Systems Administrator/Cybersecurity Engineer

AURA•Boulder, CO

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

The National Solar Observatory is seeking a Systems Administrator/Cybersecurity Engineer to strengthen and support our IT infrastructure, protect critical systems from cyber threats, and lead technical projects that enhance security, reliability, and user experience across the organization. This is a role with dual responsibilities, outlined below. The Cybersecurity Engineer role is responsible for tasks including process building and documentation of activities related to this area. The Cybersecurity Engineer will operate independently and as part of a team to ensure software, hardware, and related components are protected from cyber-attacks. Responsibilities will include developing security processes, analyzing current systems for vulnerabilities, and handling any and all security incidents in an efficient and effective manner. Candidates should have strong IT skills an understanding of cyber hacker methodology. Further responsibilities include using their skills to detect insecure features and malicious activities within our networks and infrastructure. They will create and implement customized security assessments for asset risk, policy compliance as well as conduct vulnerability assessment. The Systems Administrator role will be part of the NSO Information Technology team supporting all facilities within the Observatory. This position will be responsible for executing high-scale and high visibility projects promoting the posture of the IT infrastructure and its users, requiring frequent interaction with leadership and upper management. Responsibilities include IT service design (eg. documentation management solution), administration of server operating systems, network administration, system hardware, virtual machine environment, facility systems (VOIP, AV, etc.), troubleshooting computer system issues and diagnosing system performance. This position will also serve NSO staff seeking technical assistance and resolve technical problems with their client endpoint systems including MacOS, Linux and Windows.

Requirements

4+ years of prior relevant experience
Three or more years with hands-on experience in: Multiple OS platforms with strong emphasis on Linux (CentOS, Red Hat, Ubuntu), Mac OS X, and Windows systems
Three or more years with demonstrated knowledge of hardware and software troubleshooting abilities
Two or more years of enterprise network administration experience
Experience with and understanding of hardware RAID
Strong analytical ability with skills in problem avoidance and diagnosis
Utilize excellent customer service skills and exceed customers’ expectations
Disciplined approach to work activities, ability to define and implement procedures
Effective verbal and written communication skills
Ability to function in a distributed and dynamic work environment, work independently and remotely
Attention to details and commitment to achieving high quality results
Basic level knowledge of data communications networking, both wired and wireless
Commitment to stay abreast of current-market hardware and software products used in Information Technology

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent education or work experience
Hands-on experience analyzing high volumes of logs, network data (e.g. Netflow, FPC), and other attack artifacts in support of incident investigations
Experience with vulnerability scanning solutions
Knowledge of operations of at least one enterprise SIEM platform (e.g. Nitro/McAfee Enterprise Security Manager, ArcSight, QRadar, LogLogic, Splunk)
Telecommunications and videoconferencing systems
Web servers and sites
Astronomy, physics applications/computing
Working in a research environment that relies extensively on Open Source solutions
Participating in hardware cost projections and writing purchase requests

Responsibilities

Work with the Head of Information Technology in the development and implementation of effective and reasonable policies and practices to secure NSO information assets.
Safeguards information system assets by identifying and solving potential security problems through vulnerability scanning and system patching
Recognizes problems by identifying abnormalities, reporting issues, and actual security problems.
Plan, implement, manage, monitor, and upgrade security measures for the protection of the organization's data, systems, and networks
Respond to all system and network security breaches following the NSO Cybersecurity Incident Response policy
Create an education and awareness program to educate all NSO personnel on security issues, NSO security policies, and security best practices
Work with the Head of Information Technology on the selection of a baseline control set, and the prioritization and implementation of security controls
Select and drive deployment of additional and alternate controls targeted at the NSO’s specialized needs
Lead the development and upkeep of documentation on the NSOs information assets
Develop a classification structure for the NSO’s information assets
Work with the Head of Information Technology to establish annual and long-range security goals, define security strategies, metrics, reporting mechanisms and program services; and create a roadmap for program improvements
Engage in professional development to maintain continual growth in professional skills and knowledge essential to the position
Manage the NSO IT server infrastructure, including: Virtual Machine host and guest servers VMware and Linux KVM virtual machine management DNS Updates, DHCP, LDAP and NTP management LDAP and Windows Active Directory administration Storage Systems and Data Backup management
Communicate with project managers, system managers and the user community regarding computer systems support requirements and solutions
Analyze and evaluate computer systems performance, diagnoses problems, evaluates hardware and operating system function and performance, as required
Perform preventative (patching, updates) and emergency systems maintenance (eg. failed desktop/server)
Design, develop, and maintain network, system, infrastructure and user documentation, system procedures, and operator instructions
Administer, install and troubleshoot a variety of end-user operating systems
Perform systems maintenance tasks, such as system back-up, recovery and file maintenance
Troubleshoot software including email clients, Office software, network monitoring tools and system performance tools
Provide technical support to users by researching and answering questions, troubleshooting problems, and maintaining workstation and LAN performance
Track information, gathers quotes, and elevate purchases for DKIST hardware and software