The MENTOR Network Career Opportunities
Have you managed a team supporting at least 50 distributed servers?
Do you hold a MCSE?
Within the last 5 years, what role did the following play in your job:
Hiring, training, coaching and inspiring a staff of department team members.
Please note that this position is no longer available.
If you would like to be considered for similar opportunities now or in the future, feel free to apply and/or set up a notifier for yourself.
Manager, Distributed Server Administration
MA - Boston
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Opportunity Snapshot

This is your opportunity to join a technically progressive company as a supervisor and hands-on administrator working with our Microsoft Windows infrastructure servers. You'll enjoy a robust global corporate network where our IT Service & Support organization manages 450+ servers within two data centers and across multiple field offices in 37 states, supporting over 7500 users. Quick question for you - click here We're focused on core growth and are looking for impact players who can grow with us. Our business is service and our mission objective is to care for individuals in their communities. You can advance your career and at the same time feel good knowing that, through your talents, you will help deliver the solutions that enable us to provide care and support for individuals across the U.S.

Founded in 1980, The MENTOR Network is a for-profit national network of local human services providers offering an array of quality, community-based services to adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, at-risk youth, and people with brain and spinal cord injury. Our strategy of marrying our mission and values with business discipline and capital creation is unique, enabling the organization to invest in systems that make excellence possible -- and we apply those systems in a way that directly benefits people with a range of needs, with impressive results.

The Requirements

To be successful in this position you will have:
  • A bachelor's degree in Information Technology or a related field.
  • Seven to ten years' experience in an environment supporting a significant number of multiple sites and servers.
  • MCSE certification is preferred. Quick question for you - click here
  • In-depth server hardware, operating system and troubleshooting skills.
  • Solid project management and organizational talents.
  • Strong analytical problem-solving skills.
  • In-depth knowledge of security systems and methods.
  • Excellent oral and written communication abilities.
  • A passion for technology and keen interest in new technologies.
Required key competencies:

Language and Communication
  • Read, analyze and interpret -- general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures and/or governmental regulations.
  • Write -- reports, business correspondence and procedure manuals.
  • Present -- complex information to technical and non-technical groups of managers, clients, customers and the general public, effectively educating and responding to questions.
Mathematical Ability
  • Knowledge of Concepts -- probability and statistical inference, and fundamentals of plane and solid geometry and trigonometry.
  • Concept Applications -- fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.
Analytical Thinking
  • Analysis -- define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
  • Interpret -- an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form, with abstract and concrete variables.

The Role

Reporting to the Sr. Director, Infrastructure & End User Technology Services, you'll be responsible for leading a team of IT professionals who provide systems and engineering support for The MENTOR Network's Microsoft Windows infrastructure servers. Enterprise applications are provided from two collocated data centers in Boston and Minneapolis and supported by a peer group. Your primary role will be to keep 150 distributed servers online, and to plan for expansion. You'll handle tier two tickets, be in charge of action management, oversee systems backup and patch management, and take responsibility for identifying and preserving data for legal hold as required. You'll participate in large projects including the build out of the VMware platform -- which will involve evaluating new technologies -- as well as smaller projects, such as the deactivation of old systems, or small company acquisition integration.

As a supervisor, you'll select, develop and evaluate personnel to ensure the efficient operation of the team. This includes completing performance evaluations and scheduling work and training. You'll make recommendations on transfers, promotions, salary changes, discipline, terminations, and similar actions, and resolve employee problems within position responsibilities. Quick question for you - click here You'll have a supervisor to whom you can turn, but will be given the autonomy needed to effectively run your team. This is not a role with a five o'clock punch, but it is a challenging and interesting role, and it's our guess that, when five o'clock rolls around, you won't be looking at the clock.

