Sr. Application Administrator – Machine Learning Platform (Contract – Onsite – San Francisco, CA)

A pioneering client is looking for a strategic and highly skilled Sr. Application Administrator – Machine Learning Platform (Contract – Onsite – San Francisco, CA) to take ownership of critical applications. This contract position, based onsite in San Francisco, California, offers a unique opportunity to provide expert-level support, architect solutions, and drive automation within an enterprise environment. The ideal candidate will possess deep technical knowledge, exceptional problem-solving abilities, and a proactive approach to optimizing and securing vital systems.

Sr. Application Administrator – Machine Learning Platform (Contract – Onsite – San Francisco, CA)

Location: San Francisco, CA – This is an Onsite role, requiring daily presence at the designated facility.

Employment Type: Contract

Industry: Computer and Mathematical

Essential Functions: Driving Application Excellence and Strategic Management

As the primary owner and administrator of assigned applications, particularly within the Machine Learning platform domain, you will be instrumental in ensuring their optimal performance, security, and alignment with business objectives. Your role combines deep technical expertise with strategic planning and collaborative leadership.

• Act as Owner and Primary Administrator of Assigned Applications: You will serve as the definitive owner and primary administrator for one or more critical applications within the enterprise, with a specific focus on those supporting the Machine Learning (ML) platform. This entails comprehensive responsibility for the application’s lifecycle, from its operational health and security posture to its strategic evolution and integration within the broader IT ecosystem. You’ll be the central point of contact and expertise for these vital tools.
• Provide Expert-Level Application and System Support: You will deliver expert-level application and system support to all employees utilizing your assigned application(s). This includes acting as a final escalation point for complex user issues, providing in-depth guidance, and ensuring that all users can leverage the applications efficiently to achieve their business goals. Your support will be proactive, aiming to prevent issues before they impact productivity.
• Troubleshoot and Resolve Issues, Own Until Resolved: A core responsibility involves troubleshooting issues with precision and efficiency, providing expert-level support to diagnose root causes. You will be expected to resolve complex problems independently. For issues requiring deeper technical intervention, you will accurately identify escalation paths to the Systems team or external vendors, but critically, you will own the issue until it is fully resolved, actively managing communication and coordination to ensure timely and effective remediation.
• Architect Applications to Meet Business Needs: You will play a strategic role in architecting your assigned application(s) to meet evolving business needs. This involves understanding requirements from various stakeholders and translating them into technical designs for enhancements, integrations, or new functionalities. You will conceptualize and implement how the application can best serve the organization’s strategic goals, particularly in leveraging the Machine Learning platform for advanced analytics and insights.
• Establish Integration with Other Applications: A key architectural responsibility is to establish seamless integration with other applications across the enterprise. This includes designing, implementing, and maintaining data flows and API connections that allow your assigned applications to exchange information efficiently with other critical business systems (e.g., data warehouses, reporting tools, operational platforms). These integrations ensure a cohesive and automated data landscape.
• Establish Best Practices for Administering and Securing Applications: You will define and implement best practices for administering and securing your assigned application(s). This includes developing robust security configurations, access control policies, data encryption standards, and regular vulnerability assessments. You will also establish optimal administrative procedures, ensuring efficient resource management, configuration control, and auditability, all aligned with enterprise security policies.
• Provide Application Performance Monitoring, Evaluation, and Optimization: You will proactively conduct application performance monitoring, evaluation, and optimization. This involves utilizing specialized tools to track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as response times, resource utilization (CPU, memory, storage), and error rates. You will analyze performance data to identify bottlenecks, troubleshoot performance degradation, and implement solutions (e.g., configuration tuning, resource scaling, code optimization) to ensure the application runs at peak efficiency.
• Propose and Implement/Lead Job Automation: You will champion efficiency by proposing and then either implementing or leading job automation initiatives using scripts (e.g., Python, PowerShell) and other automation tools. This involves identifying repetitive manual tasks within application administration and operations, designing automated workflows, and implementing solutions that streamline processes, reduce human error, and free up resources for more strategic work.
