Systems Engineer

Job Summary

Are you an IT professional with a passion for finding creative solutions that support cutting‑edge research with real‑world impact? Do you have a driving sense of curiosity, interest in experimenting, and a motivation to learn? If that’s you, we invite you to join the College of Engineering’s collaborative IT team where you can personally contribute to life‑changing research implementing and supporting a complex client and server network made up of Windows, Mac and Linux systems distributed across multiple buildings and sites.

The Engineering Network Services department supports academic and research needs of students, researchers, faculty and staff within the College of Engineering. The department provides support for over 3,000 endpoints and 200 Linux and Windows servers in four campus data centers. The environment is homogenous – using Active Directory, LDAP, commercial and open‑source technologies to present seamless access from any platform to files and services.

This highly technical, innovative server team supports high performance computing, storage, virtualization, web and e‑mail services all hosted on Linux servers.

• On‑site role in the heart of our beautiful campus working with a supportive team
• Work/life balance is a priority! No travel is required
• Careers in Higher Education are reliably stable
• Competitive retirement plan and benefits
• Generous leave (including two weeks off during the holidays!)
• Paid parental leave
• Tuition waiver for yourself and your dependents

• Daily support of end users (students, faculty, researchers and administration) provides context of the needs of our users and gives much needed expertise to the efforts of our users.
• Works closely with other team members on short and long term projects, implementing innovative solutions, modernizing operations and addressing complex problems, development of new applications, resources and tools.
• Maintaining network‑based, shared storage server systems and technologies.
• Support of custom network design and management including sandboxes/enclaves, private storage and other research network needs.
• Installing physical server, switch, and communications cabling systems into datacenter and research laboratory environments.
• Design, implement and maintain virtual and containerized infrastructure.
• Installing and updating commercial and open source Linux and Windows applications both manually and through the use of automation tools such as Ansible.
• Support of development environments including Git Lab servers and advanced Python configurations on Windows and Linux platforms.
• Orchestrating server system monitoring, penetration testing and vulnerability remediation tasks.
• Management of several web servers and dozens of virtual websites using Apache, PHP, MySQL, NGINX and associated SSL certificates.
• Developing and deploying generalized OS layouts for servers and research systems using unattended deployment methods similar to Kickstart.
• Maintaining backup infrastructure for server, research instrument control systems, and Linux workstations.
• Work with researchers and IT staff to develop innovative solutions for high performance computing to support ongoing research projects.
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal for documenting technical solutions and communicating technical information to a non‑technical audience.

• Life‑Changing Impact:
  Our work changes lives through research, instruction, and outreach, making a lasting impact on our students, our communities, and the world.
• Culture of Excellence:
  We are committed to leveraging our strengths, resources, collaboration, and innovation as a top employer in higher education.
• We’re Here for You:
  Auburn offers generous benefits, educational opportunities, and a culture of support and work/life balance.
• Sweet Home Alabama:
  The Auburn/Opelika area offers southern charm, vibrant downtown scenes, top‑ranked schools, and easy access to Atlanta, Birmingham, and the Gulf of Mexico beaches.
• A Place for Everyone:
  Auburn is committed to fostering an environment where all faculty, staff, and students are welcomed, valued, respected, and engaged.