Senior Systems Engineer [CAMPUS ONLY recruitment]

JOB POSTING

This is a CAMPUS ONLY recruitment. Only current employees, or former employees with current Preferential Rehire rights will be considered for this position. Former employees with Preferential Rehire rights should apply through the external candidate gateway and identify themselves as such in their application to be considered for this position.

Current UCSC employees must apply to the job posting in the Internal Candidate Gateway. If you accessed this recruitment through the Internal UCSC gateway, you can apply via the "Apply" button at the bottom of this job posting.

If you accessed this recruitment through the external gateway, you should access the internal job posting by going to the jobs.ucsc.edu weblink and clicking the "Internal Staff Applicants" button.

If you are a current UCSC employee and apply through the External Candidate Gateway, you will not be considered for this position.

How To Apply

For full consideration, applicants should attach their resume and cover letter when applying for a job opening. For guidance related to the application process or if you are experiencing difficulties when applying, please review the Applicant Resources on our website.

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INITIAL REVIEW DATE (IRD)

UC Santa Cruz jobs are posted until filled. All application materials submitted by 11:59 pm on the IRD will be routed to the hiring team for consideration. NOTE: Applicants who miss the IRD are still encouraged to apply; their materials will still be forwarded for consideration if requested by the hiring team. Application materials cannot be accepted outside of the jobs portal.

Applications cannot be edited on an applicant's behalf. For more information about the IRD and the applicant review process, view this link.

The IRD for this job is: 07-07-2026

About Uc Santa Cruz

UC Santa Cruz is a public university like no other in California, combining the experience of a small, liberal arts college with the depth and rigor of a major research university. It's known as an unconventional place where innovation and experimentation is part of the campus's DNA. That playful, bold spirit still thrives today, all on a campus renowned as among the most beautiful in the world.

Department Overview

Information Technology Services (ITS) is the center for IT services and support at UC Santa Cruz. We are a team of over 200 diverse, enthusiastic people with a mission to deliver exceptional, modern, accessible, and secure technology services and support to nearly 25,000 students, faculty, and staff.

We are constantly striving to meet the evolving needs of our campus while fostering a culture that embraces the rich variety of perspectives and experiences within our community.

We are looking for people who are curious, hard-working, resourceful, kind, and committed to inclusion. We strive to continually improve service quality, experience, and value for UC Santa Cruz students and employees, and are in search of people who can help our team continue to meet that goal. ITS is committed to strengthening our internal values of equity, work-life balance, and fostering a supportive culture.

Prioritizing career paths is important to us and we devote resources to skill and professional development for our staff. We encourage you to apply, even if you do not believe you meet every qualification for the position but possess transferable skills and experience.

University of California offers competitive benefits including Medical, Dental & Vision Care Insurance Plans, University of California (UC) retirement, Paid Family Leave, and Paid Holidays plus accrued vacation and sick leave. Visit the UC benefits page for more information at UC Compensation and Benefits.

Job Summary

The Senior Systems Engineer serves as a high-level technical leader at UC Observatories (UCO), providing independent oversight and frontline support for astronomical research at the UCSC technical laboratories and the Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton. The incumbent leverages advanced IT professional concepts to manage and optimize a complex, specialized infrastructure.

The Engineer acts as a strategic partner to faculty and researchers, translating scientific requirements into robust IT solutions.

This role is responsible for the end-to-end lifecycle of UCO's systems, including the design, installation, and maintenance of various OS (Linux, Windows, Mac), networking, storage, software licensing and distribution, software testing and installation, server hardware support, and virtualization infrastructure management.

APPOINTMENT INFORMATION

Budgeted Salary: $122,620 - $132,300/year. Salary commensurate with skills, qualifications and experience.

Under California law, the University of California, Santa Cruz is required to post a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. The salary shown above is the budgeted amount the University reasonably expects to pay and the salary extended should not exceed this posted amount.

Benefits Level Eligibility: Full benefits

Schedule Information

• Full-time, Fixed
• Percentage of Time: 100%, 40 Hours per Week
• Days of the Week: Mon-Fri
• Shift Includes: Day

Employee Classification: Career appointment

Job End Date: None

Work Location: UC Santa Cruz Main Campus

Union Representation: Non-Represented

Job Code Classification: 000499 (INFO SYS ANL 4) - Grade 25

Travel: Up to 25% of the time

Job Duties

65% - Specialized Research Computing and Infrastructure Management

• Manage and maintain UCO virtual machine (VM) infrastructure and handle VM provisioning for both research and administrative needs.
• Manage and maintain UCO physical servers, including storage arrays.
• Manage and update UCO firewalls for campus and Mt. Hamilton locations.
• Manage UCO VPN infrastructure, including user provisioning and support for VPN access for both Campus and Mt. Hamilton.
• Provide DNS and DHCP services for the UCO campus environment and partial services for the Mt. Hamilton environment, including IP address management and allocation.
• Maintain a periodic physical presence for system maintenance to perform tasks such as disk replacements, racking/deracking of systems, physical troubleshooting, power outage restoration, and UPS system management.
• Provide specialized desktop support and server support for research workstations and servers, including installation and configuration of research-specific software and troubleshooting research computing needs.
• Manage user account creation, modification, and deactivation, password resets, and access management for internal staff and external collaborators.
• Manage UCO’s separate Google Workspace domain, including email routing, mailbox administration, and support for unique UCO mail routing requirements.

