System Admin, Windows (I, II, III, or IV)

C Spire•Knoxville, TN

About The Position

C Spire is hiring a Windows System Administrator at Level I, II, III, or IV to help maintain reliable and secure Microsoft infrastructure supporting cloud, data center, and enterprise environments. The position’s scope and technical leadership responsibilities are aligned with the level of hire and experience. The administrator works across Windows systems, identity, virtualization, and Azure, including infrastructure foundations that support AI workloads. The role involves designing, building, operating, administering, securing, and troubleshooting supported systems and environments. Responsibilities range from implementing systems under senior guidance at Level I to leading architecture and delivery across multiple projects at Level IV. The position includes technical support and participation in on-call coverage, collaboration with business analysts, product development, implementation, support, vendors, and other teams, and progressively greater responsibility for technical ownership, standards, mentoring, and team direction. The role can provide a foundation for senior or principal engineering, architecture, or technical leadership.

Requirements

System Admin I: Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems or Computer Science, or equivalent experience.
System Admin I: At least 1 year of hands-on administration experience with technologies such as Windows Server, Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID, Office 365, Azure services, VMware or KVM virtualization, Citrix, or monitoring systems.
System Admin I: Basic networking, backup, disaster recovery, and high-availability experience, plus exposure to scripting or automation.
System Admin I: Strong written and verbal communication skills.
System Admin I: Curiosity about using AI tools in engineering work and awareness of associated security and data-privacy risks.
System Admin II: Meets all System Admin I requirements and has at least 3 years of hands-on experience across multiple supported technologies, which may include SQL, Azure Virtual Desktop, VMware Horizon, or load balancers.
System Admin II: Advanced knowledge of at least one supported technology and intermediate knowledge of networking, backup, disaster recovery, and high availability.
System Admin II: Hands-on PowerShell automation experience and sound judgment when applying AI tools to engineering work.
System Admin III: Meets all System Admin I and II requirements and has at least 5 years of hands-on enterprise engineering experience.
System Admin III: Advanced knowledge of three or more supported technologies and expert depth in at least one technology recognized by peers.
System Admin III: Advanced networking, backup, disaster recovery, and high-availability experience.
System Admin III: Proven record of leading the design and implementation of production systems and mentoring less experienced engineers.
System Admin III: Hands-on PowerShell automation experience.
System Admin IV: Meets all System Admin I, II, and III requirements and has at least 7 years of hands-on enterprise engineering experience.
System Admin IV: Advanced knowledge across a majority of supported technologies and expert depth in several, recognized inside and outside the team.
System Admin IV: Experience designing networking, backup, disaster recovery, and high availability at scale.
System Admin IV: Proven record of leading architecture and delivery of complex production systems and developing other engineers.
System Admin IV: Deep PowerShell automation experience, experience with Python, DSC, or Ansible, and ability to present technical recommendations to leadership.
System Admin IV: Sound judgment in setting security and data-privacy guardrails for AI-assisted engineering.
The role requires sitting for long periods and using a computer keyboard and/or mouse while viewing a screen.
The role requires a flexible schedule shared with other department members, including an on-call rotation.

Nice To Haves

Monitoring system administration experience.
Windows Failover Cluster or Microsoft SQL administration experience.
Software deployment and patching experience.
Networking experience with virtual and physical switches and load balancers.
Modern Windows management experience, such as Intune or Azure Arc.
Experience migrating Windows workloads from VMware to KVM or other open virtualization platforms.
Experience supporting AI or data platforms, such as Azure AI services, GPU-enabled compute, or containers and Kubernetes.
Infrastructure-as-code experience, such as Terraform or Bicep.
Certifications in one or more supported technologies, such as Microsoft, VMware VCP, or Citrix.
PowerShell exposure at Level I, and Python, DSC, or Ansible experience at Level III.

Responsibilities

Design, build, and operate cloud, data center, and enterprise Windows systems, with scope progressing from implementation under senior guidance to architecture and delivery across multiple projects.
Administer supported server, identity, endpoint, productivity, cloud, virtualization, and virtual desktop environments, including Windows Server, Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, Intune, Office 365, Exchange, Azure, VMware vSphere, KVM, VMware Horizon, and Citrix.
Install, upgrade, patch, test, monitor, and troubleshoot systems; provide technical support; participate in on-call coverage; and document findings and actions when escalating issues.
Identify risks, investigate incidents, and drive lasting fixes, with responsibility for complex escalations and systemic improvements increasing at senior levels.
Build and secure Windows, identity, and Azure foundations for AI workloads in partnership with AI and data teams, applying appropriate access, logging, and data-handling controls.
Use, develop, and establish build, deployment, and automation standards; apply PowerShell, DSC, and Ansible, with Python used in senior-level engineering work.
Use AI-assisted tools appropriately for engineering, troubleshooting, and documentation; verify their output and, at Level IV, establish team review practices.
Design for high availability, backup, and disaster recovery, and apply security and quality practices; define cross-team controls and standards at Level IV.
Collaborate with business analysts, product development, implementation, support, vendors, and other teams to deliver effective service and make sound technical decisions.
Share knowledge and improve a supported technology at Level II; lead designs and mentor engineers at Level III; set technical direction and develop engineers across the team at Level IV.