The posting
Senior Collaboration Engineer (ITS)
Information Technology Services University of Southern California
Shape How USC Collaborates
The University of Southern California’s Information Technology Services organization is seeking a Senior Collaboration Engineer to support the enterprise collaboration platforms that connect USC’s academic and administrative communities.
This is a hands-on senior systems engineering role in a small, highly collaborative team that partners with local IT teams, ITS technical staff, Cybersecurity, vendors, and stakeholders across USC. The ideal candidate brings strong collaboration platform administration experience, particularly with Microsoft 365, along with sound technical judgment, a customer-service mindset, and the ability to work independently in a remote, self-directed team environment.
About the Team
The Collaboration Technologies team supports a broad portfolio of tools and services used across USC, working closely with schools, administrative units, local IT teams, the Service Desk, Cybersecurity, and other ITS teams to resolve escalated issues, improve services, and help departments use collaboration tools effectively.
This is a small team where accountability, clear communication, and customer service matter. Team members are expected to monitor service queues, take ownership of work and contribute to a team culture built on trust and shared knowledge.
Key Responsibilities
In this role, you will:
- Integrate and support a broad range of collaboration tools and services to optimize customer and stakeholder productivity across USC. Work with customers, vendors, and stakeholders in academic and administrative units, and share subject-matter expertise with co-workers and management.
- Set strategies and establish priorities and department-university alignment for collaboration projects and tasks. Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of existing tools, make recommendations for improvement, and proactively experiment with new or updated products. Engage with customers to gather feedback, identify opportunities for improvement.
- Apply industry knowledge and best practices to support innovation and continuous improvement. Analyze complex and/or conflicting data to identify root causes and develop effective troubleshooting protocols. Create and maintain knowledge base articles, tutorials, and training resources.
- Aid the cultivation of a welcoming environment and a culture of trust and transparency, sharing information broadly, openly, and deliberately. Build and maintain collaborative relationships with team members, peers, and leaders. Actively embody ITS values and behaviors, including accountability, ethics, and best-in-class customer service.
- Collaborate with team members and management to implement effective solutions that support Collaboration Technologies’ vision. Maintain currency with existing, developing, and disruptive collaboration technologies, standards, and best practices. Support process improvement efforts within the team and across the ITS organization.
What We’re Looking For
The strongest candidates will bring a blend of technical depth, customer service, communication, and practical systems administration experience. This role is best suited for someone who enjoys hands-on operational work, can manage competing priorities, and is comfortable working with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Successful candidates will be self-motivated, collaborative, solutions-focused, and able to work independently while knowing when to ask for help or involve the broader team.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree.
- 5 years of experience.
- Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education.
- Extensive experience designing, implementing, and troubleshooting various collaboration software applications, (e.g., Office 365, Google Suite, Confluence, JIRA, Dropbox, Qualtrics, and/or other similar tools).
- Experience with Active Directory, LDAP, DNS, email routing, and/or other similar system tools.
- Demonstrated ability to create and maintain technical documentation, establish documentation standards and influence adoption, and use automation tools (PowerShell, Unix shell, APIs, etc.).
- Excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to translate large quantities of complex input into actionable outcomes and present ideas and solutions in non-technical, business-friendly terms.
- Exemplary interpersonal skills, developing positive working relationships and strong rapport with a multifaceted community of team members and stakeholders.
- Excellent organizational skills with proven ability to set priorities and manage multiple projects at once, based on importance, urgency, and alignment to the university’s strategic objectives.
- Ability to enforce alignment with activities to pertinent service level agreements, policies, procedures, regulations, and other requirements.
Preferred Qualifications
- 8 years of experience.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Instruction Systems Technology, or related field.
- Experience in IT, higher education, or related fields.
- Strong Microsoft 365 administration experience, including Entra ID, Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, and the broader M365 suite.
- Experience supporting Google Workspace administration, including tools such as GAM, Google Workspace Admin REST APIs, bulk operations, automation, and scripting.
- Experience with PowerShell scripting and REST API programming for systems administration, automation, and reporting.
- Experience applying information security principles to SaaS collaboration platforms, including identity and access management, OAuth/application permissions, data governance, email security, and SaaS security configuration.
