IT Systems Engineer

Position : IT Systems Engineer Position Type : Full-time, permanent Department : Information Technology Location : Boulder, Colorado (onsite) Experience : Associate required, Bachelors preferred, + 5 years relevant experience Watchmaker Genomics is a global life science company based in Boulder, Colorado with an R&D and Production facility in Cape Town, South Africa. Our team is passionate about innovation and values collaboration, creativity, and scientific rigor.  We believe that the intersection of biology, engineering, and computer science presents exciting opportunities for developing novel technologies that promote research and improve human health. Watchmaker Genomics specializes in the design, development, and production of DNA- and RNA-modifying enzymes that enable high-growth applications in genomics, molecular diagnostics, and personalized medicine. Position Summary Watchmaker Genomics is inviting applications for the full-time position of IT Systems Engineer, an onsite role in our Boulder, Colorado office. This position reports to the Director IT, Boulder site for day-to-day execution and service delivery. The position will implement and maintain IT infrastructure and cloud services, change management, problem identification and resolution, and configuration management activities. Additionally, this position is expected to assist in the creation of new processes, work instructions, infrastructure documentation and knowledge base articles. The successful candidate will thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced working environment and contribute directly to our company culture and success. This position will offer unique challenges, learning and growth including the opportunity to build and supervise a global service desk team. Responsibilities: Core responsibilities System Design and Architecture: Implement complex IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, networks, and cloud services, in line with Watchmaker's global architecture standards. Identity and Access Management (Microsoft Entra): Administer identity, authentication and access management in Microsoft Entra, including conditional access, multi-factor authentication, and joiner/mover/leaver processes. This is a critical requirement for the position. Cloud Infrastructure: Build, administer, and maintain infrastructure and cloud services in line with global standards. This is a critical requirement for the position. Endpoint Management: Manage Windows endpoints and macOS endpoints, including enrollment, compliance, configuration baselines, and application deployment. These are critical requirements for the position. Security and Cyber Security Protection: Operate security systems across endpoints and cloud workloads; monitor, triage, and respond to security alerts; execute patch and vulnerability management. This is a critical requirement for the position. Network Infrastructure: Configure, maintain, and troubleshoot the site network infrastructure, including switching, wireless, firewalls, and VPNs. Advanced network knowledge and hands-on network infrastructure configuration are essential for this role. System Administration and Maintenance: Execute or oversee the installation, configuration, and maintenance of servers, virtual environments, and enterprise applications. Performance Monitoring and Optimization: Monitor system performance, troubleshoot issues, and optimize infrastructure for stability, security, and efficiency. Automation and Scripting: Develop and use automation tools/scripts to streamline operations and system management. Computer Systems Validation: Perform required Computer Systems Validation actions. Documentation and Operational Discipline: Maintain accurate and current infrastructure documentation, work instructions and knowledge base articles; execute all changes through formal change management. Risk Management and Escalation: Proactively identify, communicate, and escalate risks, incidents and capacity constraints to the Director IT, Boulder site and the Global IT Systems Engineer in a timely manner. Teamwork and Technical Guidance: Provide guidance to service desk staff and collaborate with cross-functional and global teams to meet business objectives. Maintenance and Business Continuity Disaster Recovery Planning: Design and implement disaster recovery (DR) plans, ensuring critical systems and data can be restored in case of failure or outage. Backup Management: Oversee regular backups of data, systems, and configurations, ensuring that backups are complete, secure, and recoverable, and that restores are verified through scheduled test recoveries. System Redundancy: Implement and maintain redundancy for key systems (e.g., servers, storage, network components) to minimize downtime and ensure business continuity during failures. Disaster Recovery Testing: Conduct regular DR testing and simulations to validate the effectiveness of recovery plans, ensuring systems can be restored according to recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs). Incident Response: Lead response efforts during major system outages or disasters, coordinating recovery activities, and communicating status updates to stakeholders. Documentation and Updates: Maintain detailed documentation of continuity and recovery procedures, regularly reviewing and updating plans to align with business changes and new technologies. Troubleshooting System Diagnosis: Identify, analyze, and resolve issues related to servers, networks, storage, and applications. Root Cause Analysis: Investigate recurring problems to determine the underlying causes and implement long-term solutions. Performance Issues: Troubleshoot slow or underperforming systems by analyzing resource usage (CPU, memory, disk) and resolving bottlenecks. Network and Connectivity Issues: Diagnose and resolve network outages, latency, or connectivity problems