Senior System Administrator

Position Summary

The Senior System Administrator (IT) ensures reliable, secure, and high-performing IT infrastructure across manufacturing plants, warehouses, and office environments in the UK and EMEA.

The role provides hands-on support for infrastructure, connectivity, and endpoints supporting shop floor and business operations, ensuring SLA-driven service delivery and operational continuity. It operates in close coordination with the Help Desk (HTC – India) and global IT teams (Infrastructure, Cyber, Digital, Enterprise Applications).

The role also supports infrastructure projects (e.g., SDWAN, workplace technologies) and drives continuous improvement toward stable, scalable operations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Infrastructure & Site Support

• Provide hands-on IT infrastructure support across plants, warehouses, and offices
• Ensure availability and performance of servers, networks, and connectivity
• Support endpoints (PCs, laptops, tablets, RF scanners) and peripherals (printers, barcoding/NiceLabel)
• Act as primary IT contact for sites (St Neots, Dumfries, Cramlington + remote EMEA)

Incident & Service Management

• Manage and resolve tickets in the Gates Global Ticketing Tool
• Coordinate with Help Desk (HTC – India) for escalation and resolution
• Ensure SLA adherence and proper documentation
• Lead incident resolution and perform root cause analysis

Business & Site Interface

• Partner with plant managers and site leadership on IT priorities
• Ensure IT readiness during critical operations (go-live, peak periods)
• Maintain a dotted-line alignment with site leadership

Projects & Continuous Improvement

• Support infrastructure deployments (e.g., SDWAN, endpoint rollouts)
• Provide infrastructure support to business systems (SAP, shopfloor, labeling)
• Drive improvements in reliability, performance, and user experience
• Security, Vendors & Collaboration
• Work with SOC and NOC on incidents, monitoring, and security compliance
• Follow corporate security, patching, and backup standards
• Leverage approved vendors; align with Global Sourcing for any local vendor needs
• Collaborate with global IT teams (Infrastructure, SAP/ERP COEs, Digital, Cyber)

Job Profile

• Hands-on infrastructure professional with experience in multi-site environments
• Strong background in system administration, networking, and endpoint management
• Experience in manufacturing / warehouse environments preferred
• Familiar with SLA-driven support models and global IT organizations

Keys to Success

• High availability of infrastructure services
• Strong SLA and ticket discipline
• Fast, effective incident resolution
• Strong collaboration across sites and global IT teams
• Continuous improvement of stability and performance

Supervisory Responsibilities

• No direct reports
• Acts as site IT lead coordinating local users, HTC, global IT, and vendors

Requirements and Preferred Skills

• 8–10 years in IT infrastructure / system administration
• Strong knowledge of Windows Server, virtualization, and networking
• Experience with endpoints (PCs, mobile, RF scanners, tablets)
• Experience in manufacturing / distribution environments
• Experience with ticketing tools and SLA-based support
• Exposure to SAP environments and shopfloor systems is a plus
• Basic scripting (PowerShell) and cybersecurity awareness
• Lean / continuous improvement mindset preferred

Travel

• Up to 25–40% across UK and EMEA