addition to base salary, Nasdaq provides a generous annual bonus/commission (short‑term incentive) and equity (long‑term incentive).

Benefits

• 401(k) program with 6% employer match
• Employee Stock Purchase Program with 15% discount
• Student loan repayment program up to $10k
• Company paid life and disability plans
• Generous paid time off
• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage
• Health spending account with employer contribution
• Paid flex days to support mental wellbeing
• Gym membership discounts
• Paid parental leave
• Fertility benefits
• Paid bereavement leave
• Company gift matching program
• Employee resource groups
• Paid volunteer days
• Education Assistance Program
• Robust job skills training and professional development opportunities

Schedule

Hybrid work environment with at least 3 days a week in‑office, subject to change. The role requires a rotating schedule that includes weekend work.