Systems Engineer Senior

Collaborative Tools Platform Applications Team Description

The Collaborative Tools Platform Applications team members configure, manage, support, and optimize COTS products used across the organization such as Atlassian Data Center (DC) applications, the IBM DOORS application, and other enterprise application offerings. These tools provide critical functionality to the organization for work management, documentation management and collaboration, change management and version control, and CI/CD. Additionally, team members will assist/train users, define enterprise standards, and ensure consistent and effective usage of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications across the organization as well as research, test, and implement plugins to extend COTS application functionality. The Collaborative Tools Platform Applications team operates within the SSVS while also maintaining an organizational reporting line.

Team Purpose: The Collaborative Tools Platform Applications team configures and manages Enterprise COTS products. Team members serve as the primary support and enablement group for users of COTS products such as the Atlassian Data Center suite (Bamboo, Bitbucket, Confluence, Crowd, Jira Software, Jira Service Management), IBM DOORS, and other such Enterprise tools. The Collaborative Tools Platform Applications team is responsible for ensuring these tools are effectively configured and aligned with organizational needs. Team members configure the COTS applications to fit enterprise standards, designing workflows, permissions, and automation that reinforce standardized processes across Value Streams. By tailoring tool configurations to meet enterprise requirements, the team helps establish a uniform usage model, reducing redundancy and promoting consistency in project tracking, documentation, and code repository management. Additionally, team members manage COTS plugin installation and configuration which extends functionality to the tools enhancing the environment to meet specific organizational needs. Team members also manage integrations with other enterprise tools, optimizing the Atlassian suite's role within the larger ecosystem.

The Collaborative Tools Platform Applications team conducts scheduled upgrades to maintain software compatibility, aligning with the enterprise offerings release cadence to minimize downtime and disruption. These upgrades can occur outside of normal work hours to further reduce the impact on daily operations. Having the application team available during core hours of 9 AM to 2 PM and on call is essential for fostering effective collaboration and ensuring a prompt response to any emerging issues. This proactive approach guarantees seamless operations and robust support for the entire organization. By maintaining this availability, not only is teamwork enhanced, but also significantly improve the overall efficiency of the applications that supports our enterprise.

In addition to configuration, the team provides essential support and training to enhance user proficiency and resolve issues as they arise. Through hands-on training sessions, team members familiarize users with tool functionalities, best practices, and enterprise-specific workflows to ensure a common understanding of processes across teams. The Collaborative Tools Platform Applications team also fields support requests, diagnosing and resolving usage issues to minimize downtime and maintain productivity. By offering both proactive guidance and responsive support, the Collaborative Tools Platform Applications team empowers users to make the most of the Atlassian tools while maintaining alignment with organizational objectives and standards. The support of the main application also includes management of the plugins. This will also include the update and install/implementation of these plugins.

The Collaborative Tools Platform Applications team shall specialize in the administration and management of COTS applications, with additional responsibilities including Section 508 compliance testing.

• The Collaborative Tools Platform Applications team is required to conduct 508 testing for all new features and modifications introduced with COTS application and plugin upgrades to ensure accessibility standards are met.
• The designated technical writer shall be responsible for creating and maintaining all technical documentation, including but not limited to FISMA-related documentation required for obtaining and maintaining Authority to Operate (ATO) and user support/reference guides.
• Team members shall possess intermediary-level expertise in PostgreSQL to enable direct querying and updates to application databases as necessary. Responsibilities include troubleshooting, maintenance, and operational support for these tools.
• Team members tasked with customer-facing support and the enterprise standardization of Atlassian Data Center tools are required to have a robust technical foundation in configuring and administering Atlassian Data Center products such as Jira Software, Jira Service Management, Confluence, Crowd, Bamboo, and Bitbucket.
• Team members must demonstrate proficiency in customizing Jira workflows, permissions, and custom fields, as well as implementing plugins across the Atlassian suite to meet organizational requirements.
• Team members must also be capable of automating and extending base Jira and Confluence functionalities through scripting languages such as Groovy, Python, or equivalent, which are integral to application and plugin operation.
• The Collaborative Tools Platform Applications team shall design and implement enterprise standards across Atlassian instances, establishing best practices for project structures, issue types, workflows, and integrations that promote consistency and efficiency across the organization.
• Advanced skills in JIRA Query Language (JQL) and scripting tools are mandatory for building custom reports, automations, and troubleshooting scripts that enhance tool functionality and improve user experience.
• Team members must also possess experience with Jira Service Management (JSM), including backend support utilizing JSM Assets Query Language (AQL) to ensure seamless operations.
• Strong communication skills are required for all team members, as team members are responsible for training users on best practices, resolving support tickets, and producing clear, accessible documentation tailored to various technical audiences.
• Additionally, proficiency in using REST APIs and Atlassian's AI is required to extend tool capabilities and integrate Atlassian products with other enterprise systems, delivering a cohesive and standardized platform for end users across the organization.