Specifically you will:
  • Manage the operations of the distributed file and print platform comprising more than 150 servers within Active Directory.
  • Analyze the needs of the business in terms of data growth projections, backup and recovery.
  • Develop and maintain a road map and long term strategy for the platform, and ensure that the platform management process adheres to corporate change management policies.
  • Monitor and report on various operational metrics, including system capacity and utilization, and provide recommendations for improvement and growth.
  • Apply continuous improvement methodologies to ensure the system's infrastructure attains maximum performance, security and availability.
  • Ensure that all system outages are handled via the corporate incident management policy.
  • Maintain a "gold" server image and up-to-date image build documentation.
  • Ensure that the file & print environment remains secure via an aggressive OS and security patch management process, and that appropriate redundancy and recovery concerns are addressed.
  • Assist field IT personnel with the assessment, troubleshooting or deployment of Windows server-based applications.
  • Provide expertise in the administration and support for Active Directory and Domain Controllers.
  • Provide management, administration and support for network related systems, including DNS, DHCP, WINS, NTP, etc.
  • Manage and support SOX compliance activities for Windows based systems specific to on-boarding and off-boarding of staff.
  • Provide the legal department with support pertaining to legal hold notifications and various other data preservation requests.
Note: this description is intended to give you a general overview of the position and is not an exhaustive listing of duties and responsibilities.

Why MENTOR

Team and technology -- you'll get the best of both worlds as you continue to enjoy hands-on tech work (60%) while growing your supervisory skills (40%). At the MENTOR Network we believe in the importance of both investing in technology and keeping you sharp with training, and the funding is there. As a supervisor/administrator, you'll have the chance to make your mark on a growing core department. You'll oversee two tier two engineers who have very strong Microsoft server system skills, have led large, complex projects, and can represent IT on various project teams. These individuals are passionate about technology and are a great foundation for a strong department.

Security and potential -- our organization is growing, especially in IT. In fact, IT has never been touched by downsizing and offers multiple paths of advancement. Perhaps you'll plot a trajectory directly up the ladder, gaining the skill to eventually step into your supervisor's role. You might choose to work with the Business Development Group for application and database administration, move to the Enterprise Team and manage data center systems, or even move to the Business Solutions Team to be involved with more project management. Regardless of your long-term goals, you will have plenty of opportunity to develop within MENTOR.

Unique culture -- while you'll need to be talented and respond quickly to requests, this is not the stressful IT environment with which you may be familiar. We're in the business of caring for others and that ideal flows through our culture. You won't be pitted in a competition arena or embroiled in office politics, and, while our customers are demanding, you'll find they don't have a "take your head off" agenda.

Great environment -- the core competency of The MENTOR Network is helping people flourish and grow. We apply that competency in our corporate culture as well, promoting a growth-oriented, creative environment peopled by creative thinkers with varying perspectives whose one common trait is a commitment to our mission. We are family friendly and offer a degree of schedule flexibility.

Excellent compensation -- in addition to a competitive salary we offer medical, dental, and vision insurance, flexible spending accounts, a 401k, a college savings plan and more.

Keys to Success

To be successful in this role you'll need a combination of technical savvy and interpersonal polish. As a tech, you'll want to approach the work not just tactically, but also strategically. You'll be self-motivated; identifying problems and finding solutions, but also anticipating the future. You'll use your analytical skills, determining how the system is or is not meeting the required business needs. We can always do better, and with the input of the rest of the team, you'll determine how. As you implement project or operational work, you should have the foresight to anticipate potential problems or hurdles and be ready with solutions. If you're making a lot of mid-process changes, you've missed your mark.

Your interpersonal interactions will require finesse. You should be customer focused and patient -- a good listener who can decipher the technical needs of non-technical people and explain complex IT issues in layman's terms. You should be able to build effective relationships, cross-departmentally and on multiple levels, and tap those relationships to provide the best service possible and to build effective project teams. At times you'll need developed conflict resolution skills, including the ability to keep the situation professional and remain unemotional.

About MENTOR

The MENTOR Network may be the "biggest small company" you've ever worked for; as "Network" implies, we are a kaleidoscope of smaller companies bound by a common vision. Corporate staff is committed to respecting the unique character and needs of each local business unit while promoting corporate best practices. The Network is one of shared values and resources, an organization offering those who work with us and those we serve the benefits of a strong national structure. Tying The Network together is a well-defined set of policies, procedures and quality standards that create a level of support and consistency unavailable elsewhere.
 

