System Analyst

Foothill-De Anza Community College District Systems Analyst

The Foothill-De Anza Community College District is currently accepting applications for the classified position above. The mission of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District is student success and educational excellence. The district and its colleges provide access to affordable, quality educational programs and services that develop a broadly educated and socially responsible community that supports an equitable and just future for California and the global community. Every member of our district contributes to a dynamic instructional and learning environment that fosters student engagement, equal opportunity, and innovation in meeting the various educational and career goals of our diverse students. Foothill-De Anza is driven by an equity agenda and core values of integrity, inclusion, care for our students' well-being, and sustainability.

The Systems Analyst assigned to Academic Technology administers, configures, integrates, supports, and monitors Districtwide applications and cloud-based services used for teaching, learning, and related academic technology services. Responsibilities include application-level administration of systems such as Canvas, Zoom, instructional video and lecture-capture platforms, accessibility and assessment tools, third-party learning applications, and managed printing services such as PaperCut. The position manages application settings, accounts, roles, permissions, licenses, authentication, provisioning, and other service configurations, and implements and supports integrations among academic applications, student information systems, identity-management services, and other District technologies. Integration responsibilities include the use and support of technologies such as LTI, APIs, single sign-on, automated provisioning, data feeds, and vendor-supported connectors. Responsibilities also include reviewing vendor releases and service changes; evaluating and testing new features and integrations; recommending configuration changes; and coordinating implementation with faculty, staff, students, technical support personnel, and vendors. Serving as an escalation point for complex technical and functional issues, the analyst troubleshoots matters involving application access, accounts, permissions, course and enrollment data, printing services, authentication, synchronization, integrations, and other supported services. The position develops and maintains administrative procedures, configuration records, technical documentation, Help Desk knowledge articles, and faculty and student instructions. Technical demonstrations, workshops, consultation, and training are also provided to support the effective use and administration of assigned applications and services. As part of the broader academic technology lifecycle, the Systems Analyst participates in the evaluation, implementation, maintenance, and retirement of applications and services; gathers technical and functional requirements; assists with security, privacy, accessibility, and operational reviews; and supports planning for academic-term readiness and instructional continuity. The role requires close collaboration with enterprise systems, networking, information security, accessibility, instructional support, faculty development, Help Desk, and other District personnel to ensure supported technologies are reliable, secure, accessible, documented, and aligned with District standards and instructional needs.

Under general supervision, performs technical tasks related to the configuration, troubleshooting, maintenance, and monitoring of the District's information technology infrastructure; configures and installs real-time monitoring tools and identifies and resolves systems problems; configures and monitors enterprise backup solutions; oversees data center environmental conditions; provides recommendations, support, and training to other information services support staff and District users in areas of responsibility; and performs related duties as assigned.

Receives general supervision from assigned ETS supervisor. Exercises technical direction and provides training to other staff.

This is the journey-level class in the Systems Analyst series responsible for performing complex technical assignments, projects, and analyses in support of District infrastructure. Responsibilities require the use of tact, discretion, and independent judgment and to have full and thorough knowledge of the concepts, practices, procedures, and policies of assigned function. This classification is distinguished from the Senior Systems Specialist by the complexity and size of the systems supported and the amount of discretion exercised over problems and resolutions, as well as the latter serves as a technical leader and subject matter expert in specific area(s).

Examples of typical job functions (illustrative only):

1. Performs installation, configuration and reconfiguration, maintenance, troubleshooting, and upgrading of servers, mid-range computers, and related equipment; performs basic system administration functions.
2. Performs a variety of technical tasks in support of the District's physical and virtual sever infrastructures, including installing, configuring, maintaining, and monitoring hardware and software upgrades to ensure effective server performance.
3. Performs systems and server maintenance checks and back-ups; processes and distributes standard and reoccurring reports for users.
4. Installs and configures server and host server systems software and hardware in accordance with project and user department needs and requirements.
5. Creates email boxes for users and departments; troubleshoots email servers, connection, access, security, firewall, and storage issues; monitors email servers and performs scheduled maintenance; sets up, supports and troubleshoots problems with synching email to smart devices.
6. Maintains and supports active directory services by adding, removing, and/or editing users; creates access rights to users and user groups; creates groups and mailing lists.
7. Maintains virtualization platforms in VMware environment; diagnoses and solves technical and operational problems, working with vendors as needed.
8. Configures and monitors enterprise backup solutions to provide data backup services for servers and end users; implements backup schedules; monitors the tape library to ensure that critical data is sent off-site for disaster recovery purposes; configures and monitors backup procedures on servers and other components; verifies that backups are successful, and data can be recovered.
9. Administers storage area network (SAN), including configuring storage directories, volume controllers, and redundant array of independent disks (RAID) arrays, creating managed disk pools and volumes, creating new allocations, and monitoring storage usage, performance, and access rules.
10. Develops specifications for, acquires, racks, and stacks physical devices and develops specifications for virtual devices.
11. Monitors, tracks, and compares systems performance using software-based testing, monitoring, and analysis tools.
12. Monitors environmental systems and conditions within the data center; monitors environmental controls and performs safety checks; makes calculations and implements adjustments as needed; performs design and planning of environmental systems.
13. Resolves and/or troubleshoots systems related issues.
14. Identifies resource needs and allocates resources appropriately; installs and maintains software and tools on servers to ensure proper functioning of system applications.
15. Configures and implements real-time monitoring to identify and resolve service outages and critical resource shortages in a timely and efficient manner.
16. Monitors system performance to identify deficiencies in design, security, installation, and/or integration with other technologies.
17. Performs user data migration and recovery due to hardware/software upgrade or disaster.
18. Configures and maintains patch management of systems.
19. Creates scripts to automate services.
20. Implements system enhancements to improve the performance and reliability of the system; researches, recommends, tests, and implements upgrades and fixes as needed.
21. Develops and recommends comprehensive standards, policies, procedures, and technical documentation pertaining to system maintenance and infrastructure.
22. Stays abreast of new trends and innovations in technology related to District operations; researches, recommends, and evaluates vendor solutions and technologies; implements improvements; works with staff to maintain, revise, or improve operations and systems.
23. Writes and maintains user and technical operating instructions and documentation; provides training to users and other technical staff and advises on best practices.
24. Provides updates, status, and completion information to staff and/or users via voicemail, email, or in-person communication.
25. Serves as technical lead for assigned projects, including gathering user and systems requirements, working with vendors, contractors, project managers, and other project staff, installing, configuring, testing, and providing general technical support, and developing technical and user documentation.
26. Provides support to ETS staff as needed.
27. Performs related duties as assigned.

Knowledge of:

1. Principles of computer operating systems, enterprise infrastructure, and peripheral components.
2. Principles and practices of designing, installing, and maintaining virtualization technologies.
3. Principles and practices of configuring and using of system monitoring tools.
4. Principles and practices of configuring and implementing system backup solutions.
5. Principles, practices, procedures, and techniques involved in installation, configuration, operation, monitoring, and maintenance of server infrastructure and network environments.
6. Techniques and methods of system evaluation, implementation, and documentation.
7. Troubleshooting, configuration, and installation techniques.
8. Basic procedures for creating and modifying systems security.
9. Principles and procedures of record keeping.
10. Customer service and telephone techniques.
11. Modern office practices, methods, and computer equipment and applications related to the work.
12. English usage, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation.
13. Techniques for providing a high level of customer service by effectively dealing with the public,