Data Center Engineer

Filled
February 23, 2026
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Job Description

Location: Rockford, Illinois, United States
Organization: Rock Valley College
Department: Information Technology
Employment Type: Full-Time (Professional Staff Association)
Salary: $74,503 – $76,942 annually
Visa Sponsorship: Not available

Job Summary

The Data Center Engineer is responsible for ensuring the reliability, performance, and lifecycle management of the college’s on-premises and cloud infrastructure. This includes administration of servers, virtualization platforms, storage systems, cloud services, and physical data center environments while maintaining high availability and security standards.

The role also collaborates with faculty, staff, students, and vendors to support IT initiatives, resolve incidents, and implement best practices across systems.

Key Responsibilities

Infrastructure & Systems Administration

  • Administer Windows and Linux servers, SAN storage, VMware virtualization, and physical data center infrastructure.
  • Manage Active Directory, Azure/Entra ID, Microsoft 365, and Google Workspace environments.
  • Support enterprise services including email, file/print servers, databases, Zoom, IIS, and SharePoint.
  • Maintain lifecycle activities such as upgrades, patching, hardware refresh, and decommissioning.

Monitoring, Security & Compliance

  • Implement system baselines, patching strategies, and performance monitoring.
  • Ensure compliance with standards such as FERPA, HIPAA, GLBA, PCI, and cybersecurity requirements.
  • Apply security hardening, least-privilege access, and just-in-time access controls.
  • Monitor environmental conditions, rack layouts, cabling, and physical security.

Operations & Support

  • Provide Tier-3 technical support and root-cause analysis.
  • Maintain backup, disaster recovery, and failover systems.
  • Automate deployments and configurations using scripting tools.
  • Maintain documentation, SOPs, diagrams, and knowledge base articles.
  • Participate in projects, committees, and IT initiatives.
  • Provide 24/7 operational support coverage with the engineering team.

Minimum Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
    (or Associate’s degree with 2 years of additional experience)
  • 3–4 years experience in complex Microsoft server environments.
  • 3–4 years administering Microsoft 365 / Office 365.
  • Minimum 2 years supporting Azure cloud environments.
  • Experience with virtualization technologies (VMware, Citrix, Nutanix).
  • Knowledge of enterprise networking (LAN/WAN/WLAN, DNS, DHCP, VLANs, IP addressing).
  • Experience with scripting languages (PowerShell, Bash, Python, etc.).
  • Valid driver’s license.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience in higher education IT environments.
  • Experience with regulatory compliance frameworks (FERPA, NIST, PCI DSS, etc.).
  • Strong automation and DevOps mindset.
  • Excellent communication and customer service skills.

Work Environment

  • Office and data center environments with occasional after-hours work.
  • Physical activity may include lifting up to 50 lbs and working at heights.
  • Travel between campus locations may be required.

About the Organization

Rock Valley College is a public community college committed to providing accessible education and workforce development programs. The institution relies on robust IT infrastructure to support academic operations, making this role critical to campus technology services.