Systems Engineer II

Job Title

Systems Engineer II

Agency

Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Department

Tti Network & Information Systems

Proposed Minimum Salary

Commensurate

Job Location

Bryan, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

Who are we?

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) is an agency of the State of Texas and member of The Texas A&M University System. For 70 years, TTI has addressed complex transportation challenges and opportunities with innovation, objectivity, and unmatched technical expertise. Our staff delivers excellence, value and thought leadership to ensure our research sponsors achieve their goals.

Our Mission and Vision

Our Vision - TTI leads in the creation of knowledge that transforms transportation for the benefit of society.

Our Mission - TTI delivers practical, innovative and sustainable solutions to improve the movement of people, data and goods through research, education and technology transfer.

Our Work Environment

Entrepreneurial culture

Affiliation with Texas A&M University students and faculty

Ability to work with nationally recognized experts

Ability to help train the next generation of transportation professionals

Premier office and research facilities and equipment

Accredited laboratories and safety proving ground

Outstanding research support services

Hybrid work environment / telecommuting

Flexible work hours

Family friendly

High staff retention rates

Leadership development and wellness programs

Data allowance and home office equipment reimbursements

Relocation assistance (if eligible)

Tuition reimbursement program (if eligible)

Our Employee Benefits

TTI employees can choose from several health coverage options offered by The Texas A&M University System for themselves and their families, as well as numerous other benefit programs.

What you need to know

This position has the flexibility of a hybrid remote option with two days in the TTI HQ at RELLIS campus. This can be discussed further during the interview process.

The salary range for position is $90K - $100K. Final salary will be determined based on the applicant's qualifications and experience.

Job Summary

The Systems Engineer II, under supervision, collaborates with other Systems Architects and Engineers, and IT personnel to design, develop and implement a cloud infrastructure to address Research Computing needs. This position will work on complex IT projects that require state of the art technical or industry knowledge, administer research computing infrastructure, manage cloud services and provide technical support to researchers and PIs. Continued employment in this position is contingent upon availability of funding and satisfactory performance.

Essential Duties

Research Computing Infrastructure Services (40%)

Designs, develops, and implements research infrastructure to address low-to-medium impact problems.

Works with other Systems Architect and other IT staff in the planning and designing of systems infrastructure.

Implements best practices and follows proper security controls for system security and data backups when designing new systems and making improvements to existing systems.

Ensures the accuracy and effectiveness of the system to meet business / customers' requirements.

Creates system related documents / reports including installation procedures, control documents, and test plans.

Collaborates with other Systems Engineers or other IT personnel to understand application improvements and plans for change.

Works with other vendors and IT personnel for any problem resolutions required.

Ensures requirements are met and evaluates performance.

Research Computing Infrastructure Administration : (35%)

Manage the life cycle of research servers, virtual machines, storage devices and other physical hardware.

Optimize resources for efficiency and cost effectiveness

Design server architectures to meet computing demands

Provide scalable and cost-efficient storage solutions for research computing data.

Manage network and security of the research computing environment

Design secure and efficient network architectures, including VLANs, VPNs and firewalls.

Ensure high speed connectivity between clients and cloud resources.

Implement hybrid-cloud solutions to integrate on-premises and cloud environments.

Implement backup and recovery strategies to ensure data availability in case of system failures.

Apply patches and updates to address cloud platform related security vulnerabilities.

Incident and Problem Management

Respond swiftly to system outages and disruptions.

Develop proactive solutions for system reliability and outcomes.

Documentation, Auditing and Compliance

Develop and maintain comprehensive system documentation.

Provide expert support for internal and external audits

Perform routine check to ensure compliance.

Cloud Subscriptions Management : (5%)

Monitor and manage client subscriptions across different providers including user onboarding, license allocation, and renewal cycles following approved guidelines and processes.

Identify and address potential subscription issues like over-provisioning, unused licenses, and billing discrepancies.

Implement automated processes for provisioning and de-provisioning cloud resources based on usage patterns.

Cloud Cost Management and Optimization (5%)

Monitor and manage cloud subscription resource usage and costs.

Analyze cost utilization reports to Identify cost-inefficient areas and potential cost-saving opportunities.

Develop and implement cost optimization strategies for resources and projects.

Estimate cloud subscription costs for research proposals.

Collaboration (5%)

Builds and maintains a positive relationship with other agency units and personnel.

Serves a technical liaison to senior management, project sponsors and external partners.

Participates in committees, working groups, and steering teams inside and outside of department as well as TTI to establish data governance standards, share best practices, and guide the strategic direction of the agency’s IT ecosystem.

Mentor other IT staff, fostering a culture of innovation, continuous learning and operational excellence.

Department Level Support (4%)

Develops and leads projects in support of TTI goals.

Participates in training and professional development sessions.

Act as Liaison to one or more programs within agency

Liaise with vendors to negotiate service level contracts.

Attends departmental meetings.

Provide guidance to junior IT staff on infrastructure-related issues.

Technical Support (4%)

Provide on-call support on nights and weekends as needed / scheduled.

Provide first-level support for research and administrative staff on the utilization of cloud services, enterprise systems, and virtual machine environment.

Provide basic training sessions and documentation to researchers on the effective usage of systems and tools in the cloud computing environment.

Performs other duties as assigned. (2%)

Required Education and Experience

Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Four years of related experience in areas such as : System Administration, Networking, Security and Virtualization, Windows, Linux Servers Administration in on-prem as well as cloud / virtualized environments, Active Directory, Entra ID (Azure AD), and Intune (or similar MDM solutions), and provisioning, monitoring, and securing Azure resources (VMs, storage, networking).

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Fundamental understanding of networking including VPNs, firewalls, VLANs, and load balancers, DNS, DHCP, and domain management.

Strong problem-solving skills and ability to troubleshoot complex technical issues and ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues or outages.

Strong written and verbal communication for cross-team collaboration.

Ability to create and maintain clear system documentation and standard operating procedures.

Preferred Requirements

Experience with Cloud Services (Azure, AWS) and automation tools

Experience in designing or contributing to high availability and disaster recovery strategies.

Proficiency with Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, or similar observability platforms.

Familiarity with additional Azure services like Front Door / CDN.

Working knowledge of Databricks, Snowflake, or minor GCP usage.

Familiarity with AWS or GCP is a plus, but Azure is the primary focus area.

Familiarity with Synology, WordPress / WP Engine, or other related platforms.

Basic Git version control usage for script management.

Any advanced scripting or automation skill (e.g., Python) is a bonus.

Familiarity with PowerShell and / or Bash for routine tasks and simple automations.

Working knowledge of NIST 800-53 or similar security standards (patching, access control, encryption).

Physical Requirements

Ability to perform common office functions.

Ability to frequently communicate with other individuals within the workplace.

Ability to operate a computer and other office productivity machinery.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and / or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action / Veterans / Disability Employer.

Salary : $90,000 - $100,000