Located on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is a progressive institution offering rigorous, intellectually challenging academics paired with commitments to racial justice, child advocacy, ecological regeneration, and intentional spiritual formation that trains the mind, body, and spirit. Through a diverse curriculum, students are stretched theologically and exposed to new models of ministry that equip them for ministry in the 21st century. Garrett serves the church, the academy, and the world by preparing public theologians and scholars.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary has made the health and safety of our employees a top priority. We are continuing to work remotely until July 26, 2021, and will only enable employees and students who have been vaccinated to return to campus at that time. This position will initially work remotely with the need to visit campus once hired for training and then periodically as needed until we reopen campus. On July 26, this position would then work on our campus located at 2121 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60201.
This position has a schedule of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and is an exempt salaried position. We anticipate this position traveling less the 10% of the time with travel predominantly needed to attend conferences and other professional development. No travel would take place until Illinois reaches Phase 5 of its reopening.
Position Summary
The System Administrator reports to the Director of Technology and is responsible for the operation and planning of all technical systems at Garrett. You should be able to diagnose and resolve problems quickly and can communicate with a variety of interdisciplinary teams and users. You will plan, organize, and execute projects that continue innovation at Garrett.
The goal is to ensure optimal operations of systems, efficient use of company resources, and secure operations of information systems. You will facilitate, communicate, and apply the collective know-how of all members of Garrett to advance and replicate the mission through the practical and strategic use of technical systems. The System Administrator must have exceptional problem-solving skills to diagnose, evaluate, and resolve complex problems, and act as the knowledge expert on the Technology team. Through group training, documentation, workshops, seminars, and custom training sessions, the System Administrator will deliver hands-on instruction on technical capabilities as well as best practices for systems at Garrett. They must understand complex, mission-critical processes and be able to apply technical expertise to the maintenance and effective use of systems. The System Administrator should have strong familiarity with and experience with large enterprise systems, self-direction, attention to detail, organizational skills, and the ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
Required Education and Experience
- 4-year degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
- 5 – 10 years of prior experience as a system administrator.
Preferred Education and Experience
- Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
- Strong technical experience in enterprise-level systems.
- Demonstrated understanding and experience with classroom workflows and technologies.
- Debugging, optimization tuning, and troubleshooting skills, including experience in analyzing and troubleshooting the interactions between databases, operating systems, and applications.
- Proven experience in managing multiple complex assignments with sensitivity to deadlines, priorities, and changing circumstances.
- Expert with the Microsoft stack including 365, Teams, and Azure.
- Proficient in VMWare, Windows Server, and Web Services (IIS).
- Proficient in Cloud, Server, and SAN design and deployment.
- Proficient with the Jenzabar J1/EX Student Information System.
- Strong technical understanding of enterprise-level systems that support teaching and learning (curriculum management, evaluation, assessment, etc.)
- Programming experience in multiple languages and the ability to integrate systems.
- Proficient with learning management systems (e.g. Moodle, Canvas).
- Experience with Library software such as Alma.
- Proven record and ability to communicate with and influence key stakeholders in the educational arena including deans, degree directors, course instructors, academic directors, and other educational professionals across the institutional setting.
- Fluency in Spanish.
Essential functions and responsibilities
- Manage the deployment, maintenance, development, upgrade, and support of all IT systems, including telecommunications, PCs, Macs, operating systems, hardware, software, peripherals, printers, phone equipment, audio-visual, storage, servers, and other systems.
- Partner with faculty, staff, and students to set school strategy for creating distinctive and innovative educational experiences using technology both inside and outside the classroom.
- Provide system administration for Jenzabar J1, other enterprise applications, and all corresponding database systems.
- Test and install all application patches following change-control management and vendor-recommended best practices and procedures and supervises all vendor updates.
- Create and maintain system and database scripts, scheduled processes, and application integrations; utilize SQL and reporting tools to create packages, functions, views, and processes to aid in reporting, query optimization, standardization, and database maintenance.