35% - Coordination and Complex Issue Resolution

• Escalate complex issues and resource constraints to ITS and PBSci leadership as needed.
• Contribute to the scoping, estimation, and resourcing of significant project work, infrastructure upgrades, and technical debt remediation.
• Ensure systems align with policy and process as established with UCOP and UCSC ITS standards.
• Documents complex system configurations, processes, and project scope requirements related to the UCO specialized research computing environment and infrastructure, including firewall and VPN management, VM provisioning, and service handoffs to Central IT.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training.
• Advanced knowledge of IT infrastructure, including Linux OS, networking, storage, server hardware support, and virtualization infrastructure management.
• In-depth knowledge of complex IT areas of specialization necessary to resolve highly complex issues.
• Knowledge of firewall, VPN, DNS, and DHCP services, including IP address management and allocation.
• Demonstrated ability to resolve highly complex issues independently by evaluating variable factors and recommending technical methods and techniques.
• Skills in performing physical system maintenance, including disk replacements, racking/deracking, troubleshooting, power outage restoration, and UPS system management.
• Ability to manage the user account lifecycle, including creation, modification, deactivation, password resets, and access management.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of information security policies, procedures, and standards applicable to UC Institutional Information and IT Resources.
• Advanced systems administration skills in design, installation, maintenance, and optimization of complex, specialized IT infrastructure.
• Strong technical leadership skills to provide independent oversight and frontline support for astronomical research computing.
• Ability to act as a strategic partner to faculty and researchers, translating scientific requirements into robust IT solutions.
• Advanced troubleshooting and support skills for research workstations, servers, and research-specific software installation/configuration.
• Ability to contribute to the scoping, estimation, and resourcing of significant project work, infrastructure upgrades, and technical debt remediation.
• Excellent written communication skills for documenting complex system configurations, processes, and project scope requirements.
• Interpersonal skills to effectively coordinate with Central ITS teams and clearly communicate complex issues to technical and non-technical personnel and leadership.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

• Selected candidate will be required to pass a pre-employment criminal history background check.
• Selected candidate must pass the employment misconduct disclosure process.
• Must possess a valid license to drive in the state of California and participate in the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) pull notice program.
• Ability to work long periods of time at a computer with or without accommodation.
• The selected candidate will be required to work all scheduled hours on-site.
• Ability to work a variable schedule.
• Ability to work a variable schedule including evenings and weekends.
• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends as directed.
• Ability to respond to emergencies after hours as necessary.
• Selected candidate will be required to complete training within established time frames as directed including UC compliance training.
• The University of California has implemented a Vaccination Policy covering all employees. Employees, including new hires, are required to comply with any applicable policies relating to the University of California vaccine program.
• Per the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), this position has been identified as a Mandated Reporter. The selected candidate will be required to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect as defined by CANRA and will be required to sign a Statement Acknowledging Requirement to Report Child Abuse prior to commencing employment. CANRA Penal Codes, and related definitions, requirements, and responsibilities may be obtained here.
• Exercise the utmost discretion in managing sensitive information learned in the course of performing their duties. Sensitive information includes but is not limited to employee and student records, health and patient records, financial data, strategic plans, proprietary information, and any other sensitive or non-public information learned during the course and scope of employment. Understands that sensitive information should be shared on a limited basis and actively takes steps to limit access to sensitive information to individuals who have legitimate business need to know. Ensure that sensitive information is properly safeguarded. Follow all organizational policies and laws on data protection and privacy. This includes secure handling of physical and digital records and proper usage of IT systems to prevent data leaks. The unauthorized or improper disclosure of confidential work-related information obtained from any source on any work-related matter is a violation of these expectations.

MISCONDUCT DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT

As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts a conditional offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; received notice of any allegations or are currently the subject of any administrative or disciplinary proceedings involving misconduct; have left a position after receiving notice of allegations or while under investigation in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding involving misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of misconduct with a previous employer.

• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC's policies addressing some forms of misconduct:
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
• Abusive Conduct in the Workplace

SAFETY STATEMENT

All UCSC employees must understand and follow job safety procedures, attend required health and safety training, proactively promote safety at work, and promptly report actual and potential accidents and injuries.

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY

In compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (the Clery Act), the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report (ASFSR) is available at: https://chancellor.ucsc.edu/annual-security-reports/.

This report is published by October 1st of each year and includes current institutional policies and procedures concerning campus safety and security; fire safety and evacuation policies; sexual misconduct and relationship violence reporting and response protocols; and crime and fire statistics for the three previous calendar years.

A paper copy of the ASFSR is available upon request by contacting the UCSC Police Department at 114 Carriage House Rd., Santa Cruz, CA 95064, or by calling 831-459-2231 Ext. 1.

EEO/AA

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status or other protected categories covered by the UC Anti-Discrimination Policy.

It is the policy of the University of California to undertake affirmative action and anti-discrimination efforts, consistent with its obligations as a Federal and State contractor.