Senior Systems Engineer

American Institute, founded in 1924 as the Hartford Secretarial School, provides hands-on training for careers in the world of business, legal, allied healthcare, diagnostic medical sonography, and information technology. Recognizing our single, well-defined teaching mission: reflecting job market demands with flexibility in identifying and incorporating new programs to give our graduates an edge in today’s competitive job market.

• Medical (including prescription), Dental, Vision (Company subsidized)
• FSA/HSA (Depending on Medical Plan chosen)
• $50,000 Life Insurance (Company paid)
• Additional Voluntary Life Insurance (Team Member paid)
• Employee Assistance Program – EAP (Company paid)
• Long Term Disability (Company paid)
• Short Term Disability (Team Member paid)
• Supplemental Insurance such as Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital (Team Member Paid)
• Paid Time Off – 15 days accrued in year 1, 9 holidays, and 1 day of Volunteering Time Off
• 401k (eligible upon completion of 90 days of employment and must be at least 21 years of age)
• Pet Insurance
• Identity Theft Protection

Purpose of the Position:

The Senior Systems Engineer is responsible for the implementation and management of IT systems in support of American Institute.  This role involves initiating and managing projects, modernization, infrastructure and IT Operations, leveraging Artificial Intelligence, enabling new capabilities in the cloud within a hybrid infrastructure, and addressing information security improvements.

The Senior Systems Engineer assists and leads in the requirements gathering, designing, testing, implementation, operational support, and evaluation for enterprise technology solutions at American Institute.

What you’ll do:

Technical Leadership and Operations

• Provide technical leadership: Lead the IT team in implementing and maintaining complex infrastructure, ensuring smooth daily IT operations.
• Hands-on implementation: Actively participate in the setup, configuration, and maintenance of IT systems and infrastructure.
• Troubleshooting: Utilize extensive troubleshooting skills to diagnose and resolve complex technical issues promptly.
• Technical concerns: Efficiently assess technical concerns and escalate them when necessary to ensure timely resolution.
• Systemic troubleshooting: Demonstrate strong troubleshooting skills, document issues, and proactively resolve problems to minimize downtime.
• Solution implementation: Implement solutions that meet organizational standards and end-user requirements, ensuring high-quality information systems products and services.

Communication and Documentation

• Effective communication: Communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical staff to ensure clear understanding and collaboration.
• IT standards and procedures: Develop and maintain IT standards and procedures to ensure consistency and compliance.
• Documentation: Develop and document standard configurations, build and support processes, and FAQs to streamline IT operations.

IT Security and Compliance

• Security assessments: Participate in IT security assessments, risk analysis, and reporting to identify and mitigate security risks.
• Security partnerships: Partner with IT leadership and third-party entities to address and remediate security issues on IT-related applications and infrastructure.
• Information security: Ensure the safety of information systems assets and protect systems from intentional or inadvertent access or destruction.
• Compliance: Demonstrate knowledge of and adhere to all applicable federal and state compliance requirements and regulations, including those prescribed by the Department of Education, accrediting agencies, Commission on Independent Education (CIE), and internal UMA policies and procedures.
• Compliance communication: Effectively communicate compliance requirements to students and staff, and escalate any compliance concerns to the Compliance department.

Device Management and Support

• Device imaging and deployment: Manage and utilize device imaging, deployment, and patching processes to ensure efficient and secure IT operations.
• Technical resource: Serve as a liaison or technical resource for other IT staff or partners within other business units, providing guidance and support as needed.

Institutional Support

• Institutional goals: Stay current on institutional goals, objectives, and progress to align IT initiatives with the organization's mission.
• Engagement: Engage in institution-sponsored activities and initiatives as appropriate to support the broader educational mission.
• Change leadership: Lead with courage in support of change initiatives that impact the organization, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Work Experience, Skills & Abilities:

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of education and work experience in a technical discipline.
• 3 years of experience deploying and managing Microsoft Azure computer storage, network, data, security, and related resources, including optimizing performance, capacity, and cost.
• Knowledge of networking, Active Directory, Azure Entra ID, Azure B2C, storage, virtualization, IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, web services, security, Identity and Access Management, single sign-on, integration solutions, and approaches.
• Working knowledge of performance scaling and disaster recovery architecture and operations, including storage area network, redundant, highly available server, and network architectures.
• 3 years of experience in managing and implementing Microsoft Office 365, Azure ACR, and Defender for Cloud.
• 3 years of experience utilizing scripting languages such as PowerShell, Bash, etc.
• Experience with IT General Controls and related requirements.
• Skills: Information-based, decision-making mindset, strong analytical, and technical capabilities to assess and drive process improvements and solve complex problems; Motivation to inclusively collaborate with and serve others in achieving outcomes; Adept at communicating with both technical and non-technical stakeholders; Natural curiosity to learn, ask questions, identify mistaken assumptions, and bring an open-minded approach. A high level of initiative and results focused.
• Able to professionally communicate verbally and in written English.

Preferred Requirements:

• Microsoft Certifications MCSE, AZ-104, AZ-505, AZ-800, AZ-801.
• Aruba Networking Certification.
• Skills: Critical thinking and business acumen.

Compliance:

• Demonstrate knowledge of, and carefully follow, all applicable federal and state compliance requirements and regulations including those prescribed by the U.S. Department of Education, accrediting agencies, state regulations and, and internal policies and procedures.  
• Effectively communicate compliance requirements to other staff as appropriate and quickly escalate any compliance concerns to the Compliance department.

Working Environment:

• This is a hybrid work environment with the ability to travel to all American Institute locations as needed. Estimated travel is 30%
• Home office set up, quiet place to work, and ability to access a high-speed internet connection.
• May require setup of computer equipment, accommodation consideration available upon request.
• Flexibility to work evenings, nights, and weekends as needed.

OUR CORE VALUES

Caring
We believe every student has the potential to be successful in a rewarding career, with the right support. We partner with you from your first day of classes through your search for a job after graduation.

Respect
We view everyone who enters American Institute as a productive adult who deserves respect and the opportunity to excel. Our staff and instructors are dedicated to helping you achieve your goals and realize your potential.

Service
American Institute is committed to the professional and academic success of each student by actively seeking opportunities to provide service both within the campus as well as within the surrounding community.

Integrity
We look forward, not backward. No matter where you come from or what obstacles you’ve faced in the past, we believe your future is yours to create.

Accountability
When you commit to us, we commit to you. When you walk into American Institute, we focus on helping you continue to move forward, so you can create the life you want to live.

Innovation
We know that the sooner you have the knowledge and skills you need to begin your career, the sooner you can become successful. American Institute offers focused, practical training that gets you out of the classroom and on your way faster than you thought possible.