 

Opportunity Snapshot

This is your opportunity to join a technically progressive company as a supervisor and hands-on administrator working with our Microsoft Windows infrastructure servers. You'll enjoy a robust global corporate network where our IT Service & Support organization manages 450+ servers within two data centers and across multiple field offices in 37 states, supporting over 7500 users. Quick question for you - click here We're focused on core growth and are looking for impact players who can grow with us. Our business is service and our mission objective is to care for individuals in their communities. You can advance your career and at the same time feel good knowing that, through your talents, you will help deliver the solutions that enable us to provide care and support for individuals across the U.S.

Founded in 1980, The MENTOR Network is a for-profit national network of local human services providers offering an array of quality, community-based services to adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, at-risk youth, and people with brain and spinal cord injury. Our strategy of marrying our mission and values with business discipline and capital creation is unique, enabling the organization to invest in systems that make excellence possible -- and we apply those systems in a way that directly benefits people with a range of needs, with impressive results.

The Requirements

To be successful in this position you will have:
  • A bachelor's degree in Information Technology or a related field.
  • Seven to ten years' experience in an environment supporting a significant number of multiple sites and servers.
  • MCSE certification is preferred. Quick question for you - click here
  • In-depth server hardware, operating system and troubleshooting skills.
  • Solid project management and organizational talents.
  • Strong analytical problem-solving skills.
  • In-depth knowledge of security systems and methods.
  • Excellent oral and written communication abilities.
  • A passion for technology and keen interest in new technologies.
Required key competencies:

Language and Communication
  • Read, analyze and interpret -- general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures and/or governmental regulations.
  • Write -- reports, business correspondence and procedure manuals.
  • Present -- complex information to technical and non-technical groups of managers, clients, customers and the general public, effectively educating and responding to questions.
Mathematical Ability
  • Knowledge of Concepts -- probability and statistical inference, and fundamentals of plane and solid geometry and trigonometry.
  • Concept Applications -- fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.
Analytical Thinking
  • Analysis -- define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
  • Interpret -- an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form, with abstract and concrete variables.

The Role

Reporting to the Sr. Director, Infrastructure & End User Technology Services, you'll be responsible for leading a team of IT professionals who provide systems and engineering support for The MENTOR Network's Microsoft Windows infrastructure servers. Enterprise applications are provided from two collocated data centers in Boston and Minneapolis and supported by a peer group. Your primary role will be to keep 150 distributed servers online, and to plan for expansion. You'll handle tier two tickets, be in charge of action management, oversee systems backup and patch management, and take responsibility for identifying and preserving data for legal hold as required. You'll participate in large projects including the build out of the VMware platform -- which will involve evaluating new technologies -- as well as smaller projects, such as the deactivation of old systems, or small company acquisition integration.

As a supervisor, you'll select, develop and evaluate personnel to ensure the efficient operation of the team. This includes completing performance evaluations and scheduling work and training. You'll make recommendations on transfers, promotions, salary changes, discipline, terminations, and similar actions, and resolve employee problems within position responsibilities. Quick question for you - click here You'll have a supervisor to whom you can turn, but will be given the autonomy needed to effectively run your team. This is not a role with a five o'clock punch, but it is a challenging and interesting role, and it's our guess that, when five o'clock rolls around, you won't be looking at the clock.

