System Administrator, IT Services; Cloud, Network Security

Ama Waterways seeks talented, motivated professionals to explore career opportunities and begin their journey with Ama Waterways. This description outlines the System Administrator, IT Services role, including its scope, responsibilities, qualifications, and work environment.

The System Administrator, IT Services is a hands-on infrastructure role with a primary emphasis on cloud administration, network administration, and security from the system-administration side. The position administers and secures Ama Waterways’ Microsoft Azure and AWS environments, Cisco-based network infrastructure, and identity, endpoint, and server security posture, while supporting the broader environment including VMware virtualization, Citrix Cloud applications and virtual desktops, Microsoft 365 and Active Directory / Entra , and 8x8 telephony.

The role reports to the Manager, System Administration and supports employees across the Calabasas headquarters and global offices with technical work, documentation, and partnership with IT and Security teams.

• Cloud Administration (Primary Focus)
  • Serve as a primary administrator for Ama Waterways’ Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) environments, including provisioning and lifecycle management of virtual machines/EC2 instances, storage, and platform services.
  • Administer cloud identity and access management — Microsoft Entra  (Azure AD), Azure RBAC, AWS IAM users/roles/policies — applying least-privilege principles and managing federation and single sign-on.
  • Configure and maintain cloud networking constructs (VNets/VPCs, subnets, route tables, network security groups, security groups, VPN/Express Route/Direct Connect, and load balancers).
  • Monitor cloud cost, utilization, and capacity; identify rightsizing and optimization opportunities; and support tagging, budgeting, and chargeback/showback reporting.
  • Implement and maintain cloud backup, snapshot, and disaster-recovery configurations across Azure and AWS workloads, and perform periodic recovery testing.
  • Support cloud governance and configuration baselines using native tooling (Azure Policy, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, AWS Config/Security Hub) and assist with infrastructure-as-code and automation where applicable.
• Network Administration (Primary Focus)
  • Administer Cisco network infrastructure — switches, routers, and wireless — including VLANs, trunking, port configuration, basic routing and switching, and firmware/IOS updates across the Calabasas headquarters and remote offices.
  • Administer firewalls, VPN, and remote-access connectivity; manage site-to-site and client VPN tunnels and support secure connectivity between offices, data center/colo, and cloud.
  • Manage core network services (DNS, DHCP, NTP) and Wi-Fi infrastructure, including SSID configuration, controller management, and wireless performance troubleshooting.
  • Monitor network health, performance, and availability using monitoring/alerting tools; investigate and resolve connectivity, latency, and throughput issues, escalating to vendors/MSPs for changes that exceed the role’s scope.
  • Maintain network documentation — topology diagrams, IP address management (IPAM), VLAN and firewall rule inventories — and keep configuration backups current.
  • Support telephony and contact-center networking for 8x8 (QoS, SIP/RTP traffic, and call-quality troubleshooting) in partnership with the voice platform.
• Security Administration (Primary Focus)
  • Apply system-administration security practices across cloud, network, server, and endpoint layers — hardening configurations, enforcing least-privilege access, and maintaining secure baselines.
  • Administer multi-factor authentication, Conditional Access, and identity-protection policies in Microsoft Entra ; review privileged access and support access certifications/reviews.
  • Operate and maintain endpoint and server protection (EDR/AV), disk encryption (Bit Locker/File Vault), and patch/vulnerability remediation in accordance with IT security and patch-management standards.
  • Support email and collaboration security (anti-phishing, anti-spam, safe links/attachments) and assist with triage and remediation of phishing,…