Windows Server Engineer

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the third-largest school district in the United States, serving over 350,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 36,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity. Six core values are embedded within these commitments - student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

The Windows Server Engineer will be assigned to the Server Operations team and will be responsible for assisting management with the overall day-to-day technical operations of our infrastructure consisting of approximately 1800 servers on various Dell hardware and Virtual Servers on Hyper-V. This individual will assess complex technical problems to develop, appraise, and recommend solutions; provide administration and oversight for hardware and/or software infrastructure and processes; and recommend hardware and software solutions, including new acquisitions and upgrades. The ideal candidate is a self-starter, able to drive tasks to completion independently, and able to quickly learn new skills on the job as demands change.

The Windows Server Engineer will be responsible for the following:

• Taking direction from managers or team leads and working independently to complete server provisioning and support tasks
  
  
• Working with team members to provide cross-training on individual roles and responsibilities
  
  
• Managing day-to-day server provisioning, using standard tools
  
  
• Responding to and resolving alerts generated by Server Infrastructure monitoring tools
  
  
• Working with application teams to resolve issues related to software installation onto servers managed by Infrastructure Server Team
  
  

• Consulting with third-party vendors to obtain support, make recommendations, and assist customers with their requests
  
  

• Performing the initial input of Enterprise Server assets into the Server Asset database
  
  
• Participating in Windows server "On-Call" rotation, which provides for an engineer to be available to deal with server emergencies on a 24x7 basis
  
  

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Windows Server Engineer must possess the following qualifications:

Type of Education Required :

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent
  
  
• The following certifications are a plus but not required:
  
  
  • MCSE
    
    
  • VCP
    
    

Type of Experience and Number of Years :

• 3 years+ of Windows Server 2008, 2012 and 2012 R2 in a Hyper-V / System Center Virtual Machine Manager within an Enterprise Datacenter/Cloud Hybrid environment
  
  
• Experience with Microsoft Failover Clustering, Host/OS Patching, Migrations, SCOM, DPM, and Azure administration
  
  

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities :

• Must possess strong planning, organizational, and prioritizing skills. Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.Experience with translating business requirements into IT specifications (strategy, platform selection, reference engineering designs)
  
  
• Must have good interpersonal, leadership, collaboration, facilitation, and negotiation skills and be able to manage conflict
  
  
• Must have excellent communication skills, and be able to explain complex technical issues in a way that non-technical people can understand as well as be able to explain customer needs and priorities in a way that technical people can understand
  
  
• Must be dedicated to improving the lives of Students, Parents, Teachers, and Principals through the judicious use of Information Technology
  
  

Residency Requirement:

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and must maintain residency throughout their employment with the district.