Systems Administrator

Blackbird Interactive is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent game studio where the best talent in the industry can find long-term careers to help grow their abilities while working on a wide range of projects. These include both world-class IPs and our own creations, across multiple platforms and genres.

We’re looking for an intermediate Systems Administrator to keep our studio infrastructure reliable, secure, and easy to use. You’ll handle day-to-day operations across on-prem and cloud services—supporting identity, endpoints, servers, networking, and core studio applications.

This role is full-time in-studio (5 days/week), Monday–Friday in Vancouver.

What you'll tackle

Infrastructure & Server Operations:
• Monitor, maintain, and improve our virtualized environment (VMware) and core on-prem services and cloud services on Google and Azure.
• Perform routine maintenance, patching, performance troubleshooting, and capacity planning support.
• Own Windows Server operations (file shares, NTFS permissions, backups, updates, service reliability).
• Script and build tools to automate IT tasks (terraform, ansible, docker and kubernetes experience a plus)

Identity, Access, and Studio Services:
• Administer Active Directory (user/group management, access policies, baseline configurations).
• Manage account lifecycle across studio services (onboarding/offboarding, least privilege, access reviews).
• Support productivity and collaboration tooling administration (including Google Workspace)

Networking & Remote Access:
• Support LAN services (e.g., DHCP/DNS) and day-to-day connectivity troubleshooting.
• Configure and maintain VLANs in collaboration with the team to support segmentation and studio needs.
• Support secure VPN access and troubleshoot remote connectivity and authentication issues.
• Working with firewall technologies such as SSL Deep Packet Inspection, IDP, ZTNA, HA, SDWAN

Source Control & Developer Services:
• Administer and support Perforce and Git services (access, permissions, backups, performance triage).
• Partner with engineering to keep developer workflows stable (auth, storage, large repos, onboarding/offboarding).

Security & Incident Response:
• Triage outages and security incidents; coordinate fixes and follow through with preventative improvements.
• Help implement practical security hardening and safe-data handling practices across the studio

Automation, Documentation, and Continuous Improvement:
• Automate repetitive tasks using PowerShell (and other scripting as needed).
• Maintain clear documentation (runbooks, change logs, diagrams) and improve operational workflows

Team Collaboration & Workflow:
• Track and manage work through Atlassian/Jira and/or Azure DevOps (ADO), keeping tasks visible and well-scoped
• Act as an escalation point for complex issues and occasionally mentor junior IT team members

You’ll Thrive Here If You…:
• Have 3+ years in systems administration / IT operations in a Windows-centric environment.
• Have supported a production environment with many end users and competing priorities

Core Technical Skills:
• Are confident administering Windows Server (file shares, permissions, patching, backups, troubleshooting).
• Have experience with linux server environments.
• Have practical experience with VMware and VM lifecycle management.
• Have strong fundamentals in networking, including VLANs and structured troubleshooting.
• Have hands-on experience with Active Directory and access management best practices.
• Are comfortable supporting VPN access in a security-minded environment.
• Have admin/support experience with Perforce and Git (permissions, user management, basic maintenance, backup/restore awareness)

Operational Strength:
• Work effectively in Jira and/or ADO (triage, prioritization, clear ticket updates, and follow-through).
• Communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical teammates.
• Stay calm under pressure and take a structured approach to incidents and root-cause follow-up

Mindset:
• Are security-minded (least privilege, good hygiene, proactive patching).
• Take ownership and look for ways to reduce toil through automation and better processes

Bonus XP:
• Experience administering Fortinet (policies, VPNs, security features, troubleshooting).
• Endpoint management experience (Windows/macOS), baselines, and device security practices.
• Familiarity with monitoring/alerting, log collection, and operational dashboards.
• Experience supporting Linux (Ubuntu) in mixed environments.
• Backup/DR experience (restore testing, retention planning, recovery documentation).
• Experience supporting a creative/production studio environment (or similarly fast-paced teams)