Specialist - Server Support - JWS (35hrs)

Simplication; Burlington; Hybrid; CAD 92,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Professional development funding

Hybrid work arrangement

Work from home up to 50% of time

Job summary

Halton District School Board seeks a Specialist - Server Support to lead its server and enterprise infrastructure. You will manage on‑prem and cloud environments, IAM systems, and security, while producing comprehensive architecture documentation and guiding IT staff.

The role requires strategic oversight, cross‑department collaboration, and a track record in complex incident response, project leadership, and policy development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree in IT or related field with related work experience.
• 7 years in a similar senior IT role with leadership duties.
• Industry certifications in security, identity, cloud or project management.
• Strong written and verbal communication; ability to work independently.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage Server/Enterprise infrastructure projects and teams.
• Oversee server Backups, security, and lifecycle management across on‑prem and cloud.
• Develop standards, policies, and architecture diagrams for enterprise systems.
• Coordinate with NetOps and SecOps to secure data and minimize attack surfaces.
• Guide training and mentorship for Information Services staff.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Critical thinking

AI Fluency

Discretion/Confidentiality

Independent work

Education

Bachelor of Science in Information Technology

Tools

Azure Administrator

Identity and Access Administrator

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner

Fortinet NSE 4

Powershell scripting

VMware VCP

Project Management Certification

Job description

Position: Specialist - Server Support

Salary Range : Band 7- $92,264.00 - $110,026.00

Location: J.W. Singleton Education Centre

Work Schedule: 35 hours/week, 12 months/year

Effective Date: As soon as possible

Position Summary:

The Specialist - Server Support acts as a functional and strategic leader for the HDSB’s server and enterprise infrastructure environment within the Network Operations team. This position is directly responsible for the maintenance, support, backups and security for the HDSB server environment (Central/Corporate, Physical and Cloud), on prem and cloud based Identity and Access Management systems and corporate applications. This position creates organizational standards for the aforementioned environment. It regularly reviews, improves, and enhances standards and documentation and informs board Information Technology strategic direction and budget as they relate to lifecycle management of board technology, enterprise systems, applications, and hardware. The Specialist provides monitoring, auditing, and oversight on the status of the board’s server environment and security, ensuring standards are met or exceeded and future challenges are proactively identified and addressed. The Specialist role uses their expert level knowledge of the board’s core systems to troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues. The Specialist leads and manages Information Services and cross departmental projects; planning, executing, monitoring and revising project materials and documentation as required and works with HDSB stakeholders to inform and manage needs and expectations. This role regularly forms and leads working teams that proactively identify risks, facilitates incident and event response, and identifies, records, and interprets lessons learned to inform policy and procedural changes. The role is responsible for the production of comprehensive architectural documentation for all Enterprise systems. This role provides guidance, training, and mentorship to other Information Services roles and HDSB staff.

The HDSB follows a Work from Home Administrative Procedure. In accordance with this Administrative Procedure and with the approval of the immediate supervisor, employees who work at HDSB administrative sites may work from home for up to 50% of their regularly scheduled hours. Work from Home arrangements may change based on the future needs of the Board. The HDSB offers funding for professional development in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of Employment for management and administration support staff.

Key Responsibilities:

• Independently works with other Information Services staff and Board departments forming working teams to proactively address operational needs or event management
• Provide leadership, guidance, and expertise to the Server Team including but not limited to; Senior Analyst - Server Support, Analysts -Server Support, and Network Operations Team to implement and improve policies and practices to enhance processes, monitoring, investigation, and response
• Provide leadership, guidance and expertise to the executive leadership of the board with respect to the board’s Data Centre and associated Enterprise Hardware and Software solutions
• Handle sensitive information affecting the organization, its resources/assets and prepare management reports to support recommendations for change/improvement in business processes, training and standards
• Work on complex tasks assigned by leadership, which may involve coordination of effort among Level 1/2/3 analysts and or other IT Specialist roles
• Coordinate evidence/data gathering and documentation and review Security Incident reports
• Identify and report security related concerns and work with Security Operations and other Information Services team members to address, remediate, and document identified items
• Leads backup and disaster recovery testing and regularly reviews, informs, enhances and improves related standards and procedures
• Other related duties as assigned

Leads and manages Information Services projects

• Lead the planning, execution, monitoring, and documentation of internal Information Services projects, ensuring they are delivered on time and within identified scope and budget.
• Work with Information Services and other HDSB departments and groups to identify and request required staff resources for project teams
• Collaborate with internal departments, external vendors, and other internal/external stakeholders to define project scope, gather technical requirements, and translate business needs into actionable IT deliverables
• Proactively identify potential technical or scheduling risks and work with the management team to develop mitigation strategies, and resolve roadblocks to keep projects moving forward smoothly
• Act as the bridge between Information Services and other HDSB departments, facilitating clear communication and ensuring alignment on project needs and goals.
• Work with management team to inform project budgets and track expenditures for such as but not limited to hardware, software licenses, and external contractors
• Maintain comprehensive project documentation and deliver regular, transparent status updates to leadership and/or stakeholders
• Ensure all deployed IT solutions meet internal security and quality standards and oversee the successful transition from project phase to operationalization and support
• Effectively communicate technical requirements/details to non-technical stakeholders
• Other related duties as assigned

Leads maintenance, support, and expert level troubleshooting efforts for HDSB’s enterprise systems, services, infrastructure and applications

