Systems Administrator II

Texas A&M University System•Austin, TX

11d•Onsite

About The Position

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) is an emergency response entity, and this status can affect working hours, travel, and change in duties as needed. Under general direction the position is responsible for hands-on management and support of the TDEM's audio-visual infrastructure, including the audio-visual over internet protocol (AVOIP) system, AV racks, sound, video cameras, telephony, and webinar systems. The position is responsible for AV systems monitoring, maintenance, repairs, and new AV systems design, project management, installation, testing and acceptance. The Systems Administrator II provides direct hands-on AV operations support for TDEM meetings, briefings, statewide webinars, and training events. These meetings and briefings can range from small internal administrative meetings to large scale statewide events involving TDEM staff and state & national leadership. TDEM extensively utilizes webinar technology (Zoom, WebEx, Microsoft Teams, etc.) and voice systems (Cisco) and to a much lesser extent video teleconferencing. The Systems Administrator II -Audio-Visual Information Systems (AVIS) may supervise the work of AV contractors and may train TDEM staff and stakeholders on AV technology as needed. Availability for after-hours and weekend work is required. Must have the ability to operate outside of normal working hours on a twelve (12) hour shift during activations of the State Operations Center (SOC) and able to deploy from normal duty station for extended periods in the aftermath of a disaster without relief and to work extended hours. Employees are also subject to being assigned to a field operations center for incident response and recovery operations. Notice: A skills test will be administered for candidates selected for interview. Salary is a fixed rate. This position is located on-site and not subject to telecommuting.

Requirements

Education –Bachelor's degree in applicable field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Experience – Three (3) years of related experience.
Deep expertise and strong awareness of current trends in video conferencing, sound systems, AV switching, network systems and control hardware (Cisco, Crestron, and AMX preferred).
Ability to setup and administer audio and visual systems including hard wired, networked, and virtual systems.
Strong customer focus and interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively with personnel at all levels (staff to executive) with tact and diplomacy.
Ability to multitask in a dynamic and fast-paced environment and complete tasks and support events on time with exceptional reliability.
Ability to work within a collaborative team environment.
Proficient writing and oral communication skills.
Skilled in procurement processes and knowledge of government procurement rules and procedures.
Ability to quickly troubleshoot and resolve or work around almost any AV or network issues that may occur during an event.
Ability to work regularly and observe approved work hours in accordance with agency leave and attendance policies.
Skilled in Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative suites.
Complete and obtain certification in IS-100, IS-200, IS-700, IS-800 FEMA courses within twelve (12) months of employment and any other training as determined.

Nice To Haves

Experience in hands-on AV operations support and systems management and someone with a certification in audio-visual systems such as AVIXA, Crestron, Extron, etc.
Additional work experience of the type described above may be substituted for the education requirement on a year- for- year basis.
Thirty (30) semester hours is equivalent to one (1) year of experience.

Responsibilities

Operate and maintain the audio-visual systems infrastructure for the State Operations Center, TDEM office buildings and associated meeting rooms, and field operations centers.
Manage webinars for TDEM, including but not limited to scheduling, setting up equipment, configuring services, testing, managing recordings and presentation materials, and troubleshooting end user device software and connectivity for on-site and remote participants, managing participants and sound during meetings, and compiling meeting usage reports.
Administer TDEM webinar accounts and serve as a subject matter expert for contracts.
Coordinate AV repairs, warranty work, and maintenance agreements.
Responsible for evaluating new customer AV requirements, conducting industry research, and developing written specifications and scope-of-work for TDEM procurement services.
Develop and implement short-range and long-range audio-visual technology improvement plans, while ensuring that changes can be implemented with minimal disruption to operations.
Manage AV vendor support services, including but not limited to, reviewing and approving proposals, recommending alternative designs, validating drawings, and ensuring installations are in accordance with TDEM standards and following up on warranty repairs.
Perform regular health checks and proactive monitoring to ensure AV systems are operating at optimal conditions.
Troubleshoot AV technical issues and drive timely resolution to maintain 24/7 operations.
Ensure AV systems are in conformance with TDEM IT security and networking standards.
Track and assign AV related service requests via the OpsTech ticketing system and ensure all customer requests are supported in a timely manner.
Train and advise end users on best practices for webinars and secure communications.
Develop and maintain written procedures, playbooks, and training manuals.
Requires high personal reliability with the expectation that the specialist will set-up and test AV systems well in advance of all assigned meetings and events.
Face-to-face and person-to-person interactions are required.
Maintain a regular course of attendance during assigned work schedule and work extended hours when needed.
Ability to travel 20%
Perform related work as assigned.