Network Administrator

The Northwest School is an independent day and boarding school. We serve students in grades 6 to 12 on an urban campus in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. We provide an interdisciplinary liberal arts education that nurtures compassionate, globally aware and environmentally conscious individuals who find joy in learning and are ready to inspire and innovate in our interconnected world.    

 
Northwest fosters a warm, inclusive community dedicated to our school values. We believe that a diverse community enriches our institution, making it more creative and dynamic. The Northwest School is committed to building a faculty and student body that reflects the diversity of the broader society. We strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.    

POSITION OVERVIEW  
The Network Administrator plays a critical role in maintaining the integrity, security, and performance of the School’s network infrastructure. This position ensures seamless connectivity and optimal system functionality to support academic and administrative operations. The ideal candidate is a proactive problem-solver with a strong technical foundation, capable of managing complex network environments and delivering high-quality support to users. Working closely with the IT team and other departments, the Network Administrator designs, implements, and maintains robust network solutions that align with the School’s mission and evolving technological needs. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES 

• Analyzing and resolving network hardware, software, and communications problems using diagnostic software and/or technical troubleshooting processes to root cause level. 

• Responsible for the creation, modification, and deactivation of user accounts across multiple systems. This includes assigning appropriate access rights based on user roles, managing group memberships, and ensuring compliance with organizational policies. Ensure secure access management to protect sensitive data and support organizational security protocols.  

• Assessing performance of network hardware, software, and communications systems. 

• Conducting on-going network system audits to evaluate the utility and efficiency of the system's hardware, software, and communications components. 

• Designing, configuring, implementing and monitoring an enterprise environment with appropriate hardware, operating systems software, applications software, and communications components to support business requirements. 

• Evaluating and recommending network software and hardware for the enterprise system. 

• Writing and/or maintaining up-to-date documentation for network systems and operational procedures. 

• Developing and maintaining disaster recovery procedures for the network and network resources. 

• Consulting with users and management conducting information assessments to determine user needs and to define network solutions to meet user requirements. 

• Actively integrating Professional Standards and Service Standards into daily interactions. 

• Attending meetings and school events, assigned. 

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Perform other duties as assigned by the direct Supervisor or the Head of School. 

• Maintain regular and reliable attendance as a core and essential function of the position.   
   

QUALIFICATIONS:

All candidates must demonstrate a commitment to the school’s mission, values, and philosophy, especially related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, environmental sustainability, and global perspective. 

• In-depth knowledge of network/internet protocols/services such as TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, SNMP, VoIP, VPN and NAT, and security frameworks. 

• Experience with network monitoring, management and documentation platforms. 

• High level of proficiency with Microsoft Server technologies, including, but not limited to, Server 2012 R2 and above, DNS/DHCP, Print Server, Network Policy Server, Certificate Services. 

• 2+ years’ experience configuring and managing Firewalls, Routers, Switches and WLAN. 

• Excellent troubleshooting, organizational and communication skills.