Lead Technician, IT Support

University of Ottawa•Ottawa, ON

7d•CA$82,450 - CA$102,514•Onsite

About The Position

Reporting to the Manager, IT Support Services, the incumbent provides senior level, autonomous advice and technical support to end users in the Faculty of Science in areas related to infrastructure, hardware, software and peripherals. Manages the effective life cycle (purchase, deployment, maintenance and repair) of all IT assets for a designated client group or product in a manner that meets or exceeds established customer service standards. Supports a heterogeneous computing environment of approximately 1,000 endpoints across five academic departments, serving approximately 150 administrative staff, 200 academic staff, and several hundred graduate students. Provides faculty-level responsibility for teaching and research computing environments, including systems connected to scientific instruments and specialized research equipment. Balances institutional IT policies—particularly around security, endpoint management, and least-privilege access—with the operational needs of academic research. Assists the manager in supervising the work performed by one or more junior resources.

Requirements

University degree in a related field or an equivalent combination of education and several years of pertinent experience
Minimum 5 years of experience in an IT technical advisory and service role
Knowledge of operating systems to understand, install, diagnose and repair complex issues
Experience supporting Microsoft-based enterprise environments, including Active Directory, Entra ID, Group Policy, Microsoft 365, and centralized endpoint management tools such as SCCM and Intune
Experience supporting macOS and Linux systems in mixed-platform academic or research environments
Demonstrated experience working with highly customized research or laboratory computing environments, including systems interfacing with scientific instruments or specialized hardware
Experience developing and maintaining scripts and automation to support system deployment, lab management, and operational efficiency
Strong understanding of endpoint security concepts, including MFA, endpoint protection platforms, and least-privilege access models, and the ability to apply these in complex academic environments
Knowledge of networking protocols and technologies in order to configure and troubleshoot connectivity issues.
Knowledge of Office automation software to support and guide users in their work
Knowledge of University hardware, software, peripherals and security guidelines and standards
Knowledge of established IT policies and procedures of the University in areas such as procurement, asset management and maintenance
Experience in supporting diverse user groups of mid to large sizes
Experience in resolving a wide variety of complex software, hardware and peripheral issues
Experience in the implementation of system upgrades and a demonstrated ability to manage large projects
Experience in a customer service environment
Experience in providing supervision, guidance, leadership and feedback
Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with academic staff and researchers to implement compliant technical solutions while maintaining research continuity
Ability to analyze and mitigate risks associated with legacy systems and constrained research environments through creative and pragmatic technical solutions
Ability to exercise independent judgment in balancing institutional IT standards with the operational requirements of research and teaching environments, including determining appropriate technical compromises, risk mitigations, and escalation paths
Analytical skills to diagnose and repair complex software, hardware and peripherals issues
Ability to proactively keep abreast of new/emerging technologies
Ability to prioritize own work and meet strict deadlines
Bilingualism - French and English (spoken and written)

Nice To Haves

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

Responsibilities

Provides a senior level of support to identify, analyze and implement corrective actions to resolve the most complex technical issues in a timely manner. Diagnostic and repair services extend to hardware, software, infrastructure, peripherals and other IT equipment.
Assess various networks’ capacity to support the current and future needs of the faculty/service and provide recommendations in order to maintain acceptable service levels, including consistent connectivity and accessibility.
Provide specialized technical installation services to internal clients for hardware services including computers, networks, and for other IT equipment such as network adaptors to ensure an efficient response to the user’s technology needs.
Act as a senior technical resource for the assigned software in order to provide guidance for the installation, testing and upgrading of software to ensure it is current, registered and efficiently deployed for the client.
Provide sound advice to clients on emerging technologies and how these can be incorporated into the existing framework to improve the operations.
Provide specialized advice and training to IT Technicians and users on the optimal use of computer equipment and software to increase effective and efficient use by clients.
Evaluate IT equipment and software options, translate client requirements and ensure smooth requisitioning, delivery and receipt of assets.
Record and document hardware/software problems, system crashes, actions and solutions on the technical database in the problem management system in order to facilitate the monitoring of trends, recurring issues and service delivery times to have a readily available reference for similar future problems. Design user documentation and guides.
Assess the future needs of clients and provide recommendations regarding the requirements for hardware, software and other IT equipment to determine and anticipate future needs.
Promote established University and Faculty/Service standards to ensure consistency of security and integrity throughout the organization.
Mentor, and supervise the technical activities of more junior resources under the guidance of the Manager.
The incumbent is responsible for leading projects that affects a large client base and ensure the deployment in the Faculty.
Responsible for ensuring confidentiality, security and accessibility of institutional data. The incumbent complies with and promotes any controls put in place to protect and secure data and exhibits due diligence in following the established information security and privacy policies as well as related standards.