Position Activities & Responsibilities

• Provides analysis, design, and integration support for infrastructure systems, including cloud-based services like AWS or Azure for hosting enterprise offerings (e.g., Atlassian Suite).
• Develops and implements strategies for automating deployments using IaC tools such as Ansible, Packer, and AWS CloudFormation.
• Designs and manages cloud environments, including EC2, S3, RDS, VPCs, Lambda, IAM, and other AWS services to ensure optimal performance, security, and scalability.
• Implements CI/CD pipelines and integrates with services like Bamboo to streamline workflows, accelerate software delivery, and ensure consistent configuration management across environments.
• Monitors and manages cloud infrastructure using tools like AWS CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Splunk, Prometheus, and Grafana to ensure high performance, availability, and uptime.
• Applies security best practices to infrastructure, including secure access controls, data encryption, and integration with AWS services to safeguard systems from unauthorized access and vulnerabilities.
• Works with containerization technologies (e.g., Docker) and orchestration platforms (e.g., Kubernetes, ECS) to scale and manage resource-intensive tasks effectively.
• Performs systems engineering studies and analyses, ensuring infrastructure systems meet business and operational requirements.
• Assesses and recommends new technologies, tools, and processes to improve system performance, security, and efficiency.
• Provides technical support for troubleshooting system issues and ensures corrective actions are taken to maintain system reliability.
• Experience working in an Agile organization using Scrum, Kanban, Jira, Confluence, and SAFe.
• Provide team specific training as needed.

Skills

• Follow Agile Methodology & Practices
  • Follow SAFe Agile principles and practices, including iterative development, continuous delivery, and collaboration.
  • Participate in all required SAFe ceremonies, including Program Increment (PI) Planning, Iteration Planning, Daily Standups, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives.
  • Continuously improve development processes by embracing retrospectives and feedback from stakeholders.
  • Support and adhere to the integration of system-level architecture and design principles to ensure system interoperability.
• Responsible for
  • Agile Artifacts: Documentation of all work in Epics, Features, and Stories in JIRA.
  • User Stories: Document detailed user stories for each feature. These user stories will be maintained and updated throughout the project lifecycle as needed.
  • Product Backlog & Iteration Backlogs: Create and maintain a prioritized product backlog outlining all features and functionalities. Additionally Iteration backlogs will be developed for each iteration, detailing the specific user stories planned for completion within that timeframe.
• Collaboration & Communication
  • Plan and coordinate with all teams within the Value Streams (ex. Shared Services value stream) to ensure alignment and cross-functional collaboration.
  • Foster transparency through regular progress updates and continuous communication with stakeholders.
  • Participate in System Demos and demonstrate completed work to stakeholders at the end of each iteration.
  • Collaborate with other teams across the organization to remove dependencies and resolve blockers to ensure continuous flow of work.
• Work Management & Tools
  • Use the Government-provided toolset (e.g., JIRA, Confluence) for managing work, tracking progress, and documenting deliverables.