Systems Administrator

Description

Summary:

The Systems Administrator is responsible for the day-to-day ownership, administration, security, and reliability of the organization's internal systems, including on-premises servers, virtualization, and cloud-based platforms such as Microsoft 365 and Azure, in support of corporate, retail store, and warehouse operations. This role owns the patch management program for these systems and endpoints, aligning patching and remediation priorities with findings and recommendations from our managed detection and response (MDR) security partner. The Systems Administrator works within the Infrastructure and Network team and serves as an escalation point for the Helpdesk and Projects team.

Key Responsibilities:

1. System Ownership and Administration:

• Own the administration, availability, performance, capacity, and lifecycle of internal systems, including Windows Server, Active Directory/Entra ID, Microsoft 365, Azure, virtualization platforms, and supporting services.
• Maintain an accurate inventory of internal systems, including system owners, criticality, and end-of-life/refresh plans.
• Monitor system health and respond promptly to incidents or outages; perform root cause analysis and drive permanent fixes.
• Manage configuration changes through the department's change management process, including documentation, testing, and rollback planning.
• Administer identity and access, including accounts, groups, MFA, conditional access, and privileged access, applying the principle of least privilege.

2. Patch and Vulnerability Management (Security Partner Aligned):

• Own the end-to-end patch management lifecycle for servers, endpoints, and third-party applications: assess, test, schedule, deploy, verify, and report.
• Align patching cadence and priorities with security partner findings and recommendations, vulnerability scan results, and vendor security advisories; remediate critical and actively exploited vulnerabilities within defined timeframes.
• Serve as the primary technical contact for the security partner: triage alerts and recommendations, carry out remediation or containment actions, validate results, and close the loop with the partner's security team.
• Ensure the security partner's agents and sensors are deployed and healthy on all in-scope systems, and remediate coverage gaps.
• Define and maintain patching standards, including maintenance windows, pilot/test groups, rollback procedures, and an approval process for exceptions.
• Coordinate firmware, BIOS, and network-dependent updates with the network engineering team and affected business stakeholders.
• Produce patch compliance and vulnerability remediation metrics, and report SLA performance and open exceptions to IT leadership.

3. Security and Compliance:

• Apply and maintain security baselines and hardening standards, as defined by IT leadership and the security partner, on servers, endpoints, and cloud services.
• Support incident response and the major incident process by assisting with system containment, recovery, and post-incident review.
• Ensure compliance with relevant data protection requirements and internal security policies.

4. Backup and Recovery:

• Manage backup, replication, and recovery for internal systems, and regularly test restores to validate recovery objectives.
• Support disaster recovery and business continuity planning for critical internal systems.

5. Escalation and Support:

• Serve as an escalation point for the Helpdesk and Projects team to resolve complex server, systems, and endpoint issues.
• Share knowledge with service desk staff through documentation, runbooks, and informal training.

6. Projects and Automation:

• Participate in and deliver IT projects, such as system upgrades, migrations, and endpoint management initiatives, in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Automate recurring administration and patching tasks using PowerShell and available management tools to improve consistency and efficiency.

7. Vendor Management:

• Work with external vendors, including the security partner and key technology vendors, for support, escalations, and service delivery.
• Evaluate and recommend technologies, software, and tools that improve system stability and security, and provide input on vendor renewals and procurement.

8. Documentation and Reporting:

• Maintain comprehensive documentation of system configurations, patching standards, changes, and processes.
• Report on system performance, incidents, patch compliance, and project progress to leadership.
• Ensure documentation is current and accessible to relevant stakeholders.

Requirements

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

• 3+ years of experience in systems administration or a similar role.
• Hands-on experience administering Microsoft systems (Microsoft 365, Entra ID/Active Directory, Azure, Windows Server), Ubuntu, Linux and SQL.
• Experience managing patching and vulnerability remediation across servers and endpoints.
• Working knowledge of virtualization technologies (e.g., VMware, Hyper-V).
• Working knowledge of security fundamentals, including hardening, access control, and responding to security alerts.
• Certifications such as Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate, Microsoft 365 Administrator, CompTIA Security+, or similar are preferred.
• Experience working with an MDR/EDR provider is a plus.

Key Skills:

• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Clear written and verbal communication, including the ability to explain technical risk to non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong ownership mindset, with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Strong attention to detail and a proactive approach to systems management and security.
• Experience with PowerShell or other scripting and automation tools is a plus.

Work Environment:

This position operates in an office environment and requires the ability to work in a dynamic, fast-paced setting, with on-call availability for system emergencies and scheduled after-hours availability for patching and maintenance windows.

Physical Demands

The employee will regularly be standing, walking, lifting, and bending.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position, set scheduled working either AM or PM based on the needs of the business.

This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of this position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of qualifications, skills, duties, or responsibilities associated with the role.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.