Senior Systems EngineerAmerican Public Education, Inc.The Senior Systems Engineer supports and improves hybrid infrastructure across Windows Server, virtualization, enterprise applications, cloud services, identity platforms, and security-related systems. This role helps ensure system reliability, performance, security, audit readiness, and operational continuity across production and non-production environments. The Sr Systems Engineer is expected to apply disciplined change management, documentation, automation, and troubleshooting practices while partnering with infrastructure, application, security, and support teams.
Responsibilities:- Provides support for production enterprise environments located in Charles Town, WV; co-location facilities; the disaster recovery site; and other branch offices.
- Provides support for additional on-premises and Cloud environments (development, test, staging, production copy, etc.).
- Partners with engineering, application, security, and business teams to implement, maintain, and document hardware, software, virtualization, cloud, and automation solutions in alignment with approved designs, standards, and operational procedures.
- Install, manage, and troubleshoot servers (physical, virtual, and cloud-based), backup systems, and related operating systems/software.
- Administers and maintains server-level user accounts, groups, permissions, and access rights across supported infrastructure platforms in accordance with approved access management, least-privilege, and segregation-of-duties practices.
- Supports segregation of duties and least-privilege principles in account and access management.
- Manages updates, patches, upgrades, configuration changes, and code deployments across on-premises and cloud environments through approved change control processes to support availability, security, audit readiness, and compliance with SOX and internal controls.
- Maintains documentation and evidence of operational procedures to support audit readiness.
- Monitors and reports on system performance, usage, capacity, and costs-including Cloud resource utilization and optimization opportunities.
- Recommend, schedule, and perform infrastructure improvements, upgrades, and repairs across on-premises and Cloud environments.
- Anticipate, mitigate, identify, respond to and resolve problems affecting server performance, efficiency, and availability.
- Assists in developing enterprise network and server solutions per requirements including the creation of functional requirement documents, project plans and detailed implementation plans.
- Develops and documents instructions and guidelines for assigned functions.
- Supports the availability, resiliency, monitoring, and incident response processes for identified mission-critical infrastructure and application services.
- Performs backup, recovery, and archiving duties.
- Provides escalation support and technical guidance to infrastructure engineers, systems engineers, VoIP support, endpoint support, and service desk teams as needed.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
- Administers and maintains enterprise virtualization platforms (e.g., VMware vSphere/ESXi, Hyper-V, or equivalent), including management of virtual machine lifecycles, templates, snapshots, and resource allocation to support performance, availability, and capacity requirements.
- Supports hybrid infrastructure environments by integrating on-premises virtualized systems with Cloud services to ensure consistent operations across platforms.
- Develops and uses automation and scripting (e.g., PowerShell or infrastructure-as-code tools where applicable) to improve consistency, efficiency, and reliability of system provisioning, configuration, and maintenance tasks.
- Supports cloud resource optimization efforts, including evaluating utilization and rightsizing workloads.
Requirements: - 5+ years of progressively responsible systems engineering or infrastructure operations experience in a mid-sized to large enterprise environment, preferably supporting Microsoft, virtualization, cloud, identity, networking, and security-related platforms.
- Experience with cloud-based administration, including deployment, configuration, and management of Cloud resources.
- Working knowledge of infrastructure networking concepts used in systems engineering, including DNS, DHCP, routing, firewall concepts, load balancing, segmentation, and connectivity between on-premises and cloud environments.
- Ability to perform occasional hands-on infrastructure work, including lifting equipment up to 50 pounds and accessing data center, IDF, or office spaces as needed, with or without reasonable accommodation.
- Requires occasional travel to data centers, branch offices, and other company-supported locations as business needs require.
- Core support hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., and this role will participate in the rotating 24x7x365 on-call schedule.
- Knowledge of identity services, directory platforms, SQL administration, and networking technologies, including experience with Active Directory, Entra ID or equivalent cloud identity services, DNS, DHCP, and related access management practices.
- Experience installing, configuring, troubleshooting, securing, patching, backing up, recovering, monitoring, and tuning Windows Server environments and related enterprise platforms. Advanced troubleshooting skills are preferred.
- Experience with Windows Server, Active Directory, Entra ID or equivalent identity platforms, IIS, endpoint or configuration management tools, collaboration platforms, and enterprise application hosting.
- Experience using PowerShell and automation practices to support provisioning, configuration, maintenance, reporting, and operational consistency across infrastructure platforms.
- Familiarity with load balancing, application delivery, and high-availability technologies, such as F5, cloud load balancers, or equivalent platforms.
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively.
- Ability to mentor Tier 1 technicians on application issues.
- Proven judgment and demonstrated understanding of operational priorities.
- Must be flexible enough to meet the demands of a fluid and changing environment.
- Excellent problem-solving abilities.
- Methodical, organized, and detail-oriented.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to learn new skills as needed.
- Experience with infrastructure monitoring, security and compliance tooling, certificate management, privileged access controls, backup and recovery platforms, enterprise applications, and service management processes is preferred.
Education/Certifications:- Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems (MIS), Computer Science, Information Technology
- Relevant certifications are preferred but not required, such as Microsoft, Azure, VMware, AWS, Cisco, ITIL, CompTIA, security, or other infrastructure-related certifications.
- A+
- I-NET+
- MCP
- MCSA
- MCSE+I
Competencies:
- Collaborates: Builds and maintains effective partnerships with team members and stakeholders, working collaboratively to achieve shared goals and resolve challenges effectively.
- Communicates Effectively: Delivers clear, concise, and tailored communications through various modes (e.g., written, verbal, and visual) to meet the unique needs of diverse audiences.
- Customer Focus: Cultivates strong relationships with internal and external customers by actively listening to their needs and providing timely, customer-centric solutions.
- Demonstrates Self-Awareness: Regularly seeks and incorporate feedback from peers, leaders, and stakeholders to understand and address personal strengths and areas for growth.
- Ensures Accountability: Consistently meets deadlines and delivers on commitments, ensuring work quality and aligning with organizational standards.
- Innovation & Improvement: Encourages forward-thinking solutions, process improvements, and a culture of learning to enhance efficiency and team effectiveness.