- Experience working with Cybersecurity, Identity and Access Management, and academic or administrative IT teams on access, provisioning, risk, compliance, or incident-related matters.
- Experience supporting collaboration or communication platforms such as Slack Enterprise Grid, Listserv, Qualtrics, Proofpoint, or similar tools.
- Experience with Azure administration relevant to Microsoft 365, including Entra ID, App Registrations, and related identity and integration services.
- Experience with Google Cloud project administration relevant to Google Workspace, including service accounts, OAuth credentials, Cloud Console, and API enablement.
- Experience with data protection, eDiscovery, and disaster recovery for collaboration platforms, including retention policies, legal hold, content search, and service continuity tools such as M365 Purview or Google Vault.
- Experience with ServiceNow or a comparable ticketing and service management system.
- Experience managing vendor escalations to resolution.
- Experience creating and maintaining knowledge base articles, user guidance, training materials, reports, and customer-facing documentation.
- Familiarity with emerging AI-related collaboration features, such as M365 Copilot, Google Gemini for Workspace, Slack AI, or similar tools.
- Experience in central IT, large enterprise, Microsoft-heavy, decentralized, or complex stakeholder environments.
- Microsoft certifications or other relevant collaboration, cloud, systems administration, or security certifications.
In addition, the successful candidate must also demonstrate, through ideas, words, and actions, a strong commitment to USC’s Unifying Values of integrity, excellence, community, well-being, open communication, and accountability.
Work Arrangement
This role is fully remote. Occasional on-site presence may be required based on business needs.The role participates in a shared after-hours on-call rotation with the Collaboration Technologies team.
Compensation and Benefits
The annual base salary for this position is up to $140,270.10. When extending an offer of employment, USC considers various factors including the scope of responsibilities, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, and external market considerations.
USC provides benefits-eligible employees with a broad range of benefits and perks to help protect their and their dependents’ health, wealth, and future. These benefits are available as part of the overall compensation and total rewards package. You can learn more about USC’s comprehensive benefits here.
Ready to Make an Impact?
If you are a hands-on collaboration technologies professional who enjoys solving problems, supporting customers, improving services, and working with a collaborative team, we invite you to apply and help USC strengthen the tools and services that keep the university connected.
Minimum Education: Bachelor's degree
Addtional Education Requirements Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education Minimum Experience: 5 years
Minimum Skills: Extensive experience designing, implementing, and troubleshooting various collaboration software applications, including Office 365, Google Suite, Confluence, JIRA, Dropbox, Qualtrics, and/or other similar tools. Experience with Active Directory, LDAP, DNS, email routing, and/or other similar system tools. Demonstrated ability to create and maintain technical documentation, establish documentation standards and influence adoption, and use automation tools (PowerShell, Unix shell, APIs, etc.). Excellent written and oral communication skills, able to translate large quantities of complex input into actionable outcomes, and present ideas and solutions in non-technical, business-friendly terms. Exemplary interpersonal skills, developing positive working relationships and strong rapport with a diverse community of team members and stakeholders. Excellent organizational skills, with proven ability to set priorities and manage multiple projects at once, based on importance, urgency, and alignment to the university's strategic objectives. Ability to enforce alignment with activities to pertinent service level agreements, policies, procedures, regulations, and other requirements. Preferred Education: Bachelor's degree Computer Science Or Bachelor's degree Computer Information Systems Or Bachelor's degree Instruction Systems Technology Or Bachelor's degree in related field(s)
Preferred Experience: 8 years Preferred Skills: Experience in IT, higher education, or related fields.
USC is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law or USC policy. USC observes affirmative action obligations consistent with state and federal law. USC will consider for employment all qualified applicants with criminal records in a manner consistent with applicable laws and regulations, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for employers and the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, and with due consideration for patient and student safety. Please refer to the Background Screening Policy Appendix D for specific employment screen implications for the position for which you are applying.
We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants with questions about access or requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact USC Human Resources by phone at (213) 821-8100, or by email at [email protected]. Inquiries will be treated as confidential to the extent permitted by law.
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