Associate System Engineer

With a workforce of over 25,000 people, and opportunities in more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia is the fifth largest city in the United States and one of the largest employers in Southeastern Pennsylvania. As an employer, the City of Philadelphia operates through the guiding principles of service, integrity, respect, accountability, collaboration, diversity and inclusion. Through these principles, we strive to effectively deliver services, to resolve the challenges facing our city, and to make Philadelphia a place where all of our residents have the opportunity to reach their potential.   The Office of Innovation & Technology (OIT) is the central IT agency for the City of Philadelphia headed by the Chief Information Officer. This position is within the CityGeo team of OIT led by the Chief Geographic Information Officer (GIO).  The CityGeo team manages enterprise GIS operations for the city including on-prem and cloud services, large scale technology and data contracts, and governance for geodata sharing and development standards.  CityGeo is performing some of the most innovative work in municipal government on data analytics, application development, use of imagery and management of governance and multi-departmental stakeholder collaboration The Associate Systems Engineer is a technical role responsible for supporting, monitoring, documenting, troubleshooting, and improving systems used by the Philadelphia Department of Prisons. This position is intended for a motivated IT professional who wants to grow in systems engineering, scripting, task automation, application support, infrastructure operations, monitoring, and process improvement. The successful candidate should have strong troubleshooting instincts, curiosity, professionalism, and the ability to learn new systems quickly. The Associate Systems Engineer will work with senior technical staff to support Microsoft Windows Server environments, application platforms, scheduled jobs, automation scripts, monitoring systems, system integrations, and escalated technical support needs. This role may benefit from the thoughtful use of AI tools to support research, assist in reading or writing code, explore solution options, draft technical notes, and improve workflow efficiency. When used, these tools should complement existing engineering skills and judgment, not replace them. This position is a strong fit for someone with experience in IT support, systems administration, scripting, help desk escalation, application support, infrastructure support, or technical troubleshooting who has experience with, or is willing to learn, Python, PowerShell, task automation, and system scripting. Essential Functions The Associate Systems Engineer will: · Monitor and support departmental systems, applications, scheduled jobs, reports, interfaces, file transfers, automation processes, and integrations. · Troubleshoot technical issues related to Windows servers, applications, user access, reports, network connectivity, file permissions, scheduled tasks, scripts, and automated processes. · Review system health, job status, log files, alerts, dashboards, scheduled tasks, and error messages to identify issues and recommend next steps. · Assist with reporting, exports, data review, and operational support tasks using approved City tools and platforms. · Support scheduled scripts, task automation, data imports, data exports, file transfers, and integrations between internal and external systems. · Assist with the development, maintenance, testing, and documentation of automation scripts using tools such as PowerShell, Python, batch scripting, Windows Task Scheduler, or similar automation platforms. · Support routine system administration tasks in Windows Server environments, including service checks, scheduled tasks, event logs, application configuration, file shares, and permissions. · Assist with account access, group membership, permissions reviews, and role-based access control in coordination with Active Directory and established data access procedures. · Assist with report updates, dashboard support, operational validation, recurring support tasks, and process improvement efforts. · Create, update, and maintain technical documentation, standard operating procedures, troubleshooting guides, job schedules, system inventories, and support notes. · Assist with testing system changes, patches, application updates, report updates, database changes, and process improvements prior to implementation. · Support vendor coordination, including issue research, log collection, testing, documentation, and communication of technical findings. · Provide technical support to MIS staff, help desk staff, business users, vendors, and other City technology teams. · Participate in troubleshooting calls, vendor meetings, system reviews, project discussions, and operational planning as needed. · Escalate complex issues to senior staff while clearly documenting symptoms, troubleshooting steps, business impact, and recommended next actions. · Learn the operations, data, reporting needs, policies, procedures, and business processes of the Philadelphia Department of Prisons. · Maintain a professional and service-oriented approach when supporting public safety operations, staff, and technology stakeholders. · Utilize AI tools to support troubleshooting, research, code exploration, or documentation while checking any output as part of normal technical validation. · Recent graduates in STEM, technical certificate/s, military technical training, or equivalent experience in information technology, computer science, information systems, cybersecurity, data analytics, or a related field. · Professional experience in IT support, systems administration, desktop support, help desk escalation, application support, scripting, task automation, infrastructure support, or a similar technical role. · Experience troubleshooting technical i