Appian System Administrator - RES

Semper Valens Solutions•Canyon Lake, TX

3d•Remote

About The Position

We are seeking a self-sufficient professional with Appian System Administration skills to join our small, nimble platform team. This role is pertinent to maintaining, enhancing, and growing our internal Appian environment hosted on AWS GovCloud. You must be a hands-on problem solver who thrives on troubleshooting complex issues independently, continuously learning, and adapting to platform changes.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field preferred
5+ years of combined technical experience in production support, site reliability engineering, system administration, or DevOps roles
2+ years of Appian development experience (process models, interfaces, integrations, data structures) and, or 1-2+ years of hands-on Appian administration experience (system configuration, upgrades, troubleshooting)
2-3 years of proven, hands-on AWS experience
Experience may overlap across these areas
Appian Administration: Demonstrated ability to independently troubleshoot and resolve Appian platform and application issues
AWS Expertise: Hands-on experience with AWS services such as EC2, S3, RDS, IAM, Cloudwatch, in all environments (you'll work alongside our AWS team, but must have foundational knowledge)
Git/GitHub: Proficient in using Git for version control and GitHub for collaboration and configuration management
System Administration: Foundational hands-on Linux administration skills (including shell scripting, user management, package management, system updates and maintenance)
Self-Sufficiency: Proven ability to work independently, critically analyze problems, and execute solutions without detailed step-by-step instructions
Critical Thinking: Ability to read requirements, analyze problems, and determine solutions autonomously
Pattern Recognition: Identify trends, recurring issues, and opportunities for improvement
Troubleshooting: End-to-end debugging skills across application, middleware, and infrastructure layers
Continuous Learning: Commitment to staying current with Appian platform changes, reading documentation, and adapting practices accordingly
Attention to Detail: High level of precision in operational tasks and documentation
Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills for documentation and team collaboration
Pressure Management: Ability to work well under pressure within a technically challenging environment
Mission-Critical Mindset: Experience in working in mission-critical environment
Must be able to obtain Public Trust clearance

Nice To Haves

Appian Development Skills: If coming from an admin background, development experience (process models, interfaces, integrations) is highly valuable for understanding the platform deeply and contributing to feature development
Cross-Functional Background: Appian expertise (development or administration) with willingness to learn infrastructure is equally valuable as a Linux/AWS system administration background with willingness to learn Appian, we prioritize depth in Appian with the ability to grow into infrastructure responsibilities
Monitoring Tools: Experience with CloudWatch or similar monitoring/logging tools
Agile Experience: 3+ years working in Agile/Scrum/Kanban environments; highly team-oriented and practices collaboration as a key to success
Federal Experience: Prior work on a software development project in a federal government setting
DevOps Tooling: Familiarity with modern DevOps tools and practices
Self Sufficient: High capability to learn, retain knowledge and work independently under minimal supervision

Responsibilities

Continuously enhance our internal Appian platform site by adding features, improving performance, and implementing best practices
Perform comprehensive Appian system administration including user management, security configurations, site optimization, and health monitoring
Execute Appian hotfixes and upgrades using custom shell scripts developed by our team
Proactively troubleshoot and resolve Appian application and platform issues with minimal guidance
Read, interpret, and apply Appian documentation to solve emerging challenges as the platform evolves
Adapt platform configurations and custom scripts as Appian releases new versions and deprecates older functionality
Monitor and report operating efficiency, performance, and reliability of Appian applications
Provide hands-on support for AWS GovCloud infrastructure including EC2 instances, S3 buckets, RDS databases, and related services as needed
Perform system administration tasks across Windows and Linux environments supporting the Appian platform as needed
Monitor system capacity, health indicators, and performance metrics; troubleshoot infrastructure issues end-to-end as they arise
Support environments with a focus on availability, durability, and uptime
Maintain working knowledge of Application Servers (JBoss, Tomcat) as part of installation and troubleshooting
Collaborate with the platform team on capacity planning and analytics for forecasting
Maintain security controls in compliance with VA requirements and conduct remediation from security scans
Assist the platform team in obtaining and maintaining Authority to Operate (ATO)
Ensure VA security and architecture policies are implemented so that the system meets governing VAEC architectural, security, data, and interoperability standards
Participate in CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation (Jenkins)
Troubleshoot and enhance existing automation scripts as requirements and platform capabilities change
Drive continuous improvement in deployment processes and operational efficiency
Provide break-fix support and incident resolution for all environments
Quickly and efficiently troubleshoot simple and complex issues to provide outstanding support for internal service level objectives
Demonstrate strong pattern recognition to identify recurring issues and implement preventative solutions
Perform detailed troubleshooting across the full stack-from end-user issues through middleware, application servers, and backend infrastructure
Execute both repetitive operational tasks (routine maintenance, monitoring) and sporadic platform projects (feature additions)
Create and maintain runbooks, operating procedures, and system documentation
Ensure all necessary operational processes and procedures are carried out with a high level of attention to detail, expediency, and on-time delivery