System Administrator

Southside Electric Cooperative•Crewe, VA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Southside Electric Cooperative (SEC) is seeking a System Administrator to support the employees, systems, and operations that provide electric service throughout Southside Virginia. As SEC's sole System Administrator, this role takes hands-on ownership of server, virtualization, storage, backup, identity, endpoint, and cloud infrastructure, while contributing to modernization, automation, cybersecurity, business continuity, and disaster recovery initiatives. The position works on a small, collaborative IT team alongside a Director, Help Desk Technician, and Telecommunications Specialist, and partners with employees, business leaders, vendors, and service providers. The role administers and maintains critical technology platforms, supports enterprise and utility business applications, resolves escalated issues, and leads or supports infrastructure and cloud projects. It also strengthens security and operational resilience through access controls, vulnerability remediation, backup and recovery practices, documentation, audit support, and incident response. The successful candidate is expected to work independently, take initiative, communicate clearly, provide responsive and empathetic service, and remain organized while handling competing priorities. This is an onsite position. The System Administrator must be available as needed during emergencies and storm restoration events, which may require working outside normal hours. All hires are subject to pre-employment screening, including a background check, drug and alcohol test, and physical. SEC is a zero-tolerance drug-free workplace, and employees are subject to random drug tests.

Requirements

At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience supporting enterprise systems administration, server infrastructure, virtualization, Microsoft 365, identity services, endpoint administration, cybersecurity technologies, and related environments.
A bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, Cybersecurity, Computer Engineering, or Business Information Systems, or a combination of experience, certifications, and technical education.
Hands-on experience administering Windows Server, Active Directory, Group Policy, Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, endpoint management tools, backup platforms, and electric cooperative enterprise applications.
Strong technical foundation in Windows Server, virtualization, storage, backup, endpoint management, Microsoft 365, identity services, enterprise applications, SaaS platforms, licensing, and system integrations.
Ability to troubleshoot complex infrastructure, application, cloud, identity, security, and access issues.
Knowledge of cybersecurity, disaster recovery, business continuity, data protection, and high-availability concepts.
Strong analytical judgment and ability to use performance data, alerts, audit findings, security information, and service issues to identify risks and recommend improvements.
Knowledge of enterprise artificial intelligence technologies, including cybersecurity risks, data privacy, secure implementation, administration, governance, and responsible use.
Ability to work independently, take initiative, follow problems through to resolution, and balance competing priorities, interruptions, projects, and deadlines.
Clear, honest, consistent, and transparent communication with technical and nontechnical audiences.
Service-oriented approach, patience, respect, empathy, persistence, and a safety-first and security-conscious mindset.
Availability as needed during emergencies and storm restoration events, including work outside normal hours.
Successful completion of required pre-employment background check, drug and alcohol test, and physical; employees are subject to random drug tests.

Nice To Haves

Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert certification.
CompTIA Server+ certification or equivalent.

Responsibilities

Administer servers, virtual environments, storage, operating systems, and enterprise technology platforms to maintain reliable, secure, and available infrastructure.
Monitor system health, capacity, performance, patching, availability, and emerging risks; investigate issues and track them through resolution and follow-up.
Administer Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, Entra ID, Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, and certificate services.
Manage user accounts, permissions, security groups, mailbox access, privileged access, and device access using sound security and access-control practices.
Administer backups, test restorations, plan for disaster recovery, maintain system documentation, and support business continuity and recovery objectives.
Support endpoint management, software deployment, workstation imaging, mobile devices, patching, antivirus and endpoint detection and response coordination, and workstation lifecycle needs.
Support vulnerability remediation, log review, audits, incident response, cybersecurity compliance, and employee security awareness.
Support utility and business applications, including customer information, billing, outage management, interactive voice response, document management, and reporting systems.
Coordinate system maintenance, upgrades, troubleshooting, and incident resolution with vendors, service providers, and business owners.
Lead and support cloud service, SaaS, integration, and automation deployments, server upgrades and migrations, backup improvements, and infrastructure modernization projects.
Maintain system inventories, configuration standards, licensing records, technical procedures, diagrams, and runbooks.
Resolve escalated technical issues and recommend practical improvements to security, reliability, efficiency, and the employee experience.
Share knowledge with IT teammates and employees to reduce operational risk, strengthen continuity, and help others use technology effectively.