Hourly Positions

Network & Systems Engineer

Location: Minnesota Corporate Headquarters

Position Code: NSE

Date: Jun 06, 2008

Position Description: Support IT and business initiatives to standardize technologies and processes within the company. Install, maintain and support computer communication networks within an organization or between organizations and business systems used by the organization. Ensure the smooth operation of networks and systems in order to provide maximum performance and availability for users (staff, clients, customers, suppliers, etc).

Working under the guidance of the department manager, the responsibility of this position includes overall conceptualization, justification, implementation and coordination of the IT infrastructure. This includes planning, requirements definition, scheduling, developing technical designs/specifications, acquiring & implementing solutions, and potential for supervising other members of the team.

This role also provides support for escalations coming from the IT Service Desk or other IT functions.

Responsibilities Include:

• Planning, scheduling and tracking of network and systems infrastructure enforcing rigorous configuration management and systems documentation practices.
• Ensuring that all IT equipment complies with industry standard.
• Complying with the Company's change management processes and procedures.
• Installing, supporting and maintaining new server hardware, software infrastructure and network devices.
• Allocating network resources and monitoring network usage.
• Ensuring the most cost-effective and efficient use of servers.
• Suggesting and providing IT solutions to business and management problems.
• Analyzing and resolving faults escalated from the IT Service Desk.
• Undertaking routine preventative measures and implementing, maintaining and monitoring network security.
• Providing training and technical support for users with varying levels of IT knowledge and competence.
• Working closely with other departments/organizations and collaborating with other IT staff.
• Managing the corporate data center..
• Monitoring the use of the web and corporate databases by employees.
• Providing on-going training to the IT Service Desk.
• Working with vendors as necessary to meet requirements.
• Planning and implementing future IT infrastructure and undertaking project work.
• Ensuring smooth/efficient operations and availability of network and systems infrastructure:
  • Administration of network devices (hubs, routers, switches, firewalls, etc.)
  • Administration and maintenance of mission critical application, web and database servers (predominantly Microsoft, some Linux) hosted mainly within the company's data center, some hosted externally.
  • Administration of email servers for company-wide email and for management of email handling systems for clients across many domains.
  • Maintenance of existing Anti-Spam, anti-virus and content filtering systems and setting new policies as necessary.
  • Administration of primary DNS.
  • Administration of remote access systems (VPN, Citrix, etc.)
  • Escalation support for team member computer systems (desktops & laptops)
  • Store WiFi environment.
  • VMWare Virtualization environment.
• Ensure IT security is maintained:
  • Firewall administration and overall internal network security.
  • Administration of SPAM, Virus and IDS systems.
  • Facilitate Quarterly and Annual Network Vulnerability/Penetration Scans
  • DB Gateway (Imperva) administration
  • PCI & SOX compliance requirements (Network, Systems, Security)
• Insuring network and systems architecture addresses application and business systems requirements.
• Keeping abreast of new technologies and industry best practices in order to continue to improve IT capabilities

Education/Training/Experience:

• Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering / Computer Sciences (Master's preferred) or related field or equivalent experience.
• Experience in manufacturing, fulfillment/distribution and/or retail operations environments.
• Self-managed proactive work style, experience managing people and resources (teams of 3-5 staff) and excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to interact effectively with all levels in the company.
• Understanding of all aspects of ITIL IT Service Management Framework.
• Technical, analytical, and problem solving skills with a high attention to detail.
• Ability to provide organization, planning, and resource management for staff.
• Decisive decision-making, negotiation skills, relationship management skills, prioritization skills and the ability to multi-task are essential.
• Must have self-initiative and a solid foundation in business application development.