Variable Hours Officer

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Temporary
• End Date if Temporary: 12/30/2026
• Hours Per Week: 20
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: 90-100 per hour

Position Summary

Serving as a mission-critical lead for research data continuity, the Variable Hours Officer will direct system administration, technical design, and system integration efforts. This role focuses on technical solutions and infrastructure integrity. The candidate will provide high-level leadership and strategic direction of CIESIN's IT systems architecture and data infrastructure.

Responsibilities

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  Systems Architecture & Strategic Leadership:
  
  
  
  • Design and Implementation: Designs and implements solutions for network and research applications, prioritizing long-term stability and scalability at reasonable cost.
  • Cloud & Infrastructure Ownership: Leads the deployment and management of cloud solutions across multiple vendors (AWS, Esri, CloudFlare), ensuring architectures are optimized for spatial data development.
  • High-Level System Administration: Administers CIESIN systems to support data analysis, including configuring servers and storage to meet performance requirements for research projects.
  • Integration Design: Manages technical design for system integrations, developing functional specifications and executing test scripts for new deployments.
  • Strategic Planning: Recommends systems operations policies and provides long-term analysis for future computing needs.
  
  
  
  
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  Security & Systems Integrity:
  
  
  
  • Advanced Data Integrity: Plans and automates database backup procedures and recovery protocols to ensure 24/7 data availability and to avoid data loss. Recovers data from legacy CIESIN systems.
  • System Auditing: Researches discrepancies and identifies technical variances across systems to ensure the accuracy and confidentiality of CIESIN resources.
  • Infrastructure Security: Oversees overall network security through strategic patching and ensures that automated backup solutions are functioning and adhered to.
  • Escalated Support: Provides specialized technical assistance for complex laptop configurations (VPN, specialized research software) that exceed standard support capabilities. Addresses staff system support requests.
  
  
  
  
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  Consultation & Technical Mentorship:
  
  
  
  • Liaison: Serves as a technical liaison between research staff and IT to implement system enhancements.
  • Expert Guidance: Provides technical guidance and periodic training to staff members on systems integrity and infrastructure best practices.
  • Addresses staff IT support requests.
  
  
  
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required. Advanced degree desirable. Minimum of 5 -7 years of related experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in navigating diverse cloud architectures and maintaining secure, complex computing environments.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate research requirements into technical solutions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced experience with systems administration and managing enterprise-wide infrastructure.
• Experience with specialized extraction and reporting tools to build and test scenarios for system soundness.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.