Support Specialist II

About Rice

Boasting a 300-acre, tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio and a residential college system that supports students intellectually, emotionally, and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lecture series, courses, and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty, staff, and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. These values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice's culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name -- RICE -- Responsibility, Integrity, Community, and Excellence.

Technology Solutions & Services (TS&S)

TS&S provides excellent constituent service, acting as a strategic partner to advance Rice University's priorities and mission of "pathbreaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contribution to the betterment of our world." We fuel innovation at speed across the university by building a culture of trust, using an effective operating model, driving seamless experiences, and providing core IT capabilities. TS&S is service-oriented and team-enabling. We seek applicants who will contribute to our mission.

• Trust Building and Stakeholder Engagement - Foster trust across the campus by being transparent, reliable, consistent, and solution-oriented in communication and execution. Ensure clear, consistent, and timely communication with all constituents, maintaining a service-oriented mindset and addressing challenges with integrity.
• Collaboration and Cross-functional Commitment - Work effectively with colleagues across teams, departments, and roles to support shared goals and a positive work environment. Communicate clearly and professionally with team members throughout TS&S and across the campus to ensure smooth coordination of tasks and projects. Build and maintain positive relationships by being approachable, reliable, and responsive. Proactively share relevant information and follow up to ensure alignment and efficiency in team efforts.
• Agility and Responsiveness - Adapt quickly to evolving needs, technologies, and priorities, ensuring efficiency and relevance. Identify potential challenges in advance and take proactive steps to minimize disruption to end users. Approach unexpected changes with a problem-solving mindset, balancing speed with thoughtful engagement. Prioritize user experience by delivering seamless, timely, and effective support and solutions. Maintain a culture of continuous learning--asking questions from a place of curiosity and possibility to enhance agility and service outcomes.
• Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement - Maintain a culture of continuous improvement in all IT operations to ensure efficient and effective service delivery. Regularly assess and optimize processes, systems, and technologies to enhance performance, scalability, and user satisfaction.

Position Summary

Campus Technology Services (CTS), a division of the Office of Technology Solutions & Services (TS&S), is dedicated to delivering front-line technology support services to enhance the university's mission and goals related to research, teaching and learning, and scholarship. This service is provided through individual consultation and communication with faculty, staff, and students. We are seeking a Support Specialist II to provide support, instruction, and advice on Rice's digital environment, including hardware, software, peripherals, and network connectivity. This position applies developed subject-matter knowledge to resolve common and complex issues within established guidelines and serves as part of the Technology Solutions & Services - Campus Technology Services team.

The ideal candidate is proactive, process-oriented, dedicated to customer satisfaction, and has outstanding time management and organizational skills.

Working Requirements

This position is on-site and may offer a hybrid work schedule after a probationary period, combining both in-office and remote work to provide flexibility and support collaboration. Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change.

Hiring Range

This is a full-time, benefits-eligible position, and the offered salary will be $60,000- $69,900, commensurate with experience and qualifications. Exempt (salaried) positions under FLSA are not eligible for overtime.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree
  • In lieu of the education requirement, additional related experience, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year-for-year basis may be substituted
• 2+ years of full-time, professional experience working collaboratively and independently to provide highly customized IT support services to constituents (Internships, student employment, and trainee roles are not substitutes for this professional experience requirement)

Skills:

• Demonstrated intermediate knowledge of the concepts, practices, and procedures of IT support and customer service
• Proficient knowledge of various software and hardware and how they are configured and interface with each other
• Good analytical, collaborative, creative, problem-solving, research, and verbal and written communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to create, organize, and maintain process documentation and procedures for use by technical staff and non-technical users
• Demonstrated ability to train others and work collaboratively within a team
• Demonstrated ability to present complex technical data to non-technical stakeholders

Preferences

• Experience Preferred
  • Practical experience as a consultant in a computing environment
  • Experience in an academic or research computing environment
  • Experience working in a dynamic environment
  • Experience working as part of a call center/service desk team
  • Experience working with AI tools
• Licenses/Certifications Preferred
  • ITIL
  • General PC Hardware
  • Windows
  • Apple
  • JAMF
• Skills Preferred
  • Knowledge of security and networking protocols
  • Ability to support basic audio/visual configurations and connectivity
  • Linux system administration

Essential Functions

• Maintains a first-class level of customer service, ensuring that all constituents are treated respectfully, appropriately, and efficiently
• Contributes to enhancing the overall constituent (end-user) support strategy
• Keeps constituents and team members informed about new computing software, hardware, and information resources
• Provides team members and constituents with one-on-one, small-group, or workshop-style training on Rice's digital environment as needed
• Provides first-line technical support to constituents on software, hardware, peripherals, and networking systems
• Designs, develops, documents, tests, or modifies systems or programs in accordance with user and system design specifications
• Applies systems analysis techniques and procedures to determine hardware, software, or system functional specifications
• Diagnoses and resolves constituents' problems remotely and in person; responds to escalated issues from constituents, teammates, and other support teams; performs triage; provides remote problem resolution when possible; and refers problems to associated groups when appropriate
• Researches, recommends, and implements hardware and software purchases and configurations to meet constituent needs while ensuring compatibility with university systems and architecture
• Researches, recommends, and implements approved standards and best practices
• Investigates and tests new tools, systems, techniques, software, and IT products
• Collaborates on projects requiring expertise and creativity in the analysis and deployment of technology
• Acts as a team or project lead on small- to medium-scope projects, providing direction to the team and facilitating communication and information validation
• Promotes digital literacy among colleagues and constituents
• Performs all other duties as assigned

Rice University HR | Benefits: https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits

Rice Mission and Values: Mission and Values | Rice University