Senior Systems Administrator Job in Chicago, IL

Vacancy No. 25-01 Department U.S. Courts
Salary $79,251.00 to $128,795.00 Grade 28 to 28
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 7/23/2025 Close Date 7/22/2026
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Chicago, IL


Summary

This full-time position is in the Chicago division of the Clerk's Office of the United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Illinois, and reports to the Assistant Manager of Information Technology. The Senior Systems Administrator provides primary design recommendations, implementation, and initial support for all Court technology initiatives.

Duties

The Senior Systems Administrator shares in the responsibility for the management of enterprise hardware and software, network infrastructure, and for the coordination and integration of all data processing, office automation, and data communication resources within the Court. The Senior Systems Administrator also shares primary responsibility for the day-to-day administration of nationally supported and local applications, National Active Directory management, Cisco network hardware, operating system management (Windows server/workstation, Linux, Mac), local websites (including minor coding), CM/ECF or other major systems function, and their direct applications.

Requirements

  • Provide technical expertise as a team member in the development and operational support of the court's systems and services.
  • Design, test, and deploy new or enhanced servers including resident software services.
  • Perform server troubleshooting and triage during service failure scenarios and participate in detailed investigations to determine root cause and corrective actions.
  • Support the court's current LAN/WAN network environment and integration into future unified communications networking systems.
  • Ensure effective and efficient server maintenance and operations workflow and practices to help improve availability and performance of systems and dependent environments.
  • Provide hardware and software support for Windows Server 2019 and higher, Citrix, VMWare ESX, and Redhat Linux operating system environments.
  • Provide troubleshooting support for the court's case management system, locally developed ECF and e-Filing systems, Active Directory, IIS, lnformix, Exchange and SQL Servers, and other court-developed software applications and services.
  • Responsible for the creation, maintenance, and enhancement of data backup and recovery procedures and practices.
  • Conduct comprehensive data security assessments and provide for network security through hardware and/or software solutions.
  • Analyze and research procurement needs relating to the purchase of new server hardware and dependent accessories including software utilities and backup tapes.
  • Create and maintain systems documentation. Perform other related duties as required.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

https://www.ilnb.uscourts.gov/employment-opportunities.

Qualifications

To qualify at the CL-28 level, the applicant must have two (2) years of specialized experience**, including at least one (1) year equivalent to work at the CL-27 level. To qualify for this position at the CL-29 level, the applicant must have two (2) years of specialized experience**, including at least one (1) year equivalent to work at the CL-28 level.

**Specialized experience is defined as progressively responsible experience in or closely related to the position's work that has provided the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the position's duties successfully.

The successful candidate must: be detailed-oriented and highly organized with strong project management skills; be dependable and can work independently; be a problem solver who is results oriented; possess skill in advising non-automation personnel in automation techniques and processes; hold themself accountable to high professional standards of performance and conduct

Education

Preferred Qualifications: A bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems or related discipline from an accredited college or university and work experience in bankruptcy, federal or local courts preferred. Network operating systems experience with Microsoft Windows Active Directory, Windows 10/11 and Server operating systems, multi-vendor SQL databases, Cisco hardware and software, and Macintosh systems. Excellent computer skills including the use of Office365, Adobe Acrobat, and basic demonstrable scripting skills in Visual Basic or PowerShell, are desirable. Management of endpoint security, patching, logging, and vulnerability scanning tools in an enterprise environment.

  • Five (5) or more years of network administration experience with demonstrated ability to independently implement, operate, and document data automation system(s) when system analysis, system(s) integration, and consideration of hardware and software are required. This experience must include primary responsibility with design, implementation, or support of an enterprise level Cisco network infrastructure.
  • Five (5) or more years of advanced experience with the design, installation, maintenance, and support of a virtualization environment.
  • Five (5) or more years of experience with the installation, configuration, maintenance, and support of common Linux distributions.
  • Five (5) or more years of experience with the installation, configuration, maintenance, and support of Windows operating systems, including Windows 10/11 and Windows Server 2019 and above.
  • Five (5) or more years of experience with supporting the general computing needs of a multidisciplinary staff, including both hardware and software support.

Additional information

Employee Benefits: The United States Bankruptcy Court is part of the Judicial Branch of the United States Government. Court employees are considered AT-WILL and can be terminated with or without cause by the court. While court employees are not covered by federal civil service classifications or regulations, they are, however, entitled to the same benefits as other federal employees. These benefits include: 13 days paid vacation for the first three (3) years of employment, 20 days after three (3) years, 26 days after 15 years; 13 days paid sick leave per year; 11 paid holidays per year; choice of medical, dental and vision coverage from a wide variety of plans; life insurance options; Federal Employees Retirement System; immediate participation in the Thrift Savings Plan (401K plan); optional participation in the Judiciary's Long Term Care Insurance Program; optional participation in the Judiciary's Flexible Spending Program; Commuter Benefit Program (dependent on fiscal year funding); Continuing Education Assistance Program (dependent on fiscal year funding).

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Please read the "Next steps" section for more information.

Required Documents

Applications for Judicial Branch Federal Employment (AO78) may be obtained from the Court's website at:
https://opportunities.ilnb.uscourts.gov/Employment/application_for_employment.pdf.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

To be considered for this position, go to: https://opportunities.ilnb.uscourts.gov/Employment/appform.cfm?ref=ba21c8dc&pos=25-01 - complete all questions and attach in PDF format your cover letter, resume, references and the Judicial Branch Federal Employment Application (AO 78) (including salary history).

Agency contact information

LaToya Henderson
Address
US Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Illinois
219 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60604
US

Next steps

Only applicants who are selected for interviews will be contacted by the Court. Applicants selected for interviews must travel at their own expense or be interviewed via telephone and/or video conference.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.