University of Pennsylvania Hiring for Virtual Desktop Administrator C/ Sr- ISC Technology Services at 3401 Walnut Street Full Time

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn’s distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning. As an employer Penn has been ranked nationally on many occasions with the most recent award from Forbes who named Penn one of America’s Best Large Employers in 2023.

Penn offers a unique working environment within the city of Philadelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urban campus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance and landmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety of atmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home for work and play.

The University offers a competitive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources, and much more.

Posted Job TitleVirtual Desktop Administrator C/ Sr.- ISC Technology ServicesJob Profile TitleSystems Administrator CJob Description SummaryJob Description Summary
Information Systems & Computing (ISC) is the University of Pennsylvania’s central IT organization, providing the core network, data, voice, video, and enterprise application infrastructure and services upon which Penn’s numerous Schools and Centers build their unique tools and capabilities.

ISC’s 270-plus employees work closely with the University’s IT organizations in order to create, deliver and support products and services that help Schools and Centers operate efficiently and effectively. We strive to be easy to work with, and to serve as a trusted advisor to Penn’s IT community, faculty, staff and students in support of an environment of discovery and progress.

ISC’s focus on customer service and the high-quality, cost-effective, reliable implementation of modern IT solutions advances the mission of the University, as well as that of each individual School and Center. At Penn, technological freedom and departmental autonomy represent dearly held core values. ISC supports those ideas by providing foundational services and cogent counsel, empowering individuals and departments to employ their distinct strengths in support of their goals.

Learn more about us by visiting https://www.isc.upenn.edu/about or www.linkedin.com/company/penn-information-systems-computing/

The Virtual Desktop Engineer will be responsible for managing virtual desktop images in accordance with our clients’ needs. This includes interfacing with university-wide clients to understand their requirements and working with the virtual desktop service manager to develop efficient, cost-effective solutions. You will contribute to future virtualization infrastructure projects, including those that are cloud-based, in collaboration with the Virtualization Technologies team. The role requires experience with PowerShell, Active Directory, and Azure Windows Desktop Solutions (AVD, Azure Labs, Cloud PC) at an enterprise level. Proficiency in VMware Horizon is preferred. This position will report to the manager of the Virtualization Technologies team and work closely with other teams such as Systems Engineering, HireIT, Unified Communications, Data Center Operations, and Network Engineering.Job Description

Job Responsibilities

Virtual Desktop Administrator C

• Manage virtual desktop solutions in conjunction with the client’s requirements. Communicate important service details to clients.

• Perform daily maintenance including changes, modifications, or improvements as part of the ongoing administration of deployed images. This includes remedy work orders and incident response.

• Install, configure, deploy, and maintain VMWare Horizon environment, including upgrades, fixes, and security patches.

• Monitor, analyze and optimize virtualization performance of hosts and virtual desktops.

• Perform endpoint management of images; contribute to the development of endpoint management configuration and administer endpoint management tools.

• Maintain, administer, and configure virtualization toolset.

• Work with service owner to define standards, best practices, and plans for the future of the service

• Work closely with school/center IT staff to gather requirements. Configure desktop solutions based on these needs.

• Troubleshoot, patch, and configure software toolsets within the Technology Services portfolio.

• Test new desktop hardware and operating system technologies.

• Communicate regularly on status, progress to supervisors, project teams.

• Stay current with technology through research and training.

• Maintain regular contact with Local Support Providers and Customer Care.

• Maintain regular contact with key vendors via technical support channels

Virtual Desktop Administrator Senior

• Take a leading role in designing and managing virtual desktop solutions in conjunction with the client’s requirements and communicate important service details to clients.

• Take a leading role in future virtualization infrastructure projects, including those that are cloud-based, in collaboration with the Virtualization Technologies team.

• Share knowledge about virtual desktop technologies with colleagues and client support staff. Advise them on configuration tips and best practices.”

• Serves as subject matter expert on multiple technologies to mentors staff.

• Specify server hardware and application configurations and/or cloud-based server configurations

• Perform daily maintenance including changes, modifications, or improvements as part of the ongoing administration of deployed images. This includes remedy work orders and incident response. Troubleshoot and manage multiple complex projects simultaneously.

• Define standards, best practices, and plans for the future of the service. Perform regular performance and security monitoring.

• Perform endpoint management of images; develop endpoint management configuration and administer endpoint management tools.

• Troubleshoot, patch, and configure software toolsets within the Technology Services portfolio.

• Maintain, administer, and configure virtualization toolset.

• Share knowledge about virtual desktop technologies with colleagues and client support staff. Advise them on configuration tips and best practices.

• Stay current with technology through research and training.

• Maintain regular contact with key vendors via technical support channels

Qualifications

Virtual Desktop Administrator C

• Bachelor of Science and 2 to 3 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience is required.

• Must have a solid understanding of virtualization technologies, operating systems and communications packages.

