IT Operations Support Specialist (Contract)

Core Competencies

• Analysis and problem solving
• Team orientated
• Results driven
• Judgment and decision making
• Communications

Function

The IT operations analyst will work very closely with the rest of the IT operations teams to:

• Provide proactive, in-depth operational support of cloud-based infrastructure and systems in a fast paced, rapidly growing, geographically distributed environment
• Contribute to the ongoing efforts to improve the security posture and mitigate risk
• Proactively monitor and report on the health and security of systems
• Drive continuous service performance improvements
• Assume ownership and respond to service requests and incidents, perform root cause analysis
• Take corrective actions for alerts and events or escalate as appropriate
• Escalate to and work with, internal teams, suppliers and service providers as needed
• Create and update documentation and standard operational procedures
• Work outside of business hours and in the weekends as needed

Responsibilities

Security

• Implement security measures to protect systems and networks to prevent data breaches and loss
• Report regularly and update on tasks, activities, progress and the overall state of security
• Analyze and assess potential vulnerabilities and suggest ways to improve security
• Perform risk assessments, deploy and manage relevant monitoring and alerting systems
• Analyze and manage access controls and permissions
• Manage and optimize backups and recovery tools and processes
• Review and analyze activity logs to detect and react to anomalies or suspicious activities
• Response to and resolve cybersecurity incidents following best practices and internal processes
• Contribute to the improvement of the security incident response team and processes

Infrastructure

• Build, optimize and support virtual and cloud-based systems and networks
• Ensure that the environment conform to the availability, performance, capacity, and security requirements and best practices
• Monitor and maintain systems health, performance and capacity
• Manage user accounts, access and permissions
• Deploy, automate and manage systems patching, upgrades and security configurations

Qualifications and Skills

• High competence in the following systems, tools and technologies:
  • Windows Server operating systems (OS, AD, FS, GPOs, DHCP)
  • Microsoft PowerShell scripting and Azure command line
  • Networking principles and protocols, TCP/IP/DHCP/DNS/LAN/WAN/VLAN/VPN
  • Operational management and monitoring tools (SCCM, Intune, SCOM)
  • Endpoint protection and security tools (CrowdStrike, Defender, Rapid7, etc.)
  • Centralized logging and alerting systems and tools
  • Security information and event management systems (SIEM)
• Data protection, backup and disaster recovery (Veeam and Symantec)
• A mind-set towards integration, automation and continuous improvement
• MS Azure services setup, configuration and support
• MS 365 services setup, configuration and support
• Operational support of highly available production environments
• Support of IT service operations, incident, problem and change management and controls
• Flexibility, time management skills and ability to prioritize and deliver on time
• Ability to work on multiple projects activities and tasks simultaneously
• Ability to work with minimum supervision

Education, Certifications and Experience Requirements

• University or college degree in IT or related field.
• 5+ years of relevant work experience in a windows-based environment
• 2+ years of experience in MS Azure and MS365
• Professional certifications in networks, system administration and security is considered an asset
• ITIL certification or previous experience is required