Senior Systems Administrator

General Description The Senior Application Systems Administrator provides advanced administration and technical leadership for policy administration and related business applications. This role is accountable for the stability, reliability, configuration, maintenance, support, and optimization of assigned systems; leads complex upgrades and enhancements; provides Level II/III production support; guides other administrators; and advises business and technology leaders on application capabilities, risks, and solution options.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Serve as the senior or lead administrator for assigned mission-critical applications, which may include LifePRO, OpenText Exstream, Smart Batch, Benekiva, Infor, MHC, and related systems.
• Lead complex application configuration, product implementation, integration, security, testing, upgrade, patching, release, and production deployment activities.
• Provide advanced Level II/III production support, lead root-cause analysis, coordinate recovery activities, and drive permanent corrective actions for recurring issues.
• Monitor application configuration, data integrity, performance, and reliability; identify risks and implement or recommend preventive controls and improvements.
• Lead technical analysis and solution design for new products, application enhancements, conversions, integrations, and major operational changes.
• Translate complex business requirements into technical designs and implementation plans; identify dependencies, risks, control requirements, and impacts across systems and processes.
• Evaluate application products and services, conduct technical research, and provide recommendations supporting purchasing, modernization, and business-direction decisions.
• Manage vendor relationships for assigned applications, including issue escalation, upgrade planning, service coordination, and resolution of operational concerns.
• Provide technical guidance, work direction, mentoring, knowledge transfer, and quality review for junior and mid-level administrators.
• Develop and maintain standards, procedures, architecture and configuration records, support documentation, training materials, and audit evidence.
• Plan and deliver application training and communicate complex technical concepts in business-friendly and user-friendly language.
• Lead planned and unplanned outage response, incident management, change management, and after-action review for mission-critical applications.
• Partner with leadership, business stakeholders, vendors, developers, and infrastructure teams to prioritize work and align application capabilities with organizational needs.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field required; an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
• Six or more years of progressively responsible experience in application administration, configuration, production support, solution delivery, or insurance technology, including experience leading complex application work is required.
• Insurance, health services, business analysis, application administration, project management, or related professional certification preferred.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Advanced knowledge of enterprise application administration, configuration management, application security, system interfaces, testing, release management, and production support.
• Strong understanding of life or health insurance business processes and the relationship between application capabilities, operational procedures, and control requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical analysis, troubleshoot high-impact issues, and develop practical, sustainable solutions.
• Ability to influence decisions, provide technical recommendations, and communicate effectively with senior leaders, business users, vendors, and interdisciplinary technical teams.
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, facilitation, mentoring, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Highly self-directed, organized, and accountable, with the ability to manage competing priorities and lead work through completion.
• Advanced analytical, SQL, spreadsheet, database, technical documentation, and software development life-cycle skills.
• Advanced experience administering one or more enterprise applications such as LifePRO, OpenText Exstream, Smart Batch, Benekiva, Infor, or MHC preferred.
• Substantial experience supporting life or health insurance products, policy administration, billing, commission, claims, correspondence, batch, or related processes preferred.
• Experience leading upgrades, implementations, conversions, integrations, vendor escalations, production deployments, and major incident resolution preferred.