Senior Application Support Specialist - City of Philadelphia

A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact. 
As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

What We Offer:
•    Impact - The work you do here matters to millions. 
•    Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it? 
•    Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs.
•    Benefits - We care about your well-being.
 

The Office of Innovation & Technology (OIT) is the central IT agency for the City of Philadelphia headed by the Chief Information Officer (CIO). OIT oversees all major information and communications technology initiatives for the City of Philadelphia - increasing the effectiveness of the information technology infrastructure, where the services provided are advanced, optimized, and responsive to the needs of the City of Philadelphia’s businesses, residents, and visitors. OIT responsibilities include: identifying the most effective approach for implementing new information technology directions throughout city government; improving the value of the city’s technology assets and the return on the city’s technology investments; ensuring data security continuity; planning for continuing operations in the event of disruption of information technology or communications services; and supporting accountable, efficient and effective government across every city department, board, commission and agency.

In partnership with the Department of Revenue, the IT Application Support team is responsible for the support of applications that fulfill the mission of timely, courteous, and prompt collection of all revenue due to the City of Philadelphia. This includes the billing and collection of water and sewer charges. The Water Revenue Bureau provides all billing and collection functions for water and sewer charges, ensuring that the Philadelphia Water Department has the financial resources needed to provide reliable, high-quality water to Philadelphia residents, businesses, and communities. 

The Senior Application Support Specialist acts as the technical lead for sets of technology implementations within the Department of Revenue. In partnership with the business unit, the project management team, and/or designated vendor relationship, develop an understanding of the business processes around specific technology, provide expertise in the technology solution(s), and analyze use cases and technical capabilities to recommend changes to both the technical implementation and business process making the best use of IT solutions.  The Senior Application Support Specialist also provides guidance, mentoring, training, and support as needed to other Application Support Specialists on the team and acts as one of the primary liaisons between central OIT and the business unit for the defined set of technology implementations. 

As a member of the Revenue IT team, the Senior Application Support Specialist is expected to uphold the department’s mission and contribute positively to a collaborative, human-centered, innovative, accountable, transparent, and inclusive culture within Revenue IT.

Essential Functions
Technical Solution Management
•    Act as the technical expert in specific technology solutions and the technical lead for the unit. 
•    Oversee and validate the writing, collecting of solution specific technology standards (i.e., define interface/protocol specifications), documentation (i.e., diagram solutions), and other materials needed to ensure consistent design, implementation, and use of technology across the Department of Revenue.
•    Work closely with development and support teams (whether City staff or vendors) and lead in prioritization of research, investigate, and promote the use of existing and emerging technologies to support or enhance Revenue’s operations and/or work.
•    Oversee and, where necessary, perform initial testing of enhancements, such as server upgrades, and provide feedback to developers as needed.  Coordinate with Revenue subject matter experts on secondary testing.
•    Debug complex system software issues using analyzers and other hardware debug tools.
•    Develop flowcharts, layouts and documentation to identify requirements and solutions.
•    Perform server administration tasks, such as the management of user/group, security permissions, group policies, research event-log warnings and errors.
•    Monitor data-center health using existing management tools and respond to software issues as they arise.
•    Assist in testing and maintaining servers when needed.
•    Manage Microsoft Active Directory, including managing user accounts, groups, and access permissions to ensure appropriate access to server resources while maintaining security and compliance with organizational policies
•    Installing public and local certificates on various systems and firewall management.
•    Ask questions, manage risks, and champion new ideas.

Relationship Management 
•    Build and maintain collaborative and consultative relationships with other members of the team, Revenue, central OIT areas, including help desk personnel, network and system administrators, and vendors related to specific technology solutions being managed.
•    Serve as primary point of contact for IT coordination of services, communication, and planning around those systems.
•    Gain an in-depth understanding of Revenue’s processes and requirements as they relate to the supported systems.
•    Conduct regular reviews, priority-setting, and planning sessions with Revenue areas and other stakeholders.  Serve as an advocate for those priorities, plans, and other technology needs within Revenue IT and OIT.
•    Monitor, evaluate, and regularly report to Revenue IT leadership on business process-related IT projects, services, and support; the delivery of services according to service level agreements; and levels of client satisfaction.

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
•    Proven analytical and problem-solving abilities, including ability to anticipate, identify, and solve critical problems.
•    Ability to organize work effectively, conceptualize and prioritize objectives, and exercise independent judgment based on an understanding of organizational policies and activities.
•    Ability to work with end users to understand business processes, define requirements, assess technologies to determine fit for client needs, and translate those requirements into appropriate technical specifications.
•    Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to communicate technical concepts and information to non-technical audiences in a compelling and empowering way.
•    Deep commitment to delivering and supporting modern, user-centered, and value-producing technology products, systems, and services in a collaborative way.
•    Ability to build effective relationships and strong commitment to working collegially and collaboratively with constituents at all levels in a diverse and distributed environment.
•    Willingness to mentor staff and provide technical leadership for teams.
•    Experience working with TCP/IP v4 and v6 protocol, DHCP, DNS, SNMP, SMTP, FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, ICMP

We care more about what you can do than where you learned how to do it.  That said, a bachelor’s degree is a good foundation for the work, and job-related experience around the competencies above is acceptable as well.  The ideal candidate will have at least three years of experience with application support as well as working on and/or leading project teams.

Salary Range: $70,000 - $75,000

Important: To apply, candidates must provide a cover letter and resume.

Work Setting: in-person (onsite)

Discover the Perks of Being a City of Philadelphia Employee:
•    We offer Comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents
•    Our wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan
•    Employees receive paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
•    Generous retirement savings options are available
•    Pay off your student loans faster - As a qualifying employer, City of Philadelphia employees are eligible to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Join the ranks of hundreds of employees who have already benefited from this program and achieved student loan forgiveness.
•    Enjoy a Free Commute on SEPTA - Starting September 1, 2023, eligible City employees will no longer have to worry about paying for SEPTA public transportation. Whether you're a full-time, part-time, or provisional employee, you can seize the opportunity to sign up for the SEPTA Key Advantage Program and receive free Key cards for free rides on SEPTA buses, trains, trolleys, and regional rails.
•    Unlock Tuition Discounts and Scholarships - The City of Philadelphia has forged partnerships with over a dozen esteemed colleges and universities in the area, ensuring that our employees have access to a wide range of tuition discounts and scholarships. Experience savings of 10% to 40% on your educational expenses, extending not only to City employees but in some cases, spouse and dependents too!
Join the City of Philadelphia team today and seize these incredible benefits designed to enhance your financial well-being and personal growth!

*The successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

Effective May 22, 2023, vaccinations are no longer required for new employees that work in non-medical, non-emergency or patient facing positions with the City of Philadelphia. As a result, only employees in positions providing services that are patient-facing medical care (ex: Nurses, doctors, emergency medical personnel), must be fully vaccinated.

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to faqpchr@phila.gov.