Systems Engineer Lead

Salary/Grade: ITS/83

Target hiring range for this position will be between $125,220 - $153,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data

Job Summary

This position is part of a team that provides tactical, 24/7 operational support and strategic direction for the University’s collaboration products, including email, document management tools, conferencing, and person-to-person and group messaging software across the Evanston, Chicago, and Qatar campuses.

This position determines strategic direction and provides leadership for the design, engineering, and implementation of Collaboration Services infrastructure that services and secures the distribution of Infrastructure Management Systems and Services.Provides technical supervision to and oversees the work of junior staff.Guides and advises stakeholders on best practices for implementing or enhancing the system. Works with management to design high-level systems integration. Assesses the architectural impact of projects on the overall system and makes recommendations to the manager.

To effectively support the needs of the University, this position will regularly consult with the user community and its representatives to define requirements, analyze business needs, consider current and future business implications, translate functional into technical requirements, validate solutions, and drive business process improvement efforts across Collaboration Services products.

The responsibilities of this position include vendor management, vulnerability management (application-level), application release/upgrade analysis and planning, policy coordination (e.g. db sizes, retention, archiving, compliance, etc.), patch management (application-level), application governance, security of the environment(s), and message hygiene management/administration focusing on the Collaboration Services product portfolio.

Specific Responsibilities

Strategic Planning

• Structures requirements; designs, documents, and implements data-driven solutions.
• Directs/architects scalable systems that meet future growth demands
• Identifies, recommends, and defines projects and activities as related to system/architectural direction and strategy.
• Establishes best practices and procedures/tools, programming standards, etc.
• Provides recommendations for strategic planning and system growth/future business needs.
• Researches and applies state-of-the-art and peer best practices in regard to software development and systems engineering.
• Directs the evaluation of new and emerging technologies.
• Assists in the long-range planning of information technology systems for IT@NU.
• Partners with the user community and its representatives to define requirements, analyze business needs, consider current and future business implications, translate functional into technical requirements, validate solutions, and drive business process improvement efforts across Collaboration Services products, ensuring that the solutions and process support the strategic direction of supported services.

• Directs efforts and projects in the design, installation, operation, support, and maintenance of NU's distribution of Collaboration Services Infrastructure Management Systems and Services.

• Directs the investigation of new technologies and strategies for Collaboration Services Infrastructure Management Systems and Services deployment and integration into the production campus.
• Directs the technical analysis of software and hardware.
• Writes and reviews requirements documents for evaluation of new hardware/software.
• Responds to customer inquiries via phone, online, in-person, etc.
• Delivers system presentation and overview
• Collaborates with cross-team assets to create project timeline and assign tasks and deliverables.
• Identifies resources needed for future projects
• Represents project in absence of manager.
• Coordinates vendor product demonstrations, setup evaluation criteria and development recommendations for purchase of new hardware/software.
• Develops relationships with vendors.
• Partners with internal/external staff to develop requirements for new services and applications to meet the needs of the campus community.
• Develops security definitions and control processes for the operation and management of the campus Collaboration Services Infrastructure Management Systems and Services.
• Leads in the maintenance and integrity of university data.
• Executes data backup and recovery routines on a specified schedule or as requested.
• Represents NU and presents at regional and national conferences.
• Maintains awareness of evolving information technologies through professional publications, outside contacts, and ongoing professional development.

• Establishes timetables and priorities for task completion; monitors work plans to meet project deadlines and achieve project goals.
• Utilizes requirements gathering techniques such as gap analysis, interviews, joint application development sessions, etc.; develops solutions/programs/reports, and implements technology.
• Troubleshoots problems involving complex difficult issues.
• Prioritize tasks across the collaboration services team.
• Conducts or participates in business process review sessions to obtain and document operational and business requirements.
• Develops system and services architecture(s) and sets forth design development, engineering, security and testing methodologies to be executed by engineering staff.

• Provides tier 3 technical support to users as part of a periodic on-call rotation.
• Consults with users to diagnose and resolve problems on multiple software or hardware platforms.
• Serves as an escalation point for other engineers on the on-call rotation.

• Provides work direction and/or supervises staff such as team members, subordinates, contractors, vendors, students, etc.
• Champions utilization of best practices and standards, and ensures compliance with IT/University policies.
• Recommends staff hires/termination; conducts performance evaluations for supervised team members.
• Coaches and mentors staff.
• Manages projects ensuring timelines and deliverables are met and meet expectations.

Performs other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications: (Education, experience, and any other certifications or clearances)

• Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major such as computer science, information technology, or related; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.
• 7 years’ experience implementation of complex CI Infrastructure Management Software Systems and Services.
• Active Directory Design, Administration
• Box Collaborative Storage
• Cisco routers and switches
• GoogleAppEngine
• identity management/provisioning
• information security
• LDAP
• Mac OS X Operating System
• Microsoft Exchange
• Microsoft Lync
• Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook)
• Microsoft SharePoint
• Nagios
• Oracle and Oracle RAC
• Puppet/Chef/Ansible
• Server hardware
• Service Orienteted Architecture (SOA)
• Skype
• SQL/MySQL/Postgres
• Storage hardware
• Tomcat
• VMware vSphere
• Windows Operating System
• Azure
• Microsoft Hyper-V
• Power Systems
• Office 365
• HTML 5
• Java
• JavaScript
• Microsoft PowerShell
• Perl
• PHP
• Python
• Shell Scripting
• critical thinking
• business intelligence application design
• Decision Making
• Enterprise Architecture
• Enterprise Directory Services
• Judgment
• Metadata Creation And Management
• Problem Solving
• Read & Interpret Architectural Drawings
• Read & Interpret Construction Drawings
• Read & Interpret Mechanical Drawings
• Read & Interpret Technical Drawings
• Troubleshooting
• Use-Case Analysis
• Budgeting
• Agile Environment
• Code Documentation
• Collaboration And Teamwork
• Cost/Benefit Analysis
• Evaluate Resources
• Facilitate Collaboration
• Functional Documentation
• Iterative & Incremental Development
• Organizational Skills
• Planning
• Workflow Development & Documentation
• Write Proposals And Project Charters

• Written and verbal communication
• Conceptual ability
• Dependability
• Decision making
• Initiative
• Innovation/Creativity
• Meets deadlines
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Crisis Management

• Advanced degree in Computer Science or Information Technology.
• Ability to use judgement in interpreting and adapting policies, precedents and work directions for appropriateness to specific tasks or problems.
• Ability to maintain composure and work effectively in a high pressure setting
• Energy and enthusiasm for this type of work, along with a clear desire to continue to develop and grown in knowledge and experience.
• Direct experience providing a secure networking environment(both wired and wireless)
• Advanced knowledge and experience with quality of service across enterprise networks, Voice over IP, and high availability networking environments.

• Problem solving
• Quality/compliance with process/procedures
• Results driven
• Strategic thinking
• Independent/Self driven work
• Team building
• Visionary Leadership

At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful and competitive benefits. The available benefits package for this position will include health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance; paid vacation and holidays; paid medical/sick and parental leave; tuition benefits for the employee and dependents; pre-tax and flex spending accounts for commuting and dependent care; generous retirement savings options; and wellness programs. For a comprehensive overview of available benefits, including eligibility details, visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.

Work-Life And Wellness

Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life’s challenges and opportunities and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.

We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.

Professional Growth & Development

Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you’re interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more .

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability and veteran status. View Northwestern’s non-discrimination statement . Job applicants who wish to request an accommodation in the application or hiring process should contact the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. View additional information on the accommodations process .