Systems Architect Supervisor (P109)

Job Description Summary:

Salary: $133,952.00 - $200,928.00 annuallyThe Systems Architect Supervisor is responsible for overseeing the comprehensive enterprise architecture design, development, and deployment of TRWD’s IT systems and infrastructure. This includes managing disaster recovery, cloud infrastructure, server compute and storage, as well as Identity and Access Management (IAM). They ensure that systems meet employee and business requirements while maintaining sustainability, scalability, security, and resilience. Additionally, they evaluate, select, and test technology products critical for solution delivery, and lead the setup, implementation, and documentation of technology integrations or migration strategies. Alongside supervising a small team of Cloud and Systems Engineers, they provide essential technical guidance across the Information Services organization.

Job Description

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

The duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to this position.

Responsibilities include:

• Enterprise Architecture Design and Development: Lead the design and development efforts to architect IT systems that align with organizational objectives and future growth plans. Employ a strategic approach to ensure systems are adaptable, scalable, and capable of meeting evolving business needs. Act as part of the Enterprise Architecture Review Board to ensure technology solutions across all technical stacks are implemented to effectively meet business goals. 
• Technology Evaluation and Selection: Evaluate emerging technologies and tools to determine their suitability for integration into TRWD’s IT infrastructure. Conduct thorough testing and analysis to assess the performance, reliability, and security of potential solutions.
• Supervision and Team Leadership: Manage and mentor a team of Cloud and Systems Engineers, providing guidance and support to foster their professional growth and development. Coordinate team efforts to achieve project milestones and deliverables effectively.
• Technical Guidance and Collaboration: Serve as a technical authority within the Information Services organization, offering expertise and insights on complex architectural decisions. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align technology initiatives with business objectives and requirements.
• Website Portfolio Management: Oversee the hosting and management of TRWD’s portfolio of websites, ensuring optimal performance, reliability, and security. Collaborate with web development teams to implement best practices and leverage innovative solutions for website optimization.
• Identity and Access Management (IAM): Implement and maintain robust IAM policies and procedures to safeguard sensitive data and resources. Ensure proper authentication, authorization, and access controls are in place to protect against unauthorized access and data breaches.
• Cloud Architecture and Services (Microsoft Azure): Design and implement cloud architecture solutions leveraging Microsoft Azure services. Ensure scalability, reliability, and security of cloud-based infrastructure while optimizing cost and performance.
• Cost Management: Monitor and optimize infrastructure costs to ensure efficient resource utilization and alignment with budgetary constraints. Implement cost-saving measures and identify opportunities for optimization to maximize ROI.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity: Develop and maintain disaster recovery and business continuity plans to mitigate the impact of potential disruptions. Implement robust backup and recovery strategies to ensure data integrity and availability in the event of system failures or disasters.
• Telemetry Management: Oversee the collection, analysis, and interpretation of telemetry data to monitor system performance, identify potential issues, and optimize resource utilization. Utilize telemetry insights to make data-driven decisions and drive continuous improvement efforts around capacity, vulnerability, and performance management. 
• Vulnerability Management: Implement and oversee vulnerability management processes to identify, prioritize, and remediate security vulnerabilities across the IT infrastructure. Collaborate with security teams to implement patches and updates in a timely manner, ensuring the organization remains protected against potential threats.
• Incident, Problem, and Change Management: Establish and enforce incident, problem, and change management processes for infrastructure components. Ensure timely resolution of incidents and problems while minimizing the impact of changes on operations.
• Documentation and Knowledge Management: Maintain detailed documentation of architecture designs, integration plans, and technology evaluations. Facilitate knowledge sharing and best practices dissemination to enhance team efficiency and effectiveness.

Required Experience:

• A minimum of ten (10) years progressive experience involving IT systems administration and engineering within a virtualized Windows Server and Azure Cloud environment.
• Previous supervisory experience involving diverse and highly technical teams.
• Demonstrated automation and infrastructure as code (IaC) experience (e.g. PowerShell, Ansible, ARM templates, Bicep, Azure CLI).
• Expertise in implementing and deploying VMWARE ESXi, VMWare Virtual Center and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Hyper V, and other enterprise virtualization solutions.
• Serverless hosting using containerization (Docker, K8, etc.)
• Experience managing both native Microsoft Azure and hybrid cloud solutions using Azure Arc.
• Identity and Access Management in hybrid Active Directory/Entra environments. 
• Previous management of enterprise storage solutions such as SAN, NAS, SDS, Azure Storage Accounts
• Capacity, performance, and security analysis using telemetry repositories such as Elastic or Splunk.
• Technical documentation of complex IT systems.
• Advanced knowledge of data security administration principles, method, and techniques including firewalls, network, intrusion detection systems, file integrity monitoring, anomaly detection, and DLP rules.
• Identify training budget needs
• Performance review alignment
• Job description review
• Maintain familiarity with strategic District levels of service
• Continuous improvement monitoring and innovation efforts
• Perform other duties as required

Required Education/Certification/License:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field of study. An additional five (5) years of work experience in the enterprise technology industry can be used in lieu of degree.
• Must pass a Texas DPS/FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) criminal history background check and maintain CJIS eligibility
• Valid Texas driver’s license

Desired Education/Certification/License:

• TOGAF, Zachman, or equivalent enterprise architecture certification
• Microsoft Azure certification
• ITIL or COBIT certification
• VMware VCDX, VCAP  

Success Factors/Job Competencies:

• Detailed technical documentation skills
• Adhering to and creating policies and procedures
• Excellent problem-solving ability and second order strategic thinking
• Strong attention to detail to diagnose resolve systemic problems
• Ability to work outside regular working hours as needed by the client, including evenings and weekends
• Self-motivated, ability to learn new technologies quickly and independently
• Planning – ability to think ahead and plan over five (5) years
• Strong team player

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 the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Physical demands: While performing duties of job, employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hand to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; balance; stoop; talk and hear.  Must not be afraid of heights.  Must be able to drive necessary distances when required.  Employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Work environment: While performing the duties of this job, the employee typically resides within an office or cubicle and may have occasional fieldwork that will expose the employee to weather conditions prevalent at the time.