Senior Systems Engineer

Job Summary The Senior Systems Engineer serves as a high-level technical leader at UC Observatories (UCO), providing independent oversight and frontline support for astronomical research at the UCSC technical laboratories and the Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton. The incumbent leverages advanced IT professional concepts to manage and optimize a complex, specialized infrastructure. The Engineer acts as a strategic partner to faculty and researchers, translating scientific requirements into robust IT solutions. This role is responsible for the end-to-end lifecycle of UCO's systems, including the design, installation, and maintenance of various OS (Linux, Windows, Mac), networking, storage, software licensing and distribution, software testing and installation, server hardware support, and virtualization infrastructure management. Appointment Information Budgeted Salary: $122,620 - $132,300/year. Salary commensurate with skills, qualifications and experience. Benefits Level Eligibility: Full benefits Schedule Information: Full-time, Fixed; 100% of time, 40 Hours per Week; Mon-Fri; Day shift. Employee Classification: Career appointment Job End Date: None Work Location: UC Santa Cruz Main Campus Union Representation: Non-Represented Job Code Classification: 000499 (INFO SYS ANL 4) - Grade 25 Travel: Up to 25% of the time Job Duties 65% - Specialized Research Computing and Infrastructure Management Manage and maintain UCO virtual machine (VM) infrastructure and handle VM provisioning for both research and administrative needs. Maintain UCO physical servers, including storage arrays. Update UCO firewalls for campus and Mt. Hamilton locations. Manage UCO VPN infrastructure, including user provisioning and support for VPN access for both Campus and Mt. Hamilton. Provide DNS and DHCP services for the UCO campus environment and partial services for the Mt. Hamilton environment, including IP address management and allocation. Perform periodic physical maintenance tasks such as disk replacements, racking/deracking of systems, physical troubleshooting, power outage restoration, and UPS system management. Provide specialized desktop and server support for research workstations and servers, including installation and configuration of research-specific software and troubleshooting research computing needs. Manage user account lifecycle including creation, modification, deactivation, password resets, and access management for internal staff and external collaborators. Manage UCO's separate Google Workspace domain, including email routing, mailbox administration, and support for unique UCO mail routing requirements. 35% - Coordination and Complex Issue Resolution Escalate complex issues and resource constraints to ITS and PBSci leadership as needed. Contribute to the scoping, estimation, and resourcing of significant project work, infrastructure upgrades, and technical debt remediation. Ensure systems align with policy and process as established with UCOP and UCSC ITS standards. Document complex system configurations, processes, and project scope requirements related to the UCO specialized research computing environment and infrastructure, including firewall and VPN management, VM provisioning, and service handoffs to Central IT. Required Qualifications Bachelor's degree in a related area and/or equivalent experience/training. Advanced knowledge of IT infrastructure, including Linux OS, networking, storage, server hardware support, and virtualization infrastructure management. In-depth knowledge of complex IT areas of specialization necessary to resolve highly complex issues. Knowledge of firewall, VPN, DNS, and DHCP services, including IP address management and allocation. Demonstrated ability to resolve highly complex issues independently by evaluating variable factors and recommending technical methods and techniques. Skills in performing physical system maintenance, including disk replacements, racking/deracking, troubleshooting, power outage restoration, and UPS system management. Ability to manage the user account lifecycle, including creation, modification, deactivation, password resets, and access management. Preferred Qualifications Knowledge of information security policies, procedures, and standards applicable to UC Institutional Information and IT Resources. Advanced systems administration skills in design, installation, maintenance, and optimization of complex, specialized IT infrastructure. Strong technical leadership skills to provide independent oversight and frontline support for astronomical research computing. Ability to act as a strategic partner to faculty and researchers, translating scientific requirements into robust IT solutions. Advanced troubleshooting and support skills for research workstations, servers, and research‑specific software installation and configuration. Ability to contribute to the scoping, estimation, and resourcing of significant project work, infrastructure upgrades, and technical debt remediation. Excellent written communication skills for documenting complex system configurations, processes, and project scope requirements. Interpersonal skills to effectively coordinate with Central ITS teams and clearly communicate complex issues to technical and non‑technical personnel and leadership. Benefits University of California offers competitive benefits including Medical, Dental & Vision Care Insurance Plans, University of California (UC) retirement, Paid Family Leave, and Paid Holidays plus accrued vacation and sick leave. EEO/AA The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status or other protected categories covered by the UC Anti-Discrimination Policy. It is the policy of the University of California to undertake affirmative action and anti-discrimination efforts, consistent with its obligations as a Federal and State contractor. #J-18808-Ljbffr