Senior Systems Engineer (IT Operations)

Job Description:

Senior Systems Engineer (IT Operations)

Description

THE POSITION

With supervisor approval, incumbents may be eligible for intermittent remote work; however, they must physically reside within the Sacramento region or have the ability to regularly report to a City of Sacramento physical worksite with little notice.

The City of Sacramento is seeking a highly motivated individual that is an effective communicator and talented leader with advanced information technology skills. This position is in the Department of Information Technology's Operations Division. The individual will be part of a team responsible for the Citywide and Public Safety network infrastructure, which includes routers, switches, access points, firewalls, load balancers, monitoring and alerting software, and network level security systems. The position works closely with other members within the Department of Information Technology, business stakeholders, outside consultants, and elected officials.

IDEAL CANDIDATE STATEMENT
The ideal candidate will have experience in the following areas:
• Cisco IOS, including EIGRP, VRF, HSRP, Dot1x, QOS, VXLAN, and BGP
• F5 load balancer, LTM, ASM, APM
• Palo Alto Firewall and VPN
• Meraki wireless systems
• Cisco ISE
• Wireshark or other packet capture software
• Monitoring solutions, ex: SolarWinds

Under direction, the Senior Systems Engineer performs professional, technical and systems programming and/or systems administration duties involving the design, development, testing, implementation and maintenance of the software and hardware infrastructure and connectivity capability between different platforms that manage information technology resources and support the execution of automated applications.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

This advanced journey professional classification is populated with multiple incumbents. The Senior Systems Engineer performs network design, administration and tuning, mainframe operating systems programming, and/or cross-platform system security. Incumbents may function as team leaders and technical specialists and exercise discretion and have latitude in resolving both mainframe and network issues. Incumbents support any one or a combination of platforms, operating systems and associated products.

This class is distinguished from the lower level Systems Engineer by the complexity of duties performed, the depth and breadth of network administration and/or operating systems programming duties, and the latitude in decision-making. This classification is distinguished from Principal Systems Engineer that the latter has greater technical responsibility including systems design across multiple platforms running large-scale applications, design and implementation of sophisticated security measures, and specification development and technical project management and possesses an advanced level of knowledge and experience.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED

Direction is provided by an Information Technology Supervisor, Information Technology Manager or higher-level management staff. The Senior Systems Engineer does not supervise.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The following duties are typical for this classification. Incumbents may not perform all the listed duties and/or may be required to perform related duties as needed.

• Designs, develops, customizes, installs, tests, implements, and maintains operating system software, propriety system software and hardware infrastructure or connectivity capability; monitors and tunes systems for optimum performance.
• Reviews the designs of proposed major applications and upgrades for compliance with the City's security policy; performs routine security audits, report findings and recommend related system enhancements; maintains firewall configuration and router access lists as needed; performs routine reviews of security logs for firewalls, border routers and DMZ servers; installs and maintains intrusion detection system to protect against an attack on the City's networks; monitors and researches possible security threats and communicate alerts and recommendations to the appropriate City staff member.
• Supports the mainframe, mid-range and specialized operating system software.
• Manages a wide area network or local area network; installs upgrades and enhancements; maintains hardware and software operability; designs network, manages installation of hub, switch and router upgrades; monitors network performance; and documents network design and configuration
• Participates in capacity planning and security assessment; participates in disaster planning and recovery procedures.
• Trains and mentors IT staff and end users relative to mainframe, network, security and operating system enhancements and procedures.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

Knowledge of :

• Security policy administration.
• Network architecture and design fundamentals.
• Principles of and current trends in information technology design and implementation across all platforms from PCs to mainframes.
• Mainframe and network operating systems, programming languages, utilities and tools.
• Project management techniques.
• Communication protocols, telecommunications and information processing environments.
• General programming and compilation techniques.
• Wired and wireless network design and implementation.
• Firewall architecture.
• Web architecture, protocols and languages.
• Network backup and recovery techniques.
• Security trends, risk assessment and products.

Skill in :

• Software and hardware installation, maintenance and customization.
• Verbal and written communication.
• Operating System installation, troubleshooting, programming.
• Network administration, optimization.

Ability to :

• Communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical personnel.
• Analyze, identify and resolve complex operating system and system software problems.
• Perform complex software installation, maintenance, and customization.

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION

Any combination of education and experience that would provide the required knowledge and abilities would be qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be:

Experience :
Five years' experience in computer system security, network administration or mainframe operating systems including design, testing, installation, documentation and maintenance of systems software and hardware configuration.

