Principal, Analysis/Systems Engineering

JOB TITLEDirector, Systems EngineeringLOCATIONWorcesterDEPARTMENT NAMEInfrastructure Services and ArchitectureDIVISION NAMEWorcester Polytechnic Institute - WPIJOB DESCRIPTION SUMMARYReporting to the Assistant Chief Technology Officer, Infrastructure Services and Architecture, the Director of Systems Engineering will oversee the operation, administration, and engineering of the university's systems environment, including servers, storage, cloud computing, and virtualization, along with infrastructure DevOps, application system and security support, and Campus Safety Services. Information technology plays a vital and ever-expanding role in the institutional mission. The institution's information technology environment is highly distributed and diverse, and the Director of Systems Engineering must be an adept and informed leader who can offer strategic vision, comprehensive planning, and direct technical involvement alongside the engineers who report to the role. This senior leadership role is responsible for ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the systems that support the university's educational and operational objectives, and for the reliability of the physical access control, video surveillance, emergency radio, and emergency phone systems that support campus safety.Provide strategic direction for systems operations and administration, storage, cloud computing and virtualization, application system and security support, and Campus Safety Services.Develop staff, set clear performance expectations, and manage workload and operational tasks across the systems team.Work with other groups within IT and other business units as needed to develop solutions for unique system requirements, including technical and regulatory requirements.Systems, Storage, Virtualization, and Cloud EngineeringWorking directly with the Systems Engineers who report to this role, direct the design, implementation, and management of the university's physical and virtual server infrastructure, enterprise storage and backup platforms, and AWS and Azure cloud environments.Participate actively in solution design, technical review, and implementation planning alongside the engineering team.Ensure efficient utilization of resources through effective virtualization, capacity planning, and lifecycle management.Lead the evaluation, selection, and adoption of new platform technologies to enhance systems capabilities.Ensure new implementations are documented, supportable, and aligned with institutional standards and architecture.Systems Operations and AdministrationOversee the team that performs the day-to-day operation and administration of the university's systems environment, ensuring the stability, availability, and performance of all system components.Ensure all key services, systems, and components are under appropriate monitoring and alerting.Ensure that all documentation and databases are up to date and accurate, including asset inventory and configuration records.Serve as the senior escalation point for the team during major incidents, directing the response, restoring service, and driving root cause analysis and preventive action to completion.DevOps, Automation, and Process ImprovementManage the DevOps resource supporting the infrastructure organization, receiving strategic DevOps and automation requirements from the Assistant CTO and directing the work accordingly.Identify commonly performed actions, repeated requests, and recurring requirements across every area reporting to this role, including systems operations, storage, virtualization, cloud, application system support, and Campus Safety Services.Define, document, and standardize the processes behind that work so it can be measured and performed consistently by both full-time employees and the managed service provider.Measure the effect of automation and process improvement on toil, cycle time, and error rates, and adjust priorities based on results.Application System and Security SupportOwn the systems and middleware layer beneath the university's enterprise and departmental applications, including database platforms, web services, and load balancing.Ensure that these platforms are appropriately sized, patched, monitored, hardened, and recoverable.Partner with application owners and the Office of Information Security to remediate vulnerabilities and apply security controls at the system and middleware layer.Coordinate maintenance windows and upgrade planning with application stakeholders to minimize disruption to academic and administrative operations.Campus Safety ServicesOversee the technology, operation, and support of campus safety systems, including physical card access, video surveillance, emergency radios, and the emergency phone system.Oversee deployment, upgrade, and lifecycle planning for campus safety technology, including coverage associated with building renovation and construction projects.Collaborate with Campus Police, Facilities, and external vendors and integrators to align technology capability with campus safety requirements.Security, Compliance, and ResilienceEnsure all systems components meet institutional security and compliance requirements, and implement best practices for securing server, storage, virtualization, cloud, and campus safety infrastructure.Ensure system designs and procedures are aligned with, and capable of enforcing, university policies and best practices.Ensure backup, recovery, and business continuity capabilities are designed, documented, and regularly tested against defined recovery objectives.Ensure vulnerabilities are remediated within institutional service level targets and provide the Information Security operations team with the access and tooling required to identify, locate, and isolate systems involved in security incidents.Support audit activity and the production of control evidence, and assist Information Security in drafting policies that overlap with the systems team.Oversee vendor relationships and negotiate contracts for systems, storage, cloud, and campus safety related services and products, interacting directly with vendors, resellers, and integrators.Qualifications:4-year bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or Information Technology, or equivalent experience. A bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field is preferred.Minimum of 7 years of experience, including direct leadership of a systems, infrastructure, or operations team.Excellent strategic thinking and planning abilities.Deep understanding of server, storage, virtualization, and cloud computing technologies across both Windows and Linux environments.Working knowledge of the middleware layer supporting enterprise applications, including database platforms, web services, and load balancing.Ability to direct DevOps and automation resources against strategic requirements set by the Assistant CTO.Knowledge of physical access control, video surveillance, and emergency communications systems.Strong problem-solving and decision-making capabilities, including the ability to serve as a senior escalation point during major incidents.Windows Server: Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Administrator Associate (Exam AZ-802), or the predecessor Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate (Exams AZ-800 and AZ-801).Cloud platforms: Microsoft Certified: AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate or AWS Certified Solutions Architect.Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA, EX200) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE); the Red Hat Certified Specialist in Deployment and Systems Management (EX403) additionally covers Red Hat Satellite.NetApp: NetApp Certified Data Administrator, ONTAP (NCDA), or a NetApp Certified Implementation Engineer (NCIE) specialty such as Data Protection or SAN.Salary Grade 11: $109,000 - $135,000 per year (depending on experience)Salary is based on related experience, expertise, and internal equity; All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or disability. It seeks individuals from all backgrounds and experiences who will contribute to a culture of creativity, collaboration, inclusion, problem solving, innovation, high performance, and change making. SummaryLocation: WorcesterType: Full time