Sr Systems Administrator

At American Equity Investment Life Holding Company, we think of ourselves as The Financial Dignity Company. Our policyholders work with independent agents, banks and broker-dealers through our wholly-owned operating subsidiaries, to choose one of our leading annuity products best suited for their personal needs to create financial dignity in retirement. We remain steadfast in our commitment to quality products, excellent customer service, integrity, safety and delivering on our promises to our policyholders. Our success comes from hiring people who embody the beliefs that drive our unique, energetic, fast-paced and caring culture of collaboration, ownership and innovation.

We currently fund over half a million retirements nationwide, and have been headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, for over twenty-five years, with satellite offices opened in early 2023 in Charlotte, NC, and New York, NY.

GENERAL PURPOSE OF THE JOB:

The Senior Systems Administrator is responsible for optimizing servers and related components to achieve high availability and performance of the various business applications supported. The Senior Systems Administrator ensures the stable operation of the company's computer systems and network; including planning, developing, installing, configuring, maintaining, supporting, administering, and optimizing server systems and components across the organization in a timely and efficient manner. The Senior Administrator is also responsible for backup and disaster recovery, email systems, storage area networks and/or other technical functions as assigned.

***this position will be onsite in West Des Moines, Iowa***

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Manages enterprise directory services and supporting server infrastructure.
• Monitors and tests system performance and provides performance statistics and reports.
• Performs file system configuration and management; defines and performs server backups and recovery procedures. Creates shell scripts as required.
• Develops strategies for client/server implementations; architects the infrastructure required to support those strategies. Acts as project lead in the design and review of new server systems, applications, and hardware; conducts capacity planning as needed.
• Designs and implements disaster recovery plan for operating systems, databases, servers, and software applications.
• Plans and implements server upgrades, maintenance fixes, and vendor-supplied patches.
• Provides web administration support by overseeing and maintaining web server functions, such as assuring logging and metrics data are stable.
• Recommends and executes modifications to server environment in order to improve efficiency, reliability, and performance. Develops and maintains server documentation.
• Conducts research on server hardware, software, and protocols in support of procurement and development efforts.
• Distributes and supervises server storage space allotments.
• Provides on-call technical support in call rotation.
• Performs other related work as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: NA

Direct Reports: 0

General Description of Indirect Reports (2 and 3-downs): 0

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's degree in information technology, business administration or related field of study; or a minimum of 6 years of related experience; or equivalent combination of education and/or experience.
• High focus on NetApp SAN Administration, AWS EC2 Instances, Azure Active Directory, VMware, and VDI.
• Experience working with multiple technology platforms and systems.
• Major vendor technical certifications such as AWS, VMWare VCP, Microsoft, and NetApp are a plus.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Strong analytical skills with ability to research issues and products.
• Strong customer service orientation.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups.
• Mathematical skills and strong attention to detail.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Takes initiative; is highly self-motivated and directed.
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations.
• Problem-solving skills with the ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions.
• Ability to work cooperatively and successfully with employees, customers, and other outside third parties.
• Ability to successfully handle pressure and meet deadlines in a fast-paced work environment.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and issues simultaneously.
• Minimal to no travel is required for this position.