Systems Manager

Charleston Southern University•North Charleston, SC

About The Position

The Systems Manager provides leadership and oversight for Charleston Southern University's enterprise systems infrastructure and systems administration team. The role is responsible for the availability, security, performance, and continual improvement of on-premises and cloud-based systems, including servers, Microsoft 365, identity and access management, virtualization, storage, and backup and recovery services. Reporting to IT leadership, the Systems Manager supervises systems administration personnel, establishes operational priorities, manages infrastructure projects, and ensures technology services align with institutional needs and IT standards. The position collaborates with IT teams, vendors, and university stakeholders to maintain a secure, reliable, and efficient technology environment. The role supervises, mentors, and evaluates systems administration staff; oversees enterprise systems and Microsoft 365; manages identity and access, backup and recovery, security practices, and significant incidents; and plans infrastructure implementations, migrations, upgrades, and improvement projects. It evaluates infrastructure performance and capacity, supports security and compliance initiatives, manages vendor relationships, communicates with IT leadership, and maintains technical documentation and system records. The position directly supervises Systems Administrator personnel and provides operational leadership for infrastructure initiatives. Work is primarily performed in an office, data center, or technology environment, with regular interaction with faculty, staff, students, vendors, and IT personnel. Access to server rooms and other technology facilities may be required. Occasional evening, weekend, after-hours, and on-call support may be required for maintenance, upgrades, migrations, security incidents, and critical technology operations.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems, or a related field; equivalent education and relevant professional experience may be considered.
Five or more years of progressively responsible experience in systems administration, enterprise infrastructure, cloud services, or related IT operations.
Two or more years of experience supervising, leading, or managing technical personnel or infrastructure operations.
Demonstrated experience administering enterprise server environments, including Windows Server and virtualization technologies.
Experience managing Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, directory services, and identity and access management.
Experience with multifactor authentication, single sign-on, access controls, and privileged account management.
Experience overseeing backup, recovery, disaster recovery, and data protection systems.
Knowledge of enterprise systems security, vulnerability management, patching, monitoring, and cloud infrastructure.
Strong leadership, analytical, organizational, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
Excellent written, verbal, interpersonal, and presentation skills.
Ability to lead, supervise, mentor, and develop technical personnel while promoting accountability and collaboration.
Ability to manage competing priorities, allocate resources, and oversee complex technical projects.
Ability to evaluate technical needs and implement secure, reliable, and sustainable infrastructure solutions.
Ability to develop and maintain technical standards, documentation, and operational procedures.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in a higher education environment.
Advanced experience with Microsoft technologies, including Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, and Entra ID.
Experience with Microsoft 365 security, compliance, and cloud administration.
Familiarity with cybersecurity frameworks, SIEM, security monitoring, and incident response.
Experience with encryption, digital certificates, privileged access management, and enterprise security services.
Knowledge of FERPA, data privacy, records retention, and information security requirements.
Relevant professional certifications in Microsoft technologies, cloud platforms, virtualization, cybersecurity, or systems administration.

Responsibilities

Supervise, mentor, and evaluate systems administration staff; set priorities, assign responsibilities, and support professional development.
Oversee administration, maintenance, security, and performance of enterprise systems, including servers, operating systems, virtualization, storage, and cloud infrastructure.
Manage Microsoft 365 services, including Exchange Online, institutional email, licensing, security, and collaboration tools.
Oversee identity and access management, including directory services, user accounts, authentication, multifactor authentication, and access controls.
Direct enterprise backup, data protection, disaster recovery, and business continuity planning and testing.
Establish and maintain systems security, monitoring, patch management, vulnerability remediation, and change-management practices.
Lead investigation and resolution of significant systems incidents, service interruptions, and security events.
Plan and oversee infrastructure implementations, system migrations, upgrades, replacements, and technology improvement projects.
Evaluate infrastructure performance, capacity, and technology needs, and recommend solutions to improve security, reliability, scalability, and efficiency.
Collaborate with IT and cybersecurity teams on security risks, compliance initiatives, and institutional technology standards.
Manage vendor relationships, coordinate technical resources, and communicate project status, operational priorities, and technology recommendations to IT leadership.
Maintain technical documentation, system inventories, operational procedures, and infrastructure records.
Assign work, establish priorities, coach and mentor Systems Administrator personnel, conduct performance evaluations, and support professional development in accordance with institutional policies.
Coordinate infrastructure projects involving IT personnel, vendors, consultants, and service providers.
Perform other duties as assigned.