Systems Administrator A - IT Systems & Cloud

About the Opportunity

This is an open position with FirstEnergy Service Co., a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp.

This position is accountable, under general supervision, for installing and maintaining our Microsoft Server & Storage environment in FirstEnergy Corp. while maintaining compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements. This position will directly support FirstEnergy’s critical systems and will have a blended focus of traditional system administration, assisting to automate server administration and build infrastructure services.

Responsibilities Include:

• Design, implement, and maintain system infrastructure to ensure high availability, resilience and performance.
• Install, manage and tune mission-critical Microsoft Server systems and VMWare hosts that support operations 24x7x with minimal downtime.
• Automate and execute Microsoft Server standards that include Citrix servers, application servers, Active Directory servers, specialized support servers, Microsoft File and Print Servers.
• Leverage Infrastructure as Code (IaC) configuration management and automation technologies including Puppet, Ansible, Terraform, Chocolatey and Jenkins to automate infrastructure delivery.
• Automate repetitive tasks to streamline operations and reduce manual intervention.
• Develop and maintain scripting, code or interface APIs where necessary.
• Manage the testing, deployment and automation of patches and software upgrades for Microsoft servers and ESX Hosts.
• Solve complex problems and troubleshoot functionality for issue identification (including debugging); work in conjunction with other IT personnel and implement preventative measures.
• Develop technical designs and estimates to meet the business needs while supporting the company’s overall IT direction and standards.
• Create and maintain system documentation and procedures to ensure governance and standards.
• Provide consulting for new applications/systems requiring Microsoft servers and services.
• Maintain and administer operating systems, server security and Microsoft services.
• Install, upgrade, configure and maintain server systems hardware and software.
• Design and implement disaster recovery procedures.
• Investigate and resolve application problems and enterprise monitoring alarms.
• Strict adherence to company processes, change management and other procedures in accordance with regulatory requirements.

Qualifications include:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field with 3 - 5 years of related experience required. In lieu of a degree, 5 - 7 years of related experience required. VMWare certification preferred.
• Related experience includes, but is not limited to: a production Microsoft Server Administration role, VMWare Administrator role, patch management, PowerShell scripting, site reliability engineering, etc.
• Strong knowledge of the following:
• Microsoft Windows Server deployment using deployment software tools, like Symantec Ghost, Ansible, Terraform, etc.
• Intel/AMD server hardware maintenance and troubleshooting.
• Microsoft Windows Server operating system (///) administration and patch management software
• VMware – Deep understanding of the architecture and design of VMware server virtualization implementations focusing on virtual machine setup and administration. Knowledge of VMware infrastructure (ESX, vSphere, VMware Cloud Foundation, Aria/VCF Ops, etc.) is necessary with a VCP or above certification preferred.
• Proficient in PowerShell and other scripting technologies.
• PowerCLI, Puppet, Ansible, Terraform, Chef or other IaC/orchestration platform.
• Backup technologies such as Veeam.
• Strong network skills for server administration and performance troubleshooting.
• Strong understanding of enterprise monitoring platforms.
• Ability and willingness to travel to company sites, work flexible hours, and be available for call-in and after-hours support (7X24 operations).
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, and strong interpersonal skills to work effectively with people at all levels and with varying backgrounds.
• Experience in providing responsive and effective customer service.
• Highly motivated to work independently and productively within a virtual environment (i.e. working with remote co-workers using virtual technologies).
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively as part of a team.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively prioritize and plan work, work on multiple concurrent tasks, and meet deadlines.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot and solve non-routine problems with little or no guidance.

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Benefits, Compensation & Workforce Diversity

At FirstEnergy, employees are key to our success. We depend on their talents to meet the challenges of our changing business environment. We are committed to rewarding individual and team efforts through our total rewards philosophy which includes competitive pay plus incentive compensation, a company-sponsored pension plan, (k) savings plan with matching employer contribution, a choice of medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, and life insurance programs, as well as skills development training with tuition reimbursement. Please visit our website at to learn more about all of our employee rewards programs. FirstEnergy proudly supports workforce diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with a disability. No recruiters or agencies without a previously signed contract. Unable to sponsor or transfer H-1B visas at this time.

Safety

Safety is a core value for FirstEnergy and is essential to all of our business activities. We ensure employees have the tools, information, and processes to perform their duties in a manner that assures safety for themselves, their co-workers, our customers and the public. Our goals are to provide a safe work environment, to maintain an accident-free, injury-free workplace, and to promote and maintain public safety. To meet these goals, we dedicate ourselves to achieving world-class safety standards.

Position Classification

Exempt

FirstEnergy Human Resources Team