• Experience with VMware or other virtualization hypervisors and Windows operating systems is essential.

• Experience with VMWare Horizon preferred.

• Strong interest in developing new methods and procedures for addressing problems.

• Ability to participate in strategic planning; establishing policies and procedures; and working with new and emerging technologies, storage subsystems, and data center infrastructure.

• Experience with Scripting (PowerShell, Perl or Python) and automating processes required.

• Experience with Amazon Web Services, Azure Desktop Solutions, and Microsoft Office 365 preferred.

• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate through written business communications and documentation.

• Superior customer service skills.

Virtual Desktop Administrator Senior

• Bachelor of Science and 3 to 5 years of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience is required.

• Must have a strong knowledge of virtualization technologies, operating systems and communications packages.

• Expertise with VMware or other virtualization hypervisors and Windows operating systems is essential.

• Experience in developing new methods and procedures for addressing problems

• Ability to participate in strategic planning; establishing policies and procedures; and working with new and emerging technologies, storage subsystems, and data center infrastructure.

• Senior-level scripting (PowerShell, Perl or Python) and experience with automating processes required.

• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate through written business communications, documentation, training delivery, and public speaking.

• Experience with Amazon Web Services, Azure Desktop Solutions, and Microsoft Office 365 strongly preferred for senior-level.

• Ability to take on a leadership role to mentor staff.

• Ability to collaborate with multiple IT groups.

• Superior customer service skills.

Job Location – City, StatePhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaDepartment / SchoolInformation Systems and ComputingPay Range$51,824.00 – $120,000.00 Annual RateSalary offers are made based on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position, as well as internal and market factors and grade profile. Affirmative Action Statement
Penn adheres to a policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.Special Requirements
Background check required after a conditional job offer is made. Consideration of the background check will be tailored to the requirements of the job.University Benefits

• Health, Life, and Flexible Spending Accounts: Penn offers comprehensive medical, prescription, behavioral health, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits to protect you and your family’s health and welfare. You can also use flexible spending accounts to pay for eligible health care and dependent care expenses with pre-tax dollars.
• Tuition: Take advantage of Penn’s exceptional tuition benefits. You, your spouse, and your dependent children can get tuition assistance here at Penn. Your dependent children are also eligible for tuition assistance at other institutions.
• Retirement: Penn offers generous retirement plans to help you save for your future. Penn’s Basic, Matching, and Supplemental retirement plans allow you to save for retirement on a pre-tax or Roth basis. Choose from a wide variety of investment options through TIAA and Vanguard.
• Time Away from Work: Penn provides you with a substantial amount of time away from work during the course of the year. This allows you to relax, take vacations, attend to personal affairs, recover from illness or injury, spend time with family—whatever your personal needs may be.
• Long-Term Care Insurance: In partnership with Genworth Financial, Penn offers faculty and staff (and your eligible family members) long-term care insurance to help you cover some of the costs of long-term care services received at home, in the community or in a nursing facility. If you apply when you’re newly hired, you won’t have to provide proof of good health or be subject to underwriting requirements. Eligible family members must always provide proof of good health and are subject to underwriting.
• Wellness and Work-life Resources: Penn is committed to supporting our faculty and staff as they balance the competing demands of work and personal life. That’s why we offer a wide variety of programs and resources to help you care for your health, your family, and your work-life balance.
• Professional and Personal Development: Penn provides an array of resources to help you advance yourself personally and professionally.
• University Resources: As a member of the Penn community, you have access to a wide range of University resources as well as cultural and recreational activities. Take advantage of the University’s libraries and athletic facilities, or visit our arboretum and art galleries. There’s always something going on at Penn, whether it’s a new exhibit at the Penn Museum, the latest music or theater presentation at the Annenberg Center, or the Penn Relays at Franklin Field to name just a few examples. As a member of the Penn community, you’re right in the middle of the excitement—and you and your family can enjoy many of these activities for free.
• Discounts and Special Services: From arts and entertainment to transportation and mortgages, you’ll find great deals for University faculty and staff. Not only do Penn arts and cultural centers and museums offer free and discounted admission and memberships to faculty and staff. You can also enjoy substantial savings on other goods and services such as new cars from Ford and General Motors, cellular phone service plans, movie tickets, and admission to theme parks.
• Flexible Work Hours: Flexible work options offer creative approaches for completing work while promoting balance between work and personal commitments. These approaches involve use of non-traditional work hours, locations, and/or job structures.
• Penn Home Ownership Services: Penn offers a forgivable loan for eligible employees interested in buying a home or currently residing in West Philadelphia, which can be used for closing costs or home improvements.
• Adoption Assistance: Penn will reimburse eligible employees on qualified expenses in connection with the legal adoption of an eligible child, such as travel or court fees, for up to two adoptions in your household.

To learn more, please visit: https://www.hr.upenn.edu/PennHR/benefits-pay