Job Description

Position Description

The Senior IT Support Technician has an expert level of technical knowledge and experience in one or more IT-related areas. This position's scope of responsibility includes providing technical support and assistance to departments, faculty, staff, and students with the use of hardware and some software support and maintenance. The Senior IT Support Technician will also specialize in hardware and software that support institutional strategic initiatives, and manage area or unit IT projects that impact multiple departments or units.

About the University

Established in 1923, Texas Tech University is a Carnegie R1 (very high research activity) Doctoral/Research-Extensive, Hispanic Serving, and state-assisted institution. Located on a beautiful 1,850-acre campus in Lubbock, a city in West Texas with a growing metropolitan-area population of over 300,000, the university enrolls over 40,000 students with 33,000 undergraduate and 7,000 graduate students. As the primary research institution in the western two-thirds of the state, Texas Tech University is home to 10 colleges, the Schools of Law and Veterinary Medicine, and the Graduate School. The flagship of the Texas Tech University System, Texas Tech is dedicated to student success by preparing learners to be ethical leaders for a diverse and globally competitive workforce. It is committed to enhancing the cultural and economic development of the state, nation, and world.
About Lubbock:Referred to as the “Hub City” because it serves as the educational, cultural, economic, and health care hub of the South Plains region, Lubbock boasts a diverse population and a strong connection to community, history, and land. With a mild climate, highly rated public schools, and a low cost of living, Lubbock is a family-friendly community that is ranked as one of the best places to live in Texas. Lubbock is home to a celebrated and ever-evolving music scene, a vibrant arts community, and is within driving distance of Dallas, Austin, Santa Fe, and other major metropolitan cities. Lubbock’s Convention & Visitors Bureau provides a comprehensive overview of the Lubbock community and its resources, programs, events, and histories.

About the Department and/or College

The Whitacre College of Engineering (WCOE) was one of the university’s original four colleges founded in 1925 and later renamed in honor of Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. The WCOE has seven departments and approximately 4800 undergraduate and 1300 graduate students. There are approximately 220 faculty/instructors and 115 staff in the college. “We are a regionally rooted first class engineering college with national and worldwide impact.”

The Dean's Office in the Whitacre College of Engineering (WCOE) is dedicated to the success of our faculty, students and staff. This team serves as the leadership and operational hub of the college, guiding academic programming, faculty affairs, research initiatives, and student support, while balancing essential administrative functions. We value dedication, integrity, and hard work, fostering a supportive community that encourages collaboration, creativity and effectiveness. We believe our roles are crucial to the functioning of the entire college. Its leadership shapes the educational experience for students, drives impactful research, manages resources effectively, and ensures that the college maintains strong ties to industry, the community, and our alumni.

Major/Essential Functions

In this position you will provide advanced technical support and systems management for the Whitacre College of Engineering. This position plays a vital role in supporting the college’s academic, research, and administrative missions by ensuring reliable, secure, and efficient technology operations. The successful candidate will serve as a lead technical resource, collaborating with faculty, staff, researchers, and students to maintain high standards of performance, innovation, and customer service across a complex computing environment.
Provide advanced hardware and software support for faculty, researchers, staff, and students. This includes diagnosing/troubleshooting, maintaining, repairing and resolving complex issues with desktops, laptops, printers, audio/visual equipment, active directory/group policies, mobile devices, and servers running a variety of operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux).
Identify, manage, troubleshoot and fix network issues within the various environments, including wired and wireless connections, and address file-sharing and access control problems.
Configure, maintain, and troubleshoot networks, including VLANs, firewalls, VPNs, and wireless access.
Implement and monitor cybersecurity protocols in accordance with university and federal research standards and funding-agency requirements (e.g., HIPAA, FERPA, NIST).
Act as a liaison between the College of Engineering and Central University IT departments (e.g., networking, security, data center, HPCC) to resolve complex issues and implement new solutions.
Lead or support IT-related projects (e.g., lab expansions, system upgrades, migrations).
Coordinate with central IT, vendors, and external collaborators.
Conduct regular audits and vulnerability assessments.
Monitor and mitigate potential security risks, including data breaches, malware, or unauthorized access.
Provide technical consultation on new equipment, software needs and IT purchases.
Coordinate with central university IT, HPC, and networking teams for large-scale projects or infrastructure upgrades.
Ensure system uptime, reliability, and performance through proactive monitoring and maintenance.
Manage backups, disaster recovery plans, and system updates.
Monitor performance and up time of critical systems.
Assist faculty, researchers, staff and students with high-performance computing (HPC) clusters, cloud computing resources, and data storage solutions tailored to their research needs.
Manage user accounts, permissions, and data access controls in accordance with university IT policies.
Manage access controls, encryption, and secure data storage for sensitive research data.
Manage and maintain a detailed inventory of all IT equipment, including workstations, mobile devices and specialized peripherals, from procurement and deployment to decommissioning.
Track and report on support metrics, system performance, and incident resolution.
Recommend improvements to enhance reliability, efficiency, and user experience.
Utilize asset management tools for software and hardware maintenance and support.
Develop clear, concise technical documentation and knowledge base articles for users and other IT staff to facilitate problem-solving and knowledge transfer.
Advanced technical skillsets kept current by reviewing market trends and product development.
Adhere to all appropriate Institutional policies (including IT Ops) and other relevant internal departmental policies.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Demonstrated ability to:
Exercise judgment based on an understanding of organizational policies and activities.
Plan and organize effectively, prioritize goals, use time efficiently, and stay on task.
Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
Establish and maintain effective work relationships.