IT Support Specialist

Position Summary

Position
: URIF IT Support Specialist

The URIF IT Support Specialist is responsible for providing endpoint and printer support to approximately 100 URIF on-site and remote staff members, and serves as the liaison between URIF, URI ITS, and other parties to ensure that the backup, server, and cybersecurity needs of URIF are being met. Primary functions include ensuring that URIF staff IT devices are properly configured, maintained, and patched (including anti-virus and vulnerability management software);

troubleshooting staff IT hardware and software issues as needed; assisting with the support and maintenance of servers used for URIF processing; and ensuring system backups are successfully conducted to support URIF operations. This position helps to evaluate and improve existing processes, design new processes, and implement a new product or information system/security infrastructural change. This key position will report to Director of Systems and Technology.

• Manage and maintain the hardware, software, network, and printing needs of URIF staff, including support for emerging virtual meetings, hybrid work environment, and remote access needs. Make recommendations, as needed, to ensure technology is current and effective to meet day-to-day needs of URIF staff. Make budget requests to support needs. Timely response to URIF staff for urgent needs to ensure continued operations.
• Providing timely assessment and timely communications to URIF management regarding cyber issues that may impact URIF operations, including the impact (or potential impact) on URIF data or systems, IT vulnerabilities, and preventative protocols in place to mitigate risk for URIF. Serve on incident response team.
• Serve as primary point of contact with the University to ensure best practices are in place for URIF cybersecurity. This includes leading vulnerability management assessments and responding to issues, ensuring virus protection is in place for URIF desktops and servers, and ensuring patches are applied to URIF servers on a timely schedule. Work with the University to manage testing for Absolute, Qualys and Windows Defender deployments to support URIF needs.
• Ensure and manage backup solutions for URIF systems and servers, to enable restoration of data as needed. Ensure backups (to the prior day) are available as needed in response to disaster recovery URIF.
• Work with URI ITS to maintain Entra and Intune configuration policies associated with URIF operations, to provide seamless authentication using SSO for URIF staff and software development.
• Monitor the information technology needs for URIF, make appropriate recommendations to introduce new technology as appropriate, assisting in implementing solutions to ensure effective URIF organization operations.
• Provide technical consultation, support, and training to URIF staff as needed to support the day-to-day URIF organization needs, including how-to articles, hands-on training, documentation, and video tutorials on key work-related functions that staff members can use at their disposal.
• Manage all URIF staff requests in a timely manner, including requests communicated by phone (work and cell phone), email, Help Desk tickets, Smartsheet ticketing system, walk-ins, and via Teams as they occur, and prioritize them by severity.
• Demonstrate effective project management capabilities by prioritizing competing demands, coordinating resources across multiple initiatives, and delivering solutions within established time frames to minimize disruption to URIF operations.
• Manage and lead processes related to client, server and network upgrades as needed to support URIF staff, coordinating upgrades with least impact to URIF operations, including migration to cloud-based services. Currently approximately 120 clients utilize on-site/remote managed network and approximately 10 servers. Facilitate VPN client upgrades with URI security and remote access needs when dealing with staff working from home. Help support part of the physical network and virtual network infrastructure.
• Responsible for physical asset control, monitoring IT equipment inventory and review…