A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact.

As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

The Office of Innovation and Technology (OIT) oversees most major technology projects for the City of Philadelphia (CoP), ensures continuity of the City's technology operations, and finds new ways to help the public interact meaningfully with technology. OIT uses technology to help City employees do their work better and helps residents get what they need from municipal government.

What We Offer:

Impact - The work you do here matters to millions.

Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it?

Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs

Benefits - We care about your well being

The Senior Systems Engineer Server & Virtualization position is a lead technical position in the Platform Engineering Group which encompasses Server Virtualization, SAN administration and works closely with the backup and disaster recovery planning and processes, storage design, and systems support. This role is critical within the City's consolidated infrastructure.   Advanced sound technical knowledge in server virtualization, storage systems, an in-depth understanding of operating systems (Windows), and a deep understanding of high availability solutions implementations are necessary. Consistent reliability during normal work hours, off-hours availability, along with participation in an on-call rotation is required. This position includes supporting systems Citywide; therefore, a highly skilled, professional demeanor, customer service skills, along with the ability to work within a team is necessary. The position is also expected to have the flexibility to assist in other areas as needed.

The position requires 6-8 years of advanced level technical experience designing and configuring highly available system solutions. High proficiency in Windows server operating systems, Active Directory, virtualization, networking and application deployment. Must have an in-depth understanding of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery. Requires 2-3 years experience managing high availability systems. Demonstrated ability to apply analysis and procedural techniques to determine needs for the implementation of hardware, software or system-functional specifications for assigned Wintel systems. The individual will be responsible for the day-to-day management and administration of Wintel servers across the enterprise on a virtual platform and serve as backup for additional platform engineering support as required. This position will require participation on various project teams which may require completion of tasks during non-standard work hours including nights, weekends and holidays. This position also requires the individual to participate in on-call rotation.

Essential Core Functional Requirements:

• Operations
  • Provides support of operational functions as follows:
    • Server Infrastructure: Deployment, Maintenance, Decommissioning
    • Server Health Monitoring and Reporting Service
    • Storage Infrastructure
    • Storage monitoring and reporting services
    • Data Backup and Recovery Services
    • Open Systems Disaster Recovery planning and execution
    • DNS & DHCP Services
    • Provide monthly Dashboards on all services
    • Maintain technology software/hardware licensing and support services
    • Planning and implementing software and firmware upgrades

• Competencies/Knowledge
  • Intimate knowledge of All Windows Server and Desktop Operating Systems
  • EMC and Dell storage technologies
  • Blade Center technologies
  • Hyperconverge Technology
  • VMware
  • Commvault and other enterprise backup platforms and related backup methodologies
  • Dell and IBM servers
  • Other related storage environments and constructs
  • Monitoring Software
  • Networking (LAN and WAN)
  • Active Directory

Other Functional Requirements:

• General Support
  • Provide direction or participate in troubleshooting of complex incidents, managing support tickets for incidents and requests effectively and efficiently.
  • Maintain level of knowledge of areas of responsibility through ongoing training and education
  • Mentor\Train other team members on industry standards and best practices
  • Multi-tasking/Managing multiple assignments
  • Analytical: provide qualitative and quantitative statistics on infrastructure assets and resources
  • Proficient on the use of MS Office, Microsoft Visio, diagram tools
  • Effective oral and written communication
  • Organizational and operational adaptability
  • Research, understand and implement new software technologies in an enterprise environment
  • Prepare presentations on feasibility assessments, recommendations on technology changes, process improvements, Monitoring licensing and contracts.
  • Available to support a 24/7 environment and participate in on-call rotation
  • Other duties as assigned

• Processes/Projects
  • Support all Infrastructure Projects effectively and in a timely manner
  • Assist in planning and execution of special projects as assigned
  • Define and document processes reflective of daily operational activities
  • Document and maintain configuration diagrams, workflows, support charts, etc.
    • Maintain accurate repositories and inventories of assets

Education and Experience:

• Minimum of 5-7 years in each of the following areas:
  • Enterprise level virtualization architecture and design
  • Experience with EMC storage platforms
  • Backup and Recovery (CommVault or other industry tools)
  • Hands on experience with enterprise VMware Server infrastructure
  • Hands on experience with networking infrastructure
• Completion of a Bachelor’s degree program at an accredited college or university, which has included major course work in Computer Science, information science, systems analysis, software engineering, or a closely related field is a plus, but not required.

Please submit a resume and cover letter with your application.

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to for more information, go to: Human Relations Website at: http://www.phila.gov/humanrelations

The successful candidate must reside in the City of Philadelphia or establish primary residence in the City of Philadelphia within 6 months of employment.