Position Vacancy Announcement

Position: This position will report directly to the Deputy CTO. The Application Support Specialist will actively complete tasks as assigned by the team coordinator. This person will manage and resolve support tickets for in house applications, and applications being provided by a 3^rd party. They will partner with 3^rd party vendors to provide issue resolution and provide end user training to help in the development of new and enhanced skillsets for members of our staff. Additionally, they will help in the conceptualization and construction of dashboards and reports, along with development of some low-code/no-code applications, and help in automating recurring tasks. Finally, this individual will help in building queries and reports for our new pension administration system and serve as the point of contact on the team for these tasks.

Position: Application Support Specialist

Position Type: Full-time | Based in Champaign, IL

Civil Service Classification: Information Technology Technical Associate

Main Duties

• Ticket Management
  1. Monitor the application support queue.
  2. Work with the team coordinator to prioritize incidents and requests for improvements/enhancements.
• Vendor Contact
  1. Work with the vendor’s support team, initiating contact, becoming the contact person for this issue.
  2. Partner with that vendor to resolve existing software performance issues.
  3. Help evaluate new software by attending calls and demos as needed.
• Velocity Support
  1. Participate in the Vitech “Client Participation Program”
  2. Assist with the maintenance of existing queries and reports.
  3. Build new queries and reports.
  4. Assist in troubleshooting on other Velocity issues as they arise.
• Power Platform
  1. Work with the team coordinator to maintain existing low-code/no-code applications.
  2. Work with end users to assess if a low-code/no-code solution may be appropriate, and work with the team coordinator to design and build that solution when necessary.
  3. Routinely collect and report on specified metrics. Create reports as requested.
• End User Training
  1. Contribute to and update knowledge-based articles and FAQs based on root-cause analysis and documentation of resolved issues.
  2. Help maintain documentation for processes and applications.
• Other Duties
  1. Willingness to participate in an on-call rotation including evenings, nights, and weekends to respond to calls. Also willing to be available outside of work hours due to exceptional events, off-hours maintenance, or emergencies with SURS’ computing resources or facilities.

Required Qualifications

1. High school diploma or equivalent.
2. Any one or any combination totaling two (2) years (24 months) from the following categories:
   1. College coursework which includes Information Technology (IT), IT Management, Programming, IT systems, or a closely related discipline, as measured by the following conversion table or its proportional equivalent:
      • 30 semester hours equals one (1) year (12 months)
      • Associate’s Degree (60 semester hours) equals eighteen months (18 months)
      • 90 semester hours equals two (2) years (24 months)
      • Bachelor’s Degree (120 semester hours) equals three (3) years (36 months)
   2. Work experience in IT-related functions, such as hardware/software support, programming, network design, network engineering, IT systems integration, or closely related field.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)

• Ability to adapt to changing work environments, work priorities, and organizational needs.
• Ability to clearly convey information and ideas to individuals and groups through a variety of communication modes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with workflow and automation tools such as Team Dynamix (TDX) iPaaS.
• Experience with Power platform including but not limited to PowerBI, power apps, and Power Automate.
• Experience with Verification tools such as LexisNexis and other comparable solutions.
• Experience with foundational low-code, no-code knowledge with databases such as DB2, Microsoft SQL, and PostGres.
• Ability to Recognize adherence with DevOps best practices and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), and quality assurance (QA). Communication, collaboration, troubleshooting, customer service, and documentation.

Position Information

This is a full-time position is based in Champaign, IL. During the initial 12-month training period, fully in-office workdays may be required. After successful completion of the initial training period. this position may transition to a hybrid role. The starting salary range for this position is $66,337 - $72,971. It is not typical for an individual to be offered a salary at or near the top of the full range for a position. Salary is competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience, while also considering internal equity.

Benefits

• Insurance benefits, including medical, vision and dental
• Participation in SURS retirement plan
• Paid vacation, sick leave and 11 paid holidays
• Paid Parental Leave after six months of employment
• Casual/business casual attire (dependent on job duties)
• Flexible work environment
• Free parking
• 37.5-hour standard work week
• Find more details regarding the benefits SURS offers at: SURS Employee Benefits - SURS

Application Process

To apply for this position, please click the apply button at the top of this job posting. Please fill out the online application and attach a copy of your resume and cover letter.

About SURS

SURS is the administrator of a cost-sharing, multiple-employer, public employee retirement system that provides retirement, survivor, disability and death benefits to employees of Illinois state universities, community colleges, and certain other affiliated organizations and agencies. SURS was created in 1941, by an act of the Illinois General Assembly, and is governed by the Illinois Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/15-101 et seq.). SURS provides benefit services to over 255,000 members who work for 61 employers. SURS is responsible for investing assets in a diversified portfolio of U.S. and foreign stocks, bonds, real estate and alternative investments. SURS maintains a defined benefit plan, which on June 30, 2024, had assets valued at approximately $24.3 billion. SURS also administers two defined contribution plans, the Retirement Savings Plan, which on June 30, 2024, had assets of approximately $4.3 billion and the Deferred Compensation Plan, which had assets of approximately $67.4 million. Northern Trust serves as SURS’ master trustee custodian.