Systems Administrator Specialist - Windows

Georgia 4-H; Athens (GA); On-site; USD 61,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Georgia is seeking a Systems Administrator Specialist - Windows in the Athens area. This full-time, onsite role runs 8am–5pm, Monday–Friday, with occasional after-hours. Advertised salary: up to $68,000.

Starting date: 11/23/2026. Not eligible for work authorization sponsorship. Responsibilities include designing, implementing, and maintaining complex Windows systems; coordinating technical initiatives; and ensuring security, availability, and lifecycle compliance across

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent.
• 2 years of professional experience.
• Advanced Windows Server administration and AD design experience.

Responsibilities

• Platform Operations & Service Reliability: manage Windows Server, AD, DNS, PKI, and file services.
• Monitoring, Incident Response & On-Call: analyze logs, respond to incidents, participate in on-call rotation.
• Lifecycle, Security & Change Management: upgrades, migrations, and security controls.
• Automation, Documentation & Continuous Improvement: maintain runbooks and automate tasks with PowerShell.
• Technical Development, Design & Planning: design Windows and identity service solutions and plan upgrades.
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

Skills

Advanced Windows Architecture

Automation & Engineering

Security & Identity

Platform Integration

AI-Assisted Work Practices

Professional Skills

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

Systems Administrator Specialist - Windows

Posting Number S15925P. Department: EITS-Systems Engineering, The University of Georgia. Location: Athens area. This is a full-time, onsite position, 8am - 5pm, Monday - Friday, with occasional after-hours as needed. Advertised salary: up to $68,000. Proposed starting date: 11/23/2026. This position is not eligible for work authorization sponsorship.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent and 2 years of professional experience

Position Summary

The System Administrator Specialist is a senior technical contributor responsible for complex Windows system administration and platform engineering. This role designs, implements, and maintains complex systems; coordinates complex technical initiatives; and ensures assigned platforms meet security, availability, performance, and lifecycle requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain complex systems, services, or infrastructure appropriate to the assigned focus area.
• Plan and execute complex upgrades, migrations, modernization efforts, and lifecycle management initiatives.
• Perform advanced troubleshooting and root cause analysis and implement long-term corrective actions.
• Develop and maintain automation, configuration standards, and reusable administrative or operational frameworks.
• Assess assigned platforms against security, compliance, availability, performance, and risk requirements and implement appropriate controls and remediations.
• Participate in the on-call rotation and respond to after-hours incidents.
• Share technical knowledge and best practices through documentation, collaboration, and peer consultation.
• Collaborate with teammates to accomplish team and institutional goals.
• Adhere to institutional policies, security standards, and change management processes.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and/or Competencies

Advanced Windows Architecture:

Advanced knowledge of Windows Server systems. Proficient administration of enterprise-scale Active Directory environments, including trust relationships, replication troubleshooting, Group Policy design and troubleshooting, and DNS administration.

Automation & Engineering:

Knowledge of advanced PowerShell scripting and tooling. Ability to design and implement reusable automation and administrative frameworks.

Security & Identity:

Strong understanding of Windows authentication mechanisms, certificate and PKI concepts, secure identity and access management, and configuration hardening. Ability to assess technical risk and implement mitigations.

Platform Integration:

Knowledge of integrating Windows platforms with enterprise monitoring, backup, security, identity, and management systems.

AI-Assisted Work Practices:

Ability to effectively use approved AI-assisted tools to support complex troubleshooting, automation, documentation, and system design while validating outputs, protecting sensitive information, assessing limitations and risk, and following institutional requirements.

Professional Skills:

Ability to demonstrate strong attention to detail and effective documentation habits. Ability to follow and reinforce EITS standards and best practices for the assigned focus area. Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical issues. Customer-service mindset.

Physical Demands

Job takes place in normal environmental conditions. This position will spend long periods of time standing and/or sitting at a computer.

Duties/Responsibilities

• Platform Operations & Service Reliability: perform and improve routine, advanced, and complex operations for Windows and identity services; design, implement, maintain, and optimize complex Windows Server, Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, PKI, and file services; resolve complex, recurring, and cross-service issues; and own complex operational work so solutions are protected, tested, documented, sustainable, and integrated. (25% of time)
• Monitoring, Incident Response & On-Call: analyze Windows logs, service status, directory health, policy results, DNS data, and performance metrics; follow incident procedures and participate in the on-call rotation; coordinate complex troubleshooting; restore services and develop long-term corrective actions; and track and document incidents through resolution. (20%)
• Lifecycle, Security & Change Management: execute complex upgrades, migrations, modernization, recovery, and decommissioning; assess security, compliance, availability, performance, and operational risks; plan and implement authorized production changes; perform privileged access, security baselines, vulnerabilities, and recovery activities; and conduct post-implementation reviews. (15%)
• Automation, Documentation & Continuous Improvement: maintain Windows runbooks, diagrams, inventories, and configuration records; implement reusable PowerShell and Windows management tools after evaluating security, dependencies, failure modes, validation, and rollback; and measure approved improvements. (20%)
• Technical Development, Design & Planning: maintain advanced knowledge of Windows Server, Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, PKI, and file services; design complex Windows and identity services solutions; and plan and execute upgrades, identity and policy changes, migrations, deployments, and modernization. (15%)
• Other responsibilities as assigned (5%)

Required Documents

Resume/CV, Cover Letter, and List of References with Contact Information