- Ensure that maintenance, upgrade, and modification activities are properly planned, documented, and scheduled; and communicated to end users in a timely manner.
- Help end users with report writing/troubleshooting; and develop SQL queries and InfoMaker reports to aid end-users with complex reporting needs.
- Provide on call support during non-office hours for support, emergencies, and project work as required.
Determine and implement, with management’s input, security standards across all systems. - Develop and maintain procedures, guides, handouts, runbooks, and other technical documentation and training materials.
- Maintain, track, and manage all hardware, infrastructure, and equipment.
- Ensure data integrity and disaster recovery viability.
- Provide support to end users.
- Lead workshops, seminars, and training sessions for faculty, staff, and students.
- Consider the efficient use of financial resources in school systems.
- Maintain active connections with peer and industry partners to stay apprised of new and emerging academic technologies in a way that directly informs innovation and investments in education.
- Provide leadership for, and be responsible for, implementing technology that helps enable the strategic goals of Garrett.
- Provide leadership and training for the deployment of tools, solutions and platforms needed for these strategic goals.
- Collaborate with departments on existing and/or needed investments in technology and related staffing to develop a comprehensive school-wide model for technology base-line and staffing.
- Promote and support teaching and learning innovations for EdTech.
- Detailed awareness of business issues as they impact overall project plans.
- Other duties as assigned.
Success factors/job competencies
- Knowledge of best practices in technology for educational institutions.
- Understanding of the academic and business processes of higher education and the interrelationships between departments, data, and systems.
- Extensive knowledge of databases, networks, report writing, SQL databases, hardware, and end-user tools.
- Advanced level of computer hardware and software technical capacity.
- Excellent time-management skills, self-managed, proactive work style.
- Ability to perform duties with accuracy and confidentiality.
- Results oriented and has the ability to link decisions to academic, administrative, and strategic goals.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills including ability to build relationships, gain consensus, establish effective working relationships, and effectively communicate with diverse populations across the institution’s faculty, administrators, and students.
- Customer service orientation and collaboration mindset.
- Problem analysis and problem resolution at both strategic and functional levels.
- Highest possible integrity and professionalism with the capability of developing and maintaining credibility throughout the organization and externally, and to hold and maintain confidential student data as it relates to FERPA guidelines for electronic data and multimedia.
- Radical hospitality orientation, servant leadership, and collaboration mindset.
- Enthusiasm for the strategy, culture, institutional mission, curricular objectives, and people of Garrett.
Physical demands and work environment
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee must be able to stand, walk, sit, use hands to finger, handle or feel objects, reach with hands and arms, climb stairs, bend, crawl, safely climb a step ladder up to 10 feet, and lift/move up to 25 pounds. Must be able to have repetitive wrist hand and/or finger movement to type and work on computer. Must have finger dexterity and hand-eye coordination to work on computer, telephone, and related office equipment. The individual will regularly be required to communicate professionally in person, over the phone, and through email; and to sit, type, and stare at a computer monitor for prolonged periods.
Work environment: Employee occasionally may be exposed to weather conditions prevalent at the time, but work is primarily performed indoors. Noise levels in the work environment are usually minimal with occasional exposure to moderate noise levels. Occasional evening/weekend work.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is an equal opportunity employer and believes in equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. Accordingly, all employment decisions are based on the principles of equal opportunity. These decisions include recruitment, selection, promotion, transfer, discipline, compensation, benefits, training, and other personnel actions involving persons in all job titles and shall occur without regard to actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, genetic information, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, creed, ancestry, marital status, citizenship status, order of protection status, homelessness, arrest record, victim of domestic violence, common conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, or any other characteristic protected by law.
No individual will be denied nor receive special employment opportunities based on membership status in any protected category. Every employee of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary is expected to support this equal opportunity and nondiscrimination commitment by conducting themselves in a manner consistent with the intent and spirit of this policy.