About Urban Institute:

The Urban Institute is a research-to-impact institution founded on one simple idea: To improve lives and strengthen communities, we need practices and policies that work. From advancing well-being to fostering shared prosperity, leaders across sectors are working every day to create brighter futures for all people and communities. For more than 50 years, Urban has delivered evidence and solutions that drive meaningful change, and this remains our charge today.

Our Mission

To drive impact by equipping changemakers with evidence and solutions.

Our Values

Collaboration, Fairness Inclusivity, Independence, and Integrity

For more information on the Urban Institute, please visit https://www.urban.org.

The Opportunity:

Central to Urban’s mission is fostering a truly collaborative environment that ensures ongoing relevance to a changing world. The Lead Engineer, Infrastructure (Step 5/Technology track) is a technical role within Urban Institute’s Technology and Data Science (TECH) department. The position is responsible for providing technical expertise and administration of Urban’s infrastructure across on-premises and cloud-hosted environments, ensuring high availability and efficient service operation in support of Urban’s users. The Lead Engineer, Infrastructure will be part of the Infrastructure & Security team and work across TECH to administer several key technology functions for business operation, including (but not limited to) Microsoft Active Directory, Citrix Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft 365, Configuration Manager and Intune, as well as Exchange, VMware, and Cato SD-WAN services.

This role will provide technical expertise on Urban’s use of Citrix Cloud for secure remote access, provide expertise and implement best practices for AWS services, focus on improving identity and access management (IAM) practices, administer server and virtualization infrastructure, and expand Urban's use of SD-WAN services to improve corporate security posture. This position reports to the Senior Director, Infrastructure and Security.

What You’ll Do:

Responsibilities include:

• Management and administration of Urban’s Citrix VDI environment, including troubleshooting of connectivity and performance issues; patch and update Citrix desktop environment as needed, ensuring current updates to Citrix components

• Management and administration of Urban’s Amazon Web Services infrastructure, including identity and access management, server infrastructure within EC2, data management across S3 buckets, elastic load balancers (ELB), Kubernetes, etc.

• Management and administration of Microsoft Active Directory and Entra ID, including Group Policy and Single Sign-on (SSO) for Urban services

• Management and administration of Urban’s Microsoft 365 environment, including hybrid Exchange, hybrid Intune/SCCM, and Defender for Office 365

• Management and administration of Urban’s VMware ESXi environment, including optimization, storage infrastructure, server monitoring, and patching

• Management and administration of Urban’s server infrastructure, including Windows and Linux instances

• Management and administration of Urban’s network infrastructure and SD-WAN solution (Cato Networks)

• Troubleshoot and work closely with TECH’s Digital Workplace team as needed to support end-user issues and proactively communicate across TECH for awareness and issue resolution

• Troubleshoot and work closely with TECH’s Research & Web Technologies team as needed for webserver issues, hosted DNS and Web Application Firewall (WAF) services, uptime monitoring, etc.

• Perform root cause analysis around infrastructure issues, suggest remediation steps, and perform mitigations

• Creation of technical documentation, including user guides, network and systems diagrams, best practices guidance

• Participation in cross-team governance groups for implementing best practices around AWS services

• Coordination and collaboration with Infrastructure & Security team regarding vendor management, licensing, and budgeting

• Other infrastructure-related tasks as needed in support of the team

Who You Are:

The successful applicant has:

• A minimum of five years of technical experience managing and implementing network and systems infrastructure, both on-prem and cloud-hosted , which may include a Bachelor or Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent professional and academic experience

• Experience administering and implementing remote access services through Citrix Cloud, including SSO, profile management, delivery groups, and permissions

• Prior experience managing, administering, and implementing AWS infrastructure services, both commercial and GovCloud

• Prior experience managing, administering, and implementing Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, and implementing SSO services

• Experience administering Microsoft 365 services for device management, security, and user access (Intune, Multi-factor Authentication, Defender for Office/Business)

• Proficiency with PowerShell scripting for administering and monitoring Microsoft 365 services

• Experience administering VMware ESXi or other virtualization platforms

• Experience in Windows Server administration and implementation

• Experience managing and administering Microsoft Configuration Manager

• Knowledge of DNS, DHCP, WAF

• Strong verbal and written communication skills; ability to communicate and connect with colleagues across varying degrees of technical skill

• DC-based candidates are preferred.

Nice to Have:

• Experience administering and monitoring network infrastructure, such as HPE/Aruba, Cisco, Juniper

• Experience with non-Citrix remote access VDI services such as AWS Workspaces or Azure Virtual Desktop

• Knowledge of SD-WAN services, particularly Cato Networks

• Knowledge of firewalls and security concepts such as EDR/XDR programs, SIEM/SOAR platforms, and vulnerability scanning

• Experience managing Cloudflare DNS and WAF services

• Knowledge of cybersecurity compliance frameworks, such as NIST 800-171 or 800-53 Rev 5

• Knowledge of DevOps and Continuous Improvement practices, including scripting and automation

• Project management experience regarding infrastructure and security deployments

• Certifications such as AWS Solutions Architect Associate/Professional, Microsoft Azure Administrator, VMware VCP, Google Cloud Engineer, CompTIA Security+

Applications must include the following:

- Resume

The recruitment process for the selected candidates is as follows:

• Phone screen

• Panel interview(s), if selected to proceed

What You’ll Experience:

No matter your role with Urban, you will contribute to meaningful work that makes a difference for people and communities across the country. We are committed to working in a manner defined by our mission and values.

Urban’s greatest asset is our people.

The target salary range for this position is Min $113,979.00 – Max $190,385.00. Salary offered is commensurate with experience and considers internal comparisons. Salaries are just one component of Urban Institute’s total compensation package. Urban is committed to supporting our staff’s physical, emotional, and financial well-being through a robust benefits package for yourself, eligible dependents, and domestic partners. It includes generous paid time off, including nine federal holidays, medical (including prescription), dental and vision insurance, and transit benefits. Urban is unique in that we offer 403(b) retirement plan participation immediately after you’re hired and a generous employer contribution after six months of service and 500 hours, with immediate vesting. You’ll also have access to a health advocate, personal finance coaching, an Employee Assistance Program, and educational assistance for undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

The Urban Institute has formally recognized the Urban Institute Employees’ Union, which is part of the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU). Urban management and the Union work together in good faith and are motivated by a shared commitment to this institution. This position is included in the Union-represented collective bargaining unit, and specific employment terms and conditions are subject to collective bargaining negotiations.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by the people assigned. This posting is not an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and requirements. Urban management reserves the right to amend and change duties, responsibilities, and requirements to meet business and organizational needs as necessary.

The Urban Institute is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender or gender identity, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, veteran status, pregnancy or family responsibilities, matriculation, disability, political affiliation, or any other protected status under applicable law.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you have a physical and/or mental disability and are interested in applying for employment and need special accommodations to use our website to apply for a position, please contact Human Resources at humanresources@urban.org. Reasonable accommodation requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.