Senior Storage Administrator

Overview

Senior Storage Administrator — Wright State University

EEO Statement: Wright State University is an equal opportunity employer.

Job Category: IT

Department: Computing & Telecommunications

EOE number: 26P312

Position FTE: 100%

Salary Band: UC S08

The Senior Storage Administrator is responsible for the architectural design, implementation, and management of the university's centralized, mission-critical enterprise storage systems. This role ensures high availability, data integrity, and robust recovery capabilities for all university data through the management of SAN/NAS infrastructure and complex backup/disaster recovery (DR) solutions. The position provides the "last line" of technical support and offers strategic leadership in infrastructure evolution, including virtualization and cloud integration.

• Education & Experience:
  
  Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, plus at least 8 years of relevant enterprise storage experience (or commensurate hands-on experience in lieu of a degree).
• Storage Platforms:
  Expert-level, hands-on administration experience with enterprise Block and NAS storage systems, specifically Dell EMC platforms (Unity, Power Store, and Isilon).
• SAN Fabric Management:
  Proficiency in configuring, maintaining, and upgrading SAN fabrics, including strong experience with Cisco MDS SAN switches and dual-fabric redundant configurations.
• Backup & Recovery:
  Deep expertise in enterprise data protection, specifically using Veritas Net Backup appliances.
• Ransomware Protection:
  Demonstrated experience managing immutable/WORM storage (e.g., Net Backup Flex) to secure data against ransomware.
• Systems & Networking Integration:
  Advanced understanding of how storage integrates with server virtualization (e.g., VMware) and core networking concepts.
• Problem Solving:
  Proven ability to act as an escalation point for complex, cross-domain technical issues

• Certifications:
  
  Relevant industry certifications, such as Dell Technologies Proven Professional (Storage), Cisco Certified Specialist (Data Center SAN), or SNIA credentials.
• Cloud Integration:
  Practical experience managing off-site replication, hybrid cloud storage workloads, and archival tiering using Amazon S3.
• Automation & Scripting:
  Proficiency in scripting languages (e.g., Python, Power Shell, Bash) or automation tools (e.g., Ansible, Terraform) to streamline storage provisioning, reporting, and lifecycle management.
• SaaS Data Protection:
  Experience managing enterprise-scale backups for Microsoft 365 environments.
• Advanced Monitoring:
  Familiarity with Dell CloudIQ and InsightIQ for predictive analytics, capacity planning, and performance tuning.
• Vendor & Procurement
  
  Experience:
  
  Experience consulting with stakeholders, evaluating vendor bids, and contributing to the technical aspects of RFPs/ITNs for infrastructure procurement.
• Frameworks:
  Working knowledge of IT service management frameworks (like ITIL) for structured incident, problem, and change management.

• Storage Architecture & Management (30%)
• Design & Build:
  Plan, organize, and manage centralized storage for all university servers, ensuring capacity, reliability, and protection.
• Provisioning:
  Provision block and file storage for new servers and applications; add new servers to storage platforms using vendor interfaces.
• SAN Fabric:
  Maintain and modify storage fabrics (Cisco MDS SAN switches), performing maintenance, upgrades, and configuration changes to support redundancy and performance.
• Lifecycle Management:
  Coordinate storage migration projects and platform transitions to ensure hardware remains current and performant.
• Backup, Recovery & Disaster Recovery (25%)
• Policy Design:
  Establish and maintain backup and retention policies and design disaster recovery solutions for mission-critical data.
• Immutable Security:
  Manage immutable/WORM storage (Net Backup Flex) to protect against ransomware and data loss.
• Restoration:
  Perform complex file-level and system-level restores for faculty, staff, and students, ensuring recovery processes are tested and repeatable.
• Cloud Integration:
  Manage archival workloads and off-site replication using Amazon S3 and off-site Isilon DR clusters.
• Advanced Technical Support & Problem Resolution (20%)
• Last-Line Support:
  Provide the highest level of technical support to other technical staff, resolving high-complexity issues that require cross-domain knowledge (storage, servers, networking).
• Coordination:
  Lead storage related problem resolution activities between CaTS staff, vendors, and the university community.
• Monitoring:
  Utilize tools including Dell CloudIQ and InsightIQ for regular monitoring of storage logs, alerts, and performance trends.

• Technical Leadership & Infrastructure Strategy (10%)
• Evolution:
  Provide storage related leadership in the design of infrastructure changes, including server…