Education :
A Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in computer science or related degree.

Substitution :
Additional experience may substitute for education on a year-for-year basis.

PROOF OF EDUCATION

Should education be used to qualify for this position, then proof of education such as, but not limited to, university/college transcripts and degrees should be submitted with your application and will be required at the time of appointment. Unofficial documents and/or copies are acceptable.

An applicant with a college degree obtained outside the United States must have education records evaluated by a credentials evaluation service. Evaluation of education records will be due at time of appointment.

THE SELECTION PROCEDURE

Please note, the City of Sacramento's preferred method of communication with applicants is via e-mail. As such, please ensure you verify the e-mail address on your application, and check your e-mail frequently, including your spam and junk folders. All e-mail notifications can also be accessed through the governmentjobs.com applicant inbox.

1. Application: (Pass/Fail) - All applicants must complete and submit online a City of Sacramento employment application by the final filing deadline ;

• Employment applications must be submitted online; paper applications will not be accepted.
• Employment applications will be considered incomplete and will be disqualified:
  • If applicants do not list current and past job-related experience in the duties area of the "Work Experience" section. Note: Qualifying experience is based on full-time experience (40 hours per week). Qualifying experience is calculated to the full-time equivalent (pro-rated if less than 40 hours/week).
  • If "see resume" is noted in the "Work Experience" section; a resume will not substitute for the information required in the "Work Experience" section.
• Position/job titles will not be considered in determining eligibility for meeting the minimum qualifications for this position.
• Proof of education such as, but not limited to, university/college transcripts and degrees should be submitted online with your application. Proof of education will be required at time of appointment.

2. Supplemental Questionnaire: ( Pass/Fail) - In addition to the City of Sacramento employment application, all applicants must complete and submit online responses to the supplemental questionnaire to the City of Sacramento Employment Office by the final filing deadline ;

• Responses to the supplemental questionnaire must be submitted online; paper questionnaire will not be accepted.

• Incomplete supplemental questionnaire will not pass the review process; omitted information cannot be considered or assumed.
• A resume will not substitute for the information required in the supplemental questionnaire.
• Possession of the minimum qualifications is not necessarily a guarantee for further advancement in the selection process.

3. Screening Committee: (Pass/Fail) - All applications received by the final filing deadline will be forwarded to the hiring department for review. The hiring department will select the most competitive applications for further consideration. Human Resources will only evaluate employment applications for the minimum qualifications, as stated on the job announcement, for applications selected by the hiring department.

4. Interview Process: Human Resources will forward applications to the hiring department. Those determined to be the most qualified candidates will be invited to participate in an interview process.

5. Conditional Hire: Upon receipt of a conditional offer, the selected candidate must complete and pass Live Scan/fingerprinting . If applicable, candidates may also need to pass a pre-employment medical exam, controlled substance and/or alcohol test, and possess any required licensure or certification prior to receiving a start date from the Department. Failure to meet these prerequisites will be grounds for withdrawal of your conditional offer of employment.

QUESTIONS:
For questions concerning this job announcement and the application process:

• Please visit https://www.governmentjobs.com/Home/ApplicationGuide for a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to the application process.
• For technical support between 6 AM - 5 PM PT, contact Live Application Support at 855-524-5627.
• Visit the City of Sacramento Human Resources Department website at https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/HR/employment ;
• Send an email to employment@cityofsacramento.org ; or
• Call the Human Resources Department at (916) 808-5726

Bilingual Pay
Did you know that the City offers bilingual pay? That's right, most labor agreements offer the option of providing employees with bilingual pay if the department deems it to be operationally necessary.

Pension Reform Act
The City of Sacramento is covered by the California Public Employees' Retirement System, and as such, must adhere to the California Public Employee's Pension Reform Act (PEPRA) of 2013. Please note that the provisions within this act may affect or impact an applicant's eligibility and/or selection for open vacancies at the City of Sacramento.

Equal Opportunity Employer
The City of Sacramento is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.

Additional Information

Civil Service Rules: https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/content/dam/portal/hr/documentlibrary/CivilServiceBoardRules62012.pdf

Union Contracts: https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/HR/labor-agreements.html

Salary Schedule: https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/content/dam/portal/hr/documentlibrary/SalarySchedule.pdf

Closing Date/Time: 11/11/2025 11:59 PM Pacific

Salary:

$98,327.76 - $138,357.03 Annually