Position: Senior IT Systems Engineer

Position Type: Full-time

Department: IT

Location: Boulder, CO

Experience: 7+ years with a Bachelor degree in Computer Science, or equivalent qualification from a recognized tertiary institution, MCSE/MCTIP certified or another relevant Information Technology discipline.

Watchmaker Genomics is inviting applications for the full-time position of Senior IT Systems Engineer, an onsite role in our Boulder, Colorado office. This position reports to the Director Global IT and will design, plan, and implement and maintain IT infrastructure and cloud services, change management, problem identification and resolution, and configuration management activities. Additionally, this position is expected to assist in the creation of new processes, work instructions, infrastructure documentation and knowledge base articles.

The successful candidate will thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced working environment and contribute directly to our company culture and success. This position will offer unique challenges, learning and growth including the opportunity to build and supervise a global service desk team.

Responsibilities

Core responsibilities

• System Design and Architecture: Design, plan, and implement complex IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, networks, and cloud services.
• System Administration and Maintenance: Execute or oversee the installation, configuration, and maintenance of servers, virtual environments, and enterprise applications.
• Performance Monitoring and Optimization: Monitor system performance, troubleshoot issues, and optimize infrastructure for stability, security, and efficiency.
• Security and Compliance: Implement and manage security protocols, patch management, and backup/recovery processes to ensure data protection and regulatory compliance.
• Automation and Scripting: Develop and use automation tools/scripts to streamline operations and system management.
• Technical Leadership: Provide guidance to junior engineers, lead IT projects, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to meet business objectives.
• Computer Systems Validation: Perform required Computer Systems Validation actions.

Maintenance and Business Continuity

• Disaster Recovery Planning: Design and implement disaster recovery (DR) plans, ensuring critical systems and data can be restored in case of failure or outage.
• Backup Management: Oversee regular backups of data, systems, and configurations, ensuring that backups are complete, secure, and recoverable.
• System Redundancy: Implement and maintain redundancy for key systems (e.g., servers, storage, network components) to minimize downtime and ensure business continuity during failures.
• Disaster Recovery Testing: Conduct regular DR testing and simulations to validate the effectiveness of recovery plans, ensuring systems can be restored according to recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs).
• Incident Response: Lead response efforts during major system outages or disasters, coordinating recovery activities, and communicating status updates to stakeholders.
• Documentation and Updates: Maintain detailed documentation of continuity and recovery procedures, regularly reviewing and updating plans to align with business changes and new technologies.

Troubleshooting

• System Diagnosis: Identify, analyze, and resolve issues related to servers, networks, storage, and applications.
• Root Cause Analysis: Investigate recurring problems to determine the underlying causes and implement long-term solutions.
• Performance Issues: Troubleshoot slow or underperforming systems by analyzing resource usage (CPU, memory, disk) and resolving bottlenecks.
• Network and Connectivity Issues: Diagnose and resolve network outages, latency, or connectivity problems across local and wide-area networks (LAN/WAN).
• Security and Access Problems: Address security issues like unauthorized access, malware, or firewall misconfigurations, ensuring system integrity and protection.

Monitor and Maintain

• Performance Monitoring: Continuously track the performance of servers, networks, and storage systems to identify and resolve bottlenecks.
• System Health Checks: Regularly assess the status of hardware, software, and virtual environments to ensure they are running optimally.
• Security Monitoring: Monitor for security threats, vulnerabilities, and unusual activities using tools like firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), and security information and event management (SIEM).
• Incident and Alert Management: Respond to system alerts, outages, and incidents promptly, ensuring minimal downtime and quick recovery.
• Capacity Planning: Monitor resource usage (CPU, memory, storage) and forecast future needs to ensure system scalability and reliability.

Cloud Based Solutions Monitoring

• Cloud infrastructure monitoring and maintenance;
• Regular cloud costing reviews;
• Support cloud engineers in troubleshooting;
• Monitor adherence to internal business processes and procedures;
• Submit, track and optimize purchasing from existing and new suppliers.

