Infrastructure Operations Engineer

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All applicants must submit a cover letter and resume to be considered for this position. In order for the Career Portal System to accept a cover letter, please include a cover letter as the first page of your resume.

Summary

Come join a Team where the heart of its function is to provide high performing network services, infrastructure, security and support to Merit members, customers and staff. We are looking for a skilled individual to contribute to the resiliency of Michigan's State-wide Network that serves its community and members. 

You will report to the Director of Network Operations and be responsible for steps needed to install, operate, administer and assist in setting the technical direction of Merit Network staff and customers.

This role requires travel in support of the fiber network within Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio is required.

Responsibilities*

Essential Functions for this position are followed by an (E). 

Operational Support Activities (60%):

• Install and maintain network routers, switches, optical transport, line of sight wireless network equipment, and test probes for a regional network service provider. (E)
• Test, repair and provision of telecommunication and fiber circuits. (E)
• Assist with technical support in commissioning, installing, testing, and maintaining Merit's network infrastructure. (E)
• Ability and desire to interact with co-workers in a collaborative and friendly fashion
• Provide support of infrastructure including installation, configuration, testing, troubleshooting and documentation. (E)
• Operate a Merit vehicle to deliver, configure, install and repair infrastructure equipment at Merit's various network locations. (E)
• When necessary, escalate incidents with vendors to resolve issues relating to service performance, functionality and availability. (E)
• Perform on-call support for production systems/applications, including problem investigation, escalation, resolution, and communication with Merit's Support Center. (E)
• Responsible for tracking assets and updating databases as needed for tracking the installation and decommission of equipment. (E)
• Deliver a highly customer focused service to Merit members, external and internal customers and Merit staff -- to exceed their expectations both in technical resolution and customer service. Be able to see issues from the customer's perspective, assess the urgency of requests, and respond accordingly. (E)
• Provide customer education/assistance and technical support as required. (E)
• Support Sales quoting and orders, including meeting on site with members, phone consultations and develop Scope of Work plans for members. (E)
• Other duties as assigned.

Network Engineering Planning & Project Activity (20%):

• Participate in network engineering planning and governance/change management teams to achieve team and organizational goals. (E)
• Work with vendors and internal groups to address issues and determine upgrade options to meet demand.
• Work with research partners and vendors on network research projects.
• Manage infrastructure -engineering projects to assure outcomes are consistent with expectations.
• Assist in developing project plans, task lists, time lines, deployment plans and rollback procedures.

Miscellaneous (20%):

• Establish group subject matter expertise in infrastructure platforms, back up, and participate in regular knowledge transfers with other team members. (E)
• Provide operational/supplemental analysis and reporting as needed for operations, IT and finance partners. (E).
• Participate in professional development activities to continually improve skills and knowledge in the areas of networking services and customer service. (E)

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designated to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.  Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Required Qualifications*

• Must be able to successfully complete a Motor Vehicle Record check through University of Michigan Transportation Services
• Bachelor's Degree in a technical or computer related field or equivalent combination of education and/or experience.
• Be available to work overtime on short notice when required and participate in on-call duties.
• Ability to contribute and collaborate effectively as a member of a highly functioning and productive team.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and organizational skills with the ability to interact effectively with employees at all levels within the organization.
• Demonstrated communication ability in writing skills (e.g., reflecting sensitivity to tone, audience, and organizational politics).
• Demonstrated excellence at maintaining strong working relationships with multiple customers, organizations, vendors, management, and peers. 
• Ability to interact with technical and non-technical customers in a positive and supportive manner regardless of circumstances.
• Experience with technical tools, updating database software, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Adobe Acrobat Pro.
• Proficient at using email, shared calendaring, and other collaborative applications.   
• Must be self-motivated, work well within a team environment, and have the ability to work independently. 

Desired Qualifications*

• Experience with 24x7 environment relating to service support policies and procedures.
• Knowledge of LAN/WAN systems, networks, and applications, including TCP/IP networking, subnetting and routing protocols, multicast, IPv4, IPv6, Voice over IP and PBX experience desired.
• Experience with network monitoring/analysis tools 
• Experience with Linux CLI
• Optical network knowledge and experience.
• Experience in development multi-platform enterprise monitoring architecture.
• Experience working in a security operations center and being part of an incident response team.
• Experience working with higher education, K-12 educational institutions, libraries, research institutions and other public sector non-profit organizations a plus.
• 2+ years of experience with network engineering infrastructure and/or field service engineering.  
• Hardware knowledge and problem solving skills are essential.
• Network-based service monitoring and management tool experience with focus on troubleshooting and service issue resolution.
• Experience with using diagnostic tools such as IPERF, Multicast Beacons, OTDR, and optical power meters.
• 2+ years of experience with documentation management including data inputting and review.
• 2+ years of experience drawing network diagrams using Visio or similar software.

Additional Information
Supervisory Responsibility

This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee (with or without accommodations) to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Employee must frequently work at computer station, answer telephone calls, emails, and/or other forms of customer/client communication. At times, heavy moving will be required, as the Team will be working with network equipment such as commercial-grade routers and optical shelves.

Work Environment

Requires occasionally working outdoors, exposed to all weather conditions in addition to operating in a professional environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position. Position is based out of Ann Arbor, MI. Hybrid work model is in place for this position (work partly done in the physical workplace and partly remote).

Travel

Some local, state-wide, and occasional nation-wide travel in support of the fiber network within Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota is required.

U-M EEO/AA Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.