Systems Administrator, Wharton Computing

Systems Administrator, Wharton Computing

University Overview

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn's distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning. As an employer Penn has been ranked nationally on many occasions with the most recent award from Forbes who named Penn one of America's Best Employers By State in 2021.

Penn offers a unique working environment within the city of Philadelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urban campus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance and landmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety of atmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home for work and play.

The University offers a competitive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources, and much more.

COVID-19 vaccination is a requirement for all positions at the University of Pennsylvania. New hires are expected to be fully vaccinated before beginning work at the University. For more information about Penn's vaccine requirements and the use of Penn Open Pass, visit the Penn COVID-19 Response website for the latest information.

Posted Job Title
Systems Administrator, Wharton Computing

Job Profile Title
Systems Administrator B

Job Description Summary
Are you interested in growing your technical skill set to enable the educational and research missions of a university? Are you eager to work with cloud services and platform providers? Are you seeking an employer who values both your time at work and away from it?

As a System Administrator in Wharton Computing, you will work with us to handle scalable enterprise-class services and solutions. You will build and deploy services as infrastructure-as-code on cloud infrastructure. Much of your work will be in Amazon Web Services (AWS) with automated workflows using tools like Terraform, Ansible, and Jenkins. You will participate in project teams that deploy, improve, or retire services. You will maintain a balance between supporting and re-architecting legacy systems. You will share technical knowledge through working sessions, documentation and source control of code. You will collaborate with peers within your immediate team, in Wharton Computing, and the University community at large. You will work in tandem with your manager to drive your own professional development through training and conferences.

Job Description

We encourage all who value an inclusive and positive environment to apply for this position.

We are looking for a team member who is:
  • Engaged when working with colleagues and clients to solve complex technical challenges
  • Able to learn from, and teach, their peers
  • Enjoys helping team members refine their ideas as well as bringing your own to the table
  • Wants to be challenged to develop new skills as well as demonstrate existing ones


Our daily work is a balance of project work, operational duties, service requests, and incident management. We support Windows and Linux servers offering a variety of services from Active Directory to Python/Django web hosting. We leverage AWS services to provide identity and access management, cloud instances, cloud storage, networking, logging, alerting, system management and serverless computing. Additional tools we use include Terraform, Ansible, JIRA, Confluence, Bitbucket, OpsGenie, Zendesk, Jenkins, and Splunk to assess and deliver services effectively. We serve as a support intermediary for Software as a Service and partner-provided platforms such as Zoom and Office 365.

You will form part of a rotating 24/7 on call team that responds to system alerts and phone communications in week-long shifts. We collaborate to reduce the number of services that alert after hours and are dedicated to minimizing the after-hours burden.

To excel you will:
  • Value inclusion and teamwork
  • Strengthen our technical and customer service skills
  • Bring new skills and perspectives
  • Optimize operational costs of services
  • Display leadership and accountability
  • Understand security and privacy principles
  • Navigate change


As a System Administrator B you will be expected to:
  • Develop subject matter expertise for services and products
  • Participate in, and lead, technical teams and projects
  • Deploy new services and improve existing services
  • Expand your skills and share with team members
  • Demonstrate both judgment and insight in crisis and in planning


A combination of the following desired attributes will help you be successful:
  • A technical customer service background
  • Demonstrated knowledge of principles of technical troubleshooting
  • Familiarity with the Software Development Life Cycle
  • Comfort with Agile project management practice (Scrum/Kanban)
  • Understanding of continuous integration components, such as Jenkins
  • A general understanding of DevOps philosophies
  • Proficiency with a configuration management system like Ansible, Chef or Puppet
  • Understanding and experience with RESTful or other APIs
  • A familiarity with ITIL procedures and language
  • Knowledge of cloud provider Identity and Access Management or broader IAM principles
  • Awareness of Security and Privacy Best Practices and how they apply to Higher Education
  • Practical experience with the fundamentals of TCP/IP networking


For a Systems Administrator B: A Bachelor's Degree and at least 1 year of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience is required.