Required Experience:

• Extensive experience designing, implementing, and managing complex IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, virtualization, and cloud services (Azure);
• Experience in configuring and using
• Microsoft Azure Active Directory,
• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint,
• Microsoft Endpoint Management,
• Microsoft Identity and Access administration,
• Microsoft Intune and other administrative tools are required;
• Proficiency in managing and administering Windows servers, including Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, and other core services;
• Hands-on experience with virtualization technologies;
• Strong knowledge of network protocols, firewalls, VPNs, load balancing, and experience with security best practices, including vulnerability assessments, patching, and implementing security frameworks;
• Experience with automation tools and scripting languages (e.g., PowerShell, Python, Bash) for automating system administration tasks and managing large-scale environments;
• Practical experience designing and executing disaster recovery plans, including the management of backup systems and ensuring business continuity;
• Experience leading or participating in IT projects, including system upgrades, migrations, and deployments, with the ability to coordinate across teams;
• Strong interpersonal skills and an ability to work as an effective member of a team;

Proven ability to mentor and guide junior engineers, and lead teams or projects, ensuring best practices and effective collaboration.

Preferred Additional Experience:

• Experience in multi-national or corporate environments are essential;
• Experience with the ITIL framework and other IT Service management tools;
• Using ERP, CRM and another enterprise business management tools;
• Familiarity with industry standards and regulations such as ISO, NIST, POPIA, GDPR, or HIPAA, and experience implementing security policies to meet compliance requirements;
• Computer Systems Validation (CSV) experience in manufacturing environments;

The candidate must demonstrate the following skills:

• Analytical and problem solving skills;
• Effective written, verbal and presentation and listening communications skills;
• Business relationship management;
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills;
• Stress and Time management.

The candidate must demonstrate the following personal attributes:

• Honest and trustworthy;
• Possess cultural awareness and sensitivity;
• Flexible and able to work long hours.

Qualifications and Education:

• 7+ years with a Bachelor degree in Computer Science, or equivalent qualification from a recognized tertiary institution, MCSE/MCTIP certified or another relevant Information Technology discipline.

Additional information:

Environmental Conditions - Successful candidate(s) may have to manage a number of projects at one time, and may be interrupted frequently to meet the needs and requests of clients. The environment can be busy, noisy and the engineer will need excellent organizational, time and stress management skills to complete the required tasks.

Mental Demands - Successful candidate(s) deals with a stressful environment as many of the end users are on deadlines and require immediate service delivery or incident resolution. It is also a well connected environment with transactional databases where continuous connectivity must be ensured.

Compensation

The budgeted range for this position starts at $100,000 - $120,000 + bonus + equity; actual pay will be adjusted based on skills and experience. Employees are eligible for Flexible Time Off, Holidays, employer covers 75% of base medical plan with buy-up options, EAP (employee assistance program), employer paid dental, employer paid vision, employer paid $25,000 life/AD&D policy, paid parental leave, and a 401(k) retirement plan.

Application Requirements

To apply for the position, please submit the following in a PDF format on watchmakergenomics.com:

• Letter of motivation (upload where it says cover letter)
• Resume or Curriculum vitae, highlighting relevant qualifications and experience

Applications without a Letter of Motivation will not be considered. Local candidates preferred.

If selected to participate in the interview process, the names and contact information of three professional references who are able to assess your suitability for the position in terms of the specified requirements will be requested.

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WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER

Watchmaker Genomics is committed to being an equal opportunity employer and creating a culturally diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability status, age, or veteran status or any other characteristics as protected by applicable law.

All applicants will be asked if currently eligible to work in the United States of America; and if now or in the future will require visa sponsorship to continue working in the United States.

This position may be subject to pre-employment checks, including driving history check, drug screening and a background check for any convictions directly related to its duties and responsibilities. All pre-employment checks will comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws.