System Administration Specialist

Global insurance firm located in Cincinnati, OH has an immediate contract opportunity for a System Administration Specialist.

For a complete understanding of this opportunity, and what will be required to be a successful applicant, read on.

• 10+ month contract

Role will be onsite 2-3 times per month

As a System Administration Specialist , you will cover a range of work from Sr. Sys. Admin functions to Senior DevOps work, you will be a part of a tight-knit, and collaborative operations team that covers a wide range of technologies. On this team, you will perform alongside hard-working colleagues in an environment that is focused on ensuring uptime for our Business, Agents, and Customers. We continue maturing our automated deployments while remaining complaint and security focused. The end goal, which is continuously evolving while presenting new challenges, is the digital user experience. The work has a wide range from automating deployments, resolving infrastructure related issues with the Hosting provider, liaison with Security team and Hosting provider to implement new solutions, ensuring uptime 24x7x365, to install new COTS / 3rd Party applications. In this role you will also provide expertise during critical outage events and be a SME for all things related to IT Operations.

Job Responsibilities

As a System Administration Specialist, you will have impact on the organization through the below responsibilities :

Interface with IT Operations management and teams to develop technology strategies and roadmaps for IT Operations and Support. Define highly complex technology-based solutions. Provide technical leadership regarding system design, architecture, and integration.

Provide operational expertise and facilitate implementation of new applications and technologies from development teams, from Infrastructure teams, as well as IT Operations driven solutions

Serve as a dedicated resource for cross team technical leadership

Identify cross functional gaps and develop strategies / processes that promote continuous improvement within IT Operations.

Drive implementation of standards and guidelines utilizing ITIL and generally accepted technology principles by working with functional teams and documenting agreed upon minimum operational requirements.

Work with Architecture, Security, and other technical teams to evaluate upcoming technical needs and projects. Identify potential issues roadblocks and impacts to operational support and implementation. Perform liaison services between ITO and other support / technical teams.

Review and provide input on proposals from an infrastructure and operations perspective, including feasibility, practicality, technical viability, and consistency.

Apply scripting / programming skills to automate system related functions, manual support tasks, and create solutions for improved operations support and productivity.

Utilize strong analytical, problem solving, and general leadership skills to facilitate resolution of complex high priority incidents, issues, and problems.

Serve as a mentor and escalation point for System Administrators to help resolve highly complex application issues and requests.

Engage in CAB processes to identify conflicts and assess risk associated with planned changes.

Develop time estimates for project deliverables.

Learn new tools and skills as needed.

Participate in test planning, development, and execution for integration and system testing.

Be part of an on-call rotation every 6-8 weeks

Minimum Qualifications

At least 10 years related experience

Advanced and diverse experience with server topologies, engineering, monitoring, development, and security fundamentals is essential to the success of this role

Diagnose operational incidents and react to resolve them and meet availability, reliability, or performance objectives with excellent problem-solving skills

Possess an engineer level understanding of standard Windows System Administration

Strong technical and leadership abilities with an ability to work with technical and non-technical resources

Must have strong customer focus, with attention to providing high quality service

Strong technical documentation and diagramming skills

Highly knowledgeable in leading edge products, services, protocols, and standards

Expert in multiple Infrastructure domains with ability to be the go-to person for technical issues in Operations and Infrastructure

Must be adaptable, and able to work in an agile and fast-paced environment

Possess strong communication, interpersonal and partnering skills. Able to garner support, build trust and influence technical decisions for the success of the organization

Strong sense of personal accountability

Ability to learn and apply new technologies quickly and self-directed

Passionate about continuously improving organizational practices

Ideal Qualifications

Expertise within the Annuity, Financial, or Insurance industry

Previous experience with a Policy Administration System (LifePro) and Document management system (Onbase) and scheduling services (Atomic / UC4)

Previous experience working with development teams leveraging .NET (C#, .NET Core, WebAPI / WCF, etc)

Web Services (REST, SOAP, etc.)

Thorough understanding of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) principles