Systems Administrator 3

Department

PSD Computer Science: Tech Administration

About the Department

Techstaff oversees all systems engineering/administration needs in the Department of Computer Science. The Department of Computer Science is an academic department that has a rich history of advancing and defining new fields of discovery in the physical sciences and computer science, and this tradition continues today. Our inquiry and impact spans from the edge of theory to human-computer interaction to Data Science. We are part of the Physical Sciences Division which includes departments and a number of interdisciplinary research institutes and centers.

Job Summary

The Computer Science Techstaff is responsible for the design, operation, and security of all computing infrastructure within the Computer Science department, including research computing systems, workstations, servers, storage, networking, and audiovisual environments. The Systems Administrator 3 is a mid-level IT professional who operates with minimal supervision and serves as a core technical contributor to the department’s. This role is responsible for independently administering, maintaining, and improving the CS department’s IT environment, with a strong focus on networking and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure. The Systems Administrator 3 collaborates closely with senior technical staff, faculty, researchers, and external partners, and is expected to take ownership of complex systems, lead projects, and contribute to architectural decisions. The Systems Administrator 3 plays a key role in ensuring system reliability, performance, security, and scalability across the department’s computing resources.

Responsibilities

• Reporting to the director of techstaff, acts as a senior technical leader, performs system and network administration functions independently, with an understanding of the interactions between hardware, operating system software, and network operations and the design and administrative requirements to ensure an efficient, reliable, secure infrastructure.
• Configures, installs, upgrades, and maintains server applications and hardware. Works to safeguard the integrity of computer software. Implements operating system enhancements that will improve the reliability and performance of the system.
• Administers operating systems, maintains security, and implements backup procedures for the organization's information systems and peripheral equipment, such as servers, desktops, printers, and storage devices.
• Plans for, and installs, necessary patches, upgrades, and vendor recommended maintenance for servers and their associated storage, network, communications, and peripheral sub-systems.
• Installs and maintains an appropriate level of intrusion detection, monitoring, and auditing software as required, adhering to both security and operational policies.
• Lead, Plan and execute system upgrades, migrations, and large-scale infrastructure projects with minimal guidance.  
• Collaborate with faculty, researchers, students, and staff to gather requirements and deliver technical solutions that support instructional and research workflows.
• Support faculty and staff with purchasing support and provide recommendations on purchases for research and instructional needs
• Performs recovery procedures, scheduling, and backups, and monitors batch processes.
• Monitor system health, performance, and capacity; analyze logs and metrics to proactively identify and remediate issues. 
• Configures systems and their components to maximize performance and compatibility while minimizing costs, contention, or inference with other systems.
• Recommends, installs, and maintains appropriate levels of hardware and software firewalls associated with specific server implementations. Assists in the development, implementation, compliance tracking, and maintenance of documentation such as; hardware, software and service inventories and management reports.  
• Manage core infrastructure services including DNS, DHCP, TCP/IP networking, authentication, and access control. 
• Participate in incident response, disaster recovery planning, backups, and security remediation activities. 
• Document work clearly, contribute to team best practices, and help others adopt design patterns by sharing knowledge in Slack, Internal Wikis, and GitLab.
• Acts as a technical consultant and resource for faculty research, teaching, and/or administrative projects.
• Supports department computing needs, such as AV and endpoint support, department datacenter operations as needed.
• Performs other related work as needed.
• Participates on on-call rotations as required.
• Administers operating systems, maintains security, and implements backup procedures for the organization's information systems and peripheral equipment, such as servers, desktops, printers, and storage devices.
• Plans and installs necessary patches and upgrades for servers and their associated storage, network, communications, and peripheral sub-systems. Installs and maintains an appropriate level of intrusion detection, monitoring, and auditing software as required.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field.

Technical Knowledge or Skills:

• Experience managing networked servers and workstations with knowledge of TCP/IP network services, system utilities, hardware installation, and OS installation.
• Experience in a multi-platform network environment including mail service and client support, backup and restore technologies.
• Extensive hands-on experience administering Linux systems in production environments.
• Experience managing systems in a multi-tier or a cluster architecture.
• Experience managing and supporting web servers, such as Apache and Nginx.
• Knowledge of backup technology and other monitoring and automated systems management technologies.
• Strong experience with configuration management tools, such as Puppet or Ansible.
• Understanding of TCP/IP, including subnetting, VLANs, IP addressing.
• Familiarity with containerization tools such as Nomad, Docker and Kubernetes.
• Proficiency with standard scripting languages such as Python, Ruby, and Bash shell scripting.
• Working knowledge of enterprise networking concepts, including routing, switching, and troubleshooting. 
• Experience managing and configuring network equipment, such as switches and network firewalls.

Preferred Competencies

• Ability to operate independently and take ownership of complex technical systems. 
• Strong troubleshooting and investigative skills in large, heterogeneous environments. 
• Ability to plan, execute, and deliver large technical projects. 
• Strong communication and organizational skills and an ability to work with both technical and non-technical staff. 
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to operational excellence. 
• Integrity and discretion when working with sensitive systems and data. 
• Ability to mentor others and contribute positively to a collaborative team environment. 
• Understanding of intruder techniques and software exploitation methods.
• Ability to apply in-depth knowledge and experience of internal or external business issues to improve products or services.
• Ability to take a new perspective using existing solutions.
• Ability to learn new procedures, techniques, and approaches quickly.
• Experience with research technologies including SLURM.

Application Documents

• Resume (required)
• Cover Letter (required)
• References (preferred)

The University of Chicago uses AI-assisted tools to streamline and augment some recruitment processes; however, AI is not used to make hiring decisions.
When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family

Information Technology

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

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FLSA Status

Exempt

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Pay Range

$100,000.00 - $110,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

 

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

 

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.  A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.  Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

 

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. The Report can be accessed online at: http://securityreport.uchicago.edu. Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E. 61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.