To be considered you should:
  • Have at least one year of Linux or Windows system administration experience
  • Exhibit familiarity with one cloud service provider such as Amazon Web Services, or Microsoft Azure
  • Be able to communicate effectively with technical colleagues and business users
  • Have experience with source control and be able to use Git, specifically
  • Demonstrate familiarity with at least one scripting language such as Bash, PowerShell, or Python
  • Display the empathy necessary for customer-first support


The estimated salary for this role is $64,000 to $72,000.

Job Location - City, State
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School
Wharton School

Pay Range
$43,919.00 - $90,263.00

Affirmative Action Statement
Penn adheres to a policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.

Special Requirements
Background check required after a conditional job offer is made. Consideration of the background check will be tailored to the requirements of the job.

University Benefits
  • Health, Life, and Flexible Spending Accounts: Penn offers comprehensive medical, prescription, behavioral health, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits to protect you and your family's health and welfare. You can also use flexible spending accounts to pay for eligible health care and dependent care expenses with pre-tax dollars.
  • Tuition: Take advantage of Penn's exceptional tuition benefits. You, your spouse, and your dependent children can get tuition assistance here at Penn. Your dependent children are also eligible for tuition assistance at other institutions.
  • Retirement: Penn offers generous retirement plans to help you save for your future. Penn's Basic, Matching, and Supplemental retirement plans allow you to save for retirement on a pre-tax or Roth basis. Choose from a wide variety of investment options through TIAA and Vanguard.
  • Time Away from Work: Penn provides you with a substantial amount of time away from work during the course of the year. This allows you to relax, take vacations, attend to personal affairs, recover from illness or injury, spend time with family-whatever your personal needs may be.
  • Long-Term Care Insurance: In partnership with Genworth Financial, Penn offers faculty and staff (and your eligible family members) long-term care insurance to help you cover some of the costs of long-term care services received at home, in the community or in a nursing facility. If you apply when you're newly hired, you won't have to provide proof of good health or be subject to underwriting requirements. Eligible family members must always provide proof of good health and are subject to underwriting.
  • Wellness and Work-life Resources: Penn is committed to supporting our faculty and staff as they balance the competing demands of work and personal life. That's why we offer a wide variety of programs and resources to help you care for your health, your family, and your work-life balance.
  • Professional and Personal Development: Penn provides an array of resources to help you advance yourself personally and professionally.
  • University Resources: As a member of the Penn community, you have access to a wide range of University resources as well as cultural and recreational activities. Take advantage of the University's libraries and athletic facilities, or visit our arboretum and art galleries. There's always something going on at Penn, whether it's a new exhibit at the Penn Museum, the latest music or theater presentation at the Annenberg Center, or the Penn Relays at Franklin Field to name just a few examples. As a member of the Penn community, you're right in the middle of the excitement-and you and your family can enjoy many of these activities for free.
  • Discounts and Special Services: From arts and entertainment to transportation and mortgages, you'll find great deals for University faculty and staff. Not only do Penn arts and cultural centers and museums offer free and discounted admission and memberships to faculty and staff. You can also enjoy substantial savings on other goods and services such as new cars from Ford and General Motors, cellular phone service plans, movie tickets, and admission to theme parks.
  • Flexible Work Hours: Flexible work options offer creative approaches for completing work while promoting balance between work and personal commitments. These approaches involve use of non-traditional work hours, locations, and/or job structures.
  • Penn Home Ownership Services: Penn offers a forgivable loan for eligible employees interested in buying a home or currently residing in West Philadelphia, which can be used for closing costs or home improvements.
  • Adoption Assistance: Penn will reimburse eligible employees on qualified expenses in connection with the legal adoption of an eligible child, such as travel or court fees, for up to two adoptions in your household.



To learn more, please visit: https://www.hr.upenn.edu/PennHR/benefits-pay

To apply, visit https://wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recruiting/upenn/careers-at-penn/job/Tangen-Hall---6th-Floor/Systems-Administrator--Wharton-Computing_JR00052738

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