Sr. Applications Support Analyst

GIA Overview:

Established in 1931, GIA is the world’s foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones, and pearls.  A public benefit, nonprofit institute, GIA is the leading source of knowledge, standards, and education in gems and jewelry. The mission of GIA is to ensure the public trust in gems and jewelry through education, research, laboratory services, and instrument development. This is an exciting time for GIA as the industry and market continue to evolve.  As the industry leader, GIA is well positioned to leverage these market dynamics for continued future success. GIA seeks dynamic candidates who have a passion for the gem and jewelry industry and who aspire to work in an agile, fast-paced organization.

Location:

This position is in Carlsbad, California at our corporate headquarters.  We offer a hybrid schedule with 3 days in the office (subject to change), provided if metrics such as productivity and the quality of the deliverables are achieved.

The Environment:

• On-site cafe - affordable custom breakfast and lunch meals and Starbucks drinks! 

• Economic friendly services - electric vehicle charging stations on-site 

• Ergonomic assessments offered on-site and virtually 

The Culture:

We foster an environment of autonomy, performance, and passion. Our team members collaborate extensively across various departments, providing high-quality service to internal staff, stakeholders, and the organization as a whole. We value initiative, cross-functional cooperation, and a commitment to excellence in all our endeavors. 

What to expect: 

• We offer competitive medical, dental, vision and matching 401-K plans (no vesting required) 

• Paid vacation, sick and holidays, tuition assistance, commuter benefits 

Job Summary:

The Sr. Applications Support Analyst plays a critical role in maintaining the stability, performance, and reliability of GIA’s Laboratory Grading System. The role exists to ensure grading system operators and customers experience minimal disruption through proactive monitoring, effective incident management, and strong collaboration with technical and business stakeholders. The position bridges application operations, infrastructure, and business teams to diagnose issues, reduce downtime, and continuously improve application reliability. Ultimately, this role supports GIA to deliver consistent, high-quality grading services supported by resilient and well-maintained technology systems.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• 20%-Monitor application health and performance using GIA standard tools; proactively identify, escalate, and resolve incidents to ensure system stability.

• 15%-Manage, prioritize, and resolve application support tickets in ServiceNow, including stakeholder communication and timely issue resolution.

• 15%-Perform incident investigation and develop Root Cause Analysis (RCA) reports; partner with development, infrastructure, and security teams to prevent recurrence.

• 10%-Ensure application availability by coordinating planned maintenance, outages, patching validation, and environment changes with cross-functional teams.

• 10%-Develop and maintain strong relationships with laboratory stakeholders to understand business processes, technology needs, and support requirements.

• 10%-Support application testing for upgrades, browser/OS changes, and major releases; validate functionality post-implementation.

• 10%-Participate in Disaster Recovery (DR) testing and Business Continuity Planning (BCP) activities to ensure operational resilience.

• 5%-Collaborate with application development and IT teams to improve support models, delivery practices, and system reliability.

• 5%-Maintain accurate technical documentation, knowledge articles, and operational procedures; perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, computing or engineering or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Minimum of 5+ years of related experience in application support or a similar technical operations role. Experience working in high-pressure, time-sensitive environments is preferred.

• Strong experience supporting Java-based client/server applications; working knowledge of application integration, APIs, and n-tier architectures. Experience with OOP languages (Java/C++) and scripting (Perl, Python, or PowerShell).

• Familiarity with laboratory, grading, or operational technology environments is preferred but not required.

• Demonstrated experience managing production inciden