Specifically you will:
  • Manage the operations of the distributed file and print platform comprising more than 150 servers within Active Directory.
  • Analyze the needs of the business in terms of data growth projections, backup and recovery.
  • Develop and maintain a road map and long term strategy for the platform, and ensure that the platform management process adheres to corporate change management policies.
  • Monitor and report on various operational metrics, including system capacity and utilization, and provide recommendations for improvement and growth.
  • Apply continuous improvement methodologies to ensure the system's infrastructure attains maximum performance, security and availability.
  • Ensure that all system outages are handled via the corporate incident management policy.
  • Maintain a "gold" server image and up-to-date image build documentation.
  • Ensure that the file & print environment remains secure via an aggressive OS and security patch management process, and that appropriate redundancy and recovery concerns are addressed.
  • Assist field IT personnel with the assessment, troubleshooting or deployment of Windows server-based applications.
  • Provide expertise in the administration and support for Active Directory and Domain Controllers.
  • Provide management, administration and support for network related systems, including DNS, DHCP, WINS, NTP, etc.
  • Manage and support SOX compliance activities for Windows based systems specific to on-boarding and off-boarding of staff.
  • Provide the legal department with support pertaining to legal hold notifications and various other data preservation requests.
Note: this description is intended to give you a general overview of the position and is not an exhaustive listing of duties and responsibilities.

Why MENTOR

Team and technology -- you'll get the best of both worlds as you continue to enjoy hands-on tech work (60%) while growing your supervisory skills (40%). At the MENTOR Network we believe in the importance of both investing in technology and keeping you sharp with training, and the funding is there. As a supervisor/administrator, you'll have the chance to make your mark on a growing core department. You'll oversee two tier two engineers who have very strong Microsoft server system skills, have led large, complex projects, and can represent IT on various project teams. These individuals are passionate about technology and are a great foundation for a strong department.

Security and potential -- our organization is growing, especially in IT. In fact, IT has never been touched by downsizing and offers multiple paths of advancement. Perhaps you'll plot a trajectory directly up the ladder, gaining the skill to eventually step into your supervisor's role. You might choose to work with the Business Development Group for application and database administration, move to the Enterprise Team and manage data center systems, or even move to the Business Solutions Team to be involved with more project management. Regardless of your long-term goals, you will have plenty of opportunity to develop within MENTOR.

Unique culture -- while you'll need to be talented and respond quickly to requests, this is not the stressful IT environment with which you may be familiar. We're in the business of caring for others and that ideal flows through our culture. You won't be pitted in a competition arena or embroiled in office politics, and, while our customers are demanding, you'll find they don't have a "take your head off" agenda.

Great environment -- the core competency of The MENTOR Network is helping people flourish and grow. We apply that competency in our corporate culture as well, promoting a growth-oriented, creative environment peopled by creative thinkers with varying perspectives whose one common trait is a commitment to our mission. We are family friendly and offer a degree of schedule flexibility.

Excellent compensation -- in addition to a competitive salary we offer medical, dental, and vision insurance, flexible spending accounts, a 401k, a college savings plan and more.

Keys to Success

To be successful in this role you'll need a combination of technical savvy and interpersonal polish. As a tech, you'll want to approach the work not just tactically, but also strategically. You'll be self-motivated; identifying problems and finding solutions, but also anticipating the future. You'll use your analytical skills, determining how the system is or is not meeting the required business needs. We can always do better, and with the input of the rest of the team, you'll determine how. As you implement project or operational work, you should have the foresight to anticipate potential problems or hurdles and be ready with solutions. If you're making a lot of mid-process changes, you've missed your mark.

Your interpersonal interactions will require finesse. You should be customer focused and patient -- a good listener who can decipher the technical needs of non-technical people and explain complex IT issues in layman's terms. You should be able to build effective relationships, cross-departmentally and on multiple levels, and tap those relationships to provide the best service possible and to build effective project teams. At times you'll need developed conflict resolution skills, including the ability to keep the situation professional and remain unemotional.

About MENTOR

The MENTOR Network may be the "biggest small company" you've ever worked for; as "Network" implies, we are a kaleidoscope of smaller companies bound by a common vision. Corporate staff is committed to respecting the unique character and needs of each local business unit while promoting corporate best practices. The Network is one of shared values and resources, an organization offering those who work with us and those we serve the benefits of a strong national structure. Tying The Network together is a well-defined set of policies, procedures and quality standards that create a level of support and consistency unavailable elsewhere.
 

The MENTOR Network is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.
or
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