• Responsible for VM environment including Compute, Storage and Hypervisor, monitoring closely to predict and inform future needs
• Responsible for IDP (Identity Provider) systems including Active Directory and Entra ID
• Leads planning and execution of upgrades, maintenance, security, and operational updates for enterprise hardware and software solutions
• Provide recommendations for improvements to Security Policy, Procedures, and Architecture based on operational insights
• Informs policy and creates, maintains and regularly audits HDSB’s patch management program for all applicable servers, enterprise applications, firmware, etc.
• Works closely with the Network Operations (NetOps) and Security Operations (SecOps) teams to ensure all reasonable precautions are taken to ensure HDSB data is secure and attack surfaces are minimized

Documents, reviews and enhances HDSB standards

• Works with the SecOps team to develop procedures, playbooks, and protocols to respond to zero day and other critical items and build recommendations to improve processes and identify risks to the board
• Creates clear and concise technical documentation and diagrams for all applicable enterprise systems, applications and processes and procedures
• Reviews and assesses department and/or boardwide training needs, documenting and developing training for necessary items
• Documents technical and non-technical standards for the board to inform Information Services team members as well as end users across the HDSB

Qualifications Required:

• Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (a combination of education and related work experience will be considered)
• 7 years in related work (a combination of education and related work experience will be considered)
• Certification from any of the following: ISC2, ISACA, EC-Council, CompTIA
• Microsoft Azure Administrator
• Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator
• AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
• Fortinet NSE 4
• Project Management Certification
• Demonstrated ability to work in an environment with high accountability, discretion, and confidentiality
• Strong critical thinking skills and the ability to work independently with minimal direct oversight or supervision
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to lead, make difficult decisions, and navigate critical, crucial conversations with all stakeholders including but not limited to senior staff and school administration
• Strong Interpersonal skills to lead teams and communicate with non-technical stakeholders
• AI Fluency: prompt engineering, general fluency and critical thinking

Preferred Qualifications:

• 10 years relevant work experience and 2 years experience in a security/cybersecurity related position.
• Demonstrated continued professional development
• Experience with Powershell scripting
• Verbose knowledge of Active Directory
• University of Guelph Certificate in ICT
• University of Guelph Diploma in School Board Administration
• Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance and Identity Fundamentals
• SSCP, CCSP, or equivalent
• VMWare Certified Professional (VCP)
• Fortinet NSE Certification
• OASBO Certificate in Information Management, Privacy, and Access
• Fortinet NSE5+
• Azure Security Admin
• Google Admin Level 2+

Job Category: Management & Professionals - Job Code # 4071808

Memo - AI Use in Interviews

We thank all applicants for their interest in opportunities with the Halton District School Board. Contact will be made with applicants whose experience and qualifications most closely match the requirements of the position. Communication with short-listed applicants will be made through the email address provided on the applicants’ Apply To Education profile page.

First consideration for posted vacancies will be given to qualified applicants from the employee group in which the vacancy occurs.

Applicant Self Identification Questions:

As part of the recruitment and selection function, the HDSB will collect voluntary self identification data from applicants in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code, HDSB’s Teacher Hiring Practices Administrative Procedure, HDSB’s Employment Equity Policy and Ontario’s Anti Racism Data Standards:

Personal information on this form is collected under the authority of the Anti-Racism Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c. 15, in compliance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56. In accordance with HDSB’s Employment Equity Policy, personal information collected on this form will aim to achieve an inclusive, diverse and representative workforce. It works to intentionally identify and remove barriers for equity-deserving communities at each stage of the hiring process. Encouraging diversity of the workforce in the school board is vital because the workforce should be reflective and representative of the community.

Although hiring policies must adhere to the qualification requirements set out in applicable Regulations (eg. Regulation 298, “Operation of Schools – General”) and any applicable collective agreement provisions, the Board recognizes the importance of the following when developing its selection and evaluation criteria:

• valuing applicants’ additional experience, lived experience, skills, backgrounds and perspectives; and
• granting first consideration, where the skills, ability, and qualifications of the applicants are relatively equal, to applicants who self-identify as members of historically under-represented communities.

We encourage you to respond to our voluntary applicant self-identification questions. This data will inform our understanding of the diversity of our applicant pool as well as the progress of applicants throughout the hiring process. This data will inform our goals, strategies and actions and our progress towards creating and sustaining an inclusive and equitable workforce. Any information that you provide in response to these questions will be referred to during the hiring process for this position, and will be shared with the hiring manager and/or committee members responsible for the hiring process.

The section includes questions from Ontario’s Anti-Racism Data Standards (Standards, 2017). The Standards were established to help identify and monitor systemic racism and racial disparities within the public sector. The Standards establish consistent, effective practices for producing reliable information to support evidence-based decision-making and public accountability to help eliminate systemic racism and promote racial equity (adapted from Ontario’s Anti-Racism Data Standards, 2017).

Questions about this collection may be directed to Dixon Mohammed - Manager, Recruitment, Selection and Staffing at [e-mail] .

Accommodation:

Upon request, we will provide reasonable accommodations for candidates who have temporary or permanent disability, or who otherwise require accommodations based on the protected grounds highlighted in the Ontario Human Rights Code in respect to the recruitment and selection process.

Wellness:

The HDSB is committed to providing a respectful and healthy work environment.