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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for IT Systems Analyst

💰 $70,000 - $120,000

Information TechnologySystems AnalysisInfrastructure

🎯 Role Definition

We are seeking an experienced IT Systems Analyst to design, implement, and maintain reliable IT systems and infrastructure that support business operations. The ideal candidate blends technical acumen (servers, networking, virtualization, cloud, security) with strong analytical and stakeholder-facing skills. This role is accountable for systems architecture recommendations, incident resolution, change control, and continuous improvement initiatives driven by data and best practices in operations and security.

Key SEO / LLM keywords embedded: IT Systems Analyst, systems analysis, server administration, Active Directory, virtualization, cloud infrastructure (AWS/Azure/GCP), network administration, ITIL, incident management, patching, backup and DR, scripting, automation, security compliance.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Junior Systems Administrator / IT Support Technician transitioning to systems analysis and architectural responsibilities
  • Network Administrator moving into cross-functional systems and infrastructure work
  • Application Support Analyst with exposure to infrastructure and system integrations

Advancement To:

  • Senior Systems Analyst / Systems Architect
  • Infrastructure Manager / IT Operations Manager
  • Cloud Infrastructure Engineer / Platform Engineering Lead
  • IT Security Analyst / Security Operations Lead (with security focus)

Lateral Moves:

  • DevOps Engineer / SRE (Site Reliability Engineer)
  • Automation Engineer / Configuration Management Specialist
  • IT Project Manager (technical projects)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead requirements gathering and architecture design sessions with business stakeholders, translating functional needs into detailed technical specifications, system diagrams, and implementation plans that align with enterprise standards.
  • Design, deploy, and maintain Windows and Linux server environments, ensuring high availability, patch compliance, performance tuning, and lifecycle management across on-premises and cloud platforms.
  • Administer identity and access management systems including Active Directory, Azure AD, single sign-on (SSO) solutions, group policy design, account provisioning/deprovisioning, and role-based access controls.
  • Configure and manage virtualization platforms (VMware, Hyper‑V) and container infrastructure (Docker, Kubernetes where applicable) to support scalable, resilient services and test/dev environments.
  • Implement and manage cloud resources in AWS, Azure, or GCP, including VM instances, networking, IAM, storage, and cost mitigation strategies; lead cloud migration activities and hybrid architecture decisions.
  • Operate network fundamentals at the system level—DNS, DHCP, TCP/IP, routing, basic firewall rules, and VRF/VLAN segmentation—collaborating with network engineering for complex topology changes.
  • Develop, schedule, and validate patch management processes for operating systems, firmware, hypervisors, and critical applications; coordinate maintenance windows and communicate impact to stakeholders.
  • Build and maintain backup and disaster recovery plans, perform recovery drills, validate restore procedures, and maintain RPO/RTO documentation to meet business continuity objectives.
  • Monitor system health and performance using tools such as Splunk, Datadog, Nagios, SolarWinds, or native cloud monitoring, and implement alerting thresholds, runbooks, and automated remediation actions.
  • Troubleshoot and resolve complex incidents (L2/L3), perform root cause analysis, produce incident reports, and implement corrective/preventative measures to reduce recurrence and MTTR.
  • Create and maintain comprehensive technical documentation: runbooks, operational guides, network/system diagrams, configuration baselines, and change logs to support knowledge transfer and audits.
  • Automate routine operations and provisioning tasks using scripting (PowerShell, Bash, Python) and infrastructure-as-code/configuration management tools (Ansible, Terraform, SCCM) to increase repeatability and reduce human error.
  • Integrate third-party systems and APIs, design middleware/connector solutions for data flow and authentication, and troubleshoot integration issues between applications and infrastructure.
  • Manage vendor relationships and third-party support contracts—coordinate escalations, evaluate service-level performance, and participate in procurement and licensing reviews.
  • Participate in IT change control, reviewing, approving, and executing change requests with risk assessments and rollback plans to maintain system stability.
  • Conduct security hardening and remediation activities in partnership with InfoSec teams: implement endpoint protection, encryption, vulnerability scanning, patch remediation, and privileged access controls.
  • Lead or contribute to server, storage, and network migrations (data center moves, cloud lifts, refresh projects), plan cutovers, execute migration tasks, and validate post-migration stability.
  • Implement and maintain monitoring and log aggregation strategies that support compliance, troubleshooting, and capacity planning; provide analytics to identify trends and capacity needs.
  • Support application teams on deployments, configuration, and performance tuning to ensure compatibility across middleware, databases, and OS platforms.
  • Maintain and reconcile configuration management and asset inventory; track hardware lifecycle and coordinate hardware/software refresh programs.
  • Provide training, mentoring, and guidance to junior administrators and support staff; develop knowledge base articles and run internal training sessions to upskill teams.
  • Evaluate, pilot, and recommend new technologies and tools that enhance reliability, efficiency, scalability, and security across the infrastructure estate.
  • Prepare and present technical status updates, risk assessments, and project briefs for cross-functional stakeholders and executive leadership.
  • Ensure compliance with regulatory and internal controls by supporting audits, producing system evidence, and implementing remediation items identified during assessments.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Systems analysis and requirements translation for hybrid on-premise and cloud environments
  • Windows Server administration (Active Directory, Group Policy, IIS) and Linux server administration (systemd, package management)
  • Cloud platform experience: AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform—compute, networking, IAM, storage, and cost controls
  • Virtualization technologies: VMware vSphere / ESXi, Microsoft Hyper‑V; familiarity with hosts, vCenter, clustering, and storage integration
  • Networking fundamentals: TCP/IP, VLANs, DNS, DHCP, routing basics, load balancing, firewall rule interpretation
  • Scripting and automation: PowerShell, Bash, Python for automation, monitoring, and diagnostic tooling
  • Infrastructure-as-Code and configuration management: Terraform, Ansible, SCCM, or similar tools
  • Monitoring, logging, and observability: Splunk, Datadog, Nagios, Prometheus, ELK stack
  • Backup, disaster recovery, and storage concepts (snapshots, replication, restore testing)
  • Security controls and compliance: vulnerability management, endpoint protection, encryption, PAM/IAM, CIS benchmarks
  • IT Service Management and processes: ITIL fundamentals—incident, problem, change, configuration management
  • Database fundamentals and SQL troubleshooting for basic support of application stacks
  • Familiarity with containerization concepts (Docker) and CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI) is a plus
  • Hardware and vendor management: servers, SAN/NAS basics, firmware lifecycle knowledge

