Windows System Administrator

About the Company - TalentFish is casting a line for a Senior Windows Systems Administrator Engineer in Chicago's near northwest suburbs. This is a hybrid role as needed (approx. 1-2 days per week or less). This position will be primarily focused on managing/maintaining on-premises infrastructure, with some interaction with cloud-based tools such as Azure AD (Entra ID) and Intune.

About the Role - In this role you will be designing, implementing, managing, and maintaining the organization's Information Technology Systems. You will be working with the architecture team to evaluate and ensure the efficient and secure operation of IT and business systems. The ideal candidate will have in-depth skills in and Windows System Administration, Active Directory management, strong understanding and management of FSMO roles, Group Policy Management, Event Viewer and Event Log analysis, and GPO configuration and maintenance.

Responsibilities - Take ownership of on-premises system infrastructure, ensuring stability, performance, and security across physical and virtual environments. Administer and maintain server infrastructure, including installation, configuration, and monitoring. Perform proactive monitoring and diagnostics using Event Viewer and other native tools to ensure server health and system integrity. Perform regular system updates, backups, and ensure high availability of servers. Troubleshoot server-related issues and optimize server performance.

Qualifications - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (or equivalent work experience).

• Required Skills
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in systems administration, IT infrastructure management, and systems engineering including design, installation and configuration.
• Experience supporting Microsoft technologies including MS Windows Server, Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), MS Office 0365, MS Intune, Active Directory, and Azure AD (Entra ID).
• Proven experience supporting and managing on-premises infrastructure, including Active Directory, Windows Server, storage systems, and virtualization platforms (e.g., Hyper-V).
• Comfortable operating in on-premises IT environments, while possessing working knowledge/experience in cloud technologies like Azure AD and Intune. Strong expertise in Active Directory operations, including FSMO role management, Group Policy Objects (GPO), and Event Viewer/Event Log analysis for system diagnostics and auditing.
• Proven experience in designing, implementing, and maintaining server and storage infrastructures.
• Experience working with complex IT environments, including Active Directory configurations, Azure AD (Entra ID), VMs and Hyper-V.
• Experience working with multiple operating systems, servers, and storage systems management.
• Experience managing system security, IAM, compliance, and endpoint security using tools like Okta, SentinelOne or similar.

• Preferred Skills
• Design, implement, and maintain the storage infrastructure ecosystem.
• Design, implement, and maintain data backup environment, including off-site disaster recovery.
• Responsible for applying patches, upgrading software, and making sure that data is secure.
• Maintain the fiber channel switches, cloud storage and SAN arrangements.
• Design, implementation, and maintenance of on-premises Active Directory, including group policies, domains, and authentication. Familiarity with Azure Active Directory (Entra ID) in a hybrid capacity is beneficial.
• Develop, implement, and enforce security policies, procedures, and best practices.
• Assist during regular security audits and vulnerability assessments.
• Ensure compliance with industry regulations and standards.
• Monitor and address issues related to device endpoint security and configuration deployment.
• Collaborate with the service desk team to resolve escalated technical problems.
• Develop and maintain documentation for troubleshooting and system configurations.
• Provide technical support to end-users, addressing hardware and software issues.
• Perform incident root cause analysis and remediation of system outages.
• Participate in on-call rotation to provide off-hours support and maintenance.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams to understand business requirements.
• Collaborate with peers, system architects, and other stakeholders to develop effective IT solutions.
• Communicate technical information to non-technical stakeholders.
• Maintain infrastructure diagrams, configurations, and operating procedures.
• Stay informed about industry trends and emerging technologies.
• Propose and implement improvements to enhance system performance and efficiency.
• Participate in ongoing professional development to stay current with relevant certifications and skills.

Pay range and compensation package - Ideally around $120K maybe some flex

Equal Opportunity Statement - Include a statement on commitment to diversity and inclusivity.