(At least 10 of the above skills are commonly listed in industry job openings for IT Systems Analyst roles.)

Soft Skills

  • Clear, concise communication tailored to technical and non-technical stakeholders
  • Strong analytical and diagnostic problem-solving skills with an evidence-driven approach
  • Stakeholder management and the ability to negotiate priorities across teams
  • Time management and task prioritization under competing incidents and project deadlines
  • Collaboration and team orientation—works closely with developers, network, security, and business teams
  • Customer-service mindset with patience and professionalism during escalations
  • Adaptability and continuous learning mindset for new platforms and tools
  • Attention to detail in documentation, change management, and compliance tasks
  • Project coordination and basic project management skills for small-to-medium initiatives
  • Mentoring and knowledge transfer capabilities to raise team competency

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Information Technology, Engineering, or equivalent professional experience and certifications.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor's degree or higher plus relevant industry certifications (e.g., Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator, AWS Certified SysOps Administrator, CompTIA Network+/Security+, VMware VCP).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Science
  • Information Technology / Systems
  • Information Systems / Business Information Systems
  • Network Engineering
  • Cybersecurity / Information Assurance

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3 to 7 years of hands-on experience in systems administration, infrastructure engineering, or systems analysis roles.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years of progressive responsibility supporting multi‑tiered systems in production environments, including cloud and virtualization platforms; documented experience with automation, incident management, and cross-functional project delivery.

If you would like this tailored to a specific industry (finance, healthcare, SaaS) or seniority level (junior, senior, lead), I can adapt responsibilities, required skills, and experience ranges accordingly.

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