• Implement Solutions to Meet or Improve Customer/Business Needs: You will be a solutions-oriented professional, responsible for implementing various solutions designed to meet or significantly improve specific customer or business needs. This could range from configuring new features within the application to developing custom integrations or workflows that enhance user experience and operational efficiency, directly addressing pain points or capitalizing on new opportunities.
• Research, Evaluate, and Guide 3rd Party Application Selection: You will engage in proactive research and evaluation of third-party applications, providing expert guidance in their selection. This involves assessing market offerings, conducting proof-of-concept evaluations, analyzing technical specifications and vendor capabilities, and making informed recommendations that align with the organization’s technology strategy and business requirements.
• Analyze, Configure, Document, Implement, and Support 3rd Party Applications: For selected third-party applications, you will take ownership of the full integration and support cycle. This includes analyzing their functionalities and integration points, configuring them to meet specific organizational needs, thoroughly documenting their setup and operation, implementing them into the enterprise environment, and providing ongoing support to users and other IT teams.
• Analyze Application Incidents to Identify Root Cause: You will systematically analyze application incidents to identify their root cause. This critical step involves dissecting problem symptoms, reviewing logs, tracing data flows, and conducting in-depth technical investigations to uncover the underlying issues contributing to application failures or performance problems.
• Work Closely with Vendor’s Product Support Team: Once a root cause is identified, you will work closely with the vendor’s product support team to implement solutions. This requires effective communication, clear articulation of technical issues, and persistent follow-up to ensure that vendor-provided patches, workarounds, or new releases effectively resolve the identified problems. You will act as the key liaison between internal teams and external support.
• Analyze Existing Processes for Improvement: You will continuously analyze existing processes related to application administration, support, and data management. Your goal will be to identify inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement, such as bottlenecks, redundant steps, or manual tasks that could be automated. You will then implement or direct the implementation of such process improvements, driving operational excellence.
• Establish Key Metrics, KPIs, and SLAs with Stakeholders: You will collaborate closely with various stakeholders to establish key metrics, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that are both measurable and sustainable. This involves defining what constitutes successful application performance and availability, setting realistic targets, and ensuring that monitoring and reporting capabilities are in place to track adherence to these agreed-upon standards.
• Ensure Successful Installation and Validation of Vendor Upgrades and Patches: You will be responsible for meticulously ensuring the successful installation and rigorous validation of vendor-provided upgrades and patches for your assigned applications. This includes planning maintenance windows, testing new versions in non-production environments, and executing the deployment to production, all while minimizing disruption and verifying full functionality post-upgrade.
• Monitor License Usage and Budgeting for Licensing Costs: You will proactively monitor license usage for your assigned applications and take a lead role in budgeting for licensing costs. This includes tracking current consumption, providing accurate metrics on anticipated needs during budget cycles, and submitting timely procurement requests when additional licenses are required to support growing user bases or expanded functionalities, ensuring cost-effectiveness and compliance.
• Process Change Requests for Application Configuration Modifications: You will manage and process change requests for modifications to the application configuration. This involves reviewing change proposals, assessing potential impacts, obtaining necessary approvals, and executing configuration changes in a controlled and documented manner, adhering to change management policies to maintain system stability.
• Maintain Application Roadmap and Set Priorities: You will actively maintain the application roadmap, which outlines planned features, upgrades, and strategic initiatives for your assigned applications. You will work closely with leadership to set priorities for development, enhancements, and operational improvements, ensuring that effort is focused on the most impactful initiatives that align with business goals.
• Provide Timely and Accurate Status Reporting: You will consistently provide timely and accurate status reporting on your assigned applications and ongoing projects. This includes regular updates to management and stakeholders, highlighting progress, current issues, risks, and forecasted completion dates, ensuring transparency and informed decision-making.
• Manage Projects for New Functionality/Workflows/Reporting: You will manage projects aimed at building new functionality, workflows, processes, and/or reporting capabilities within your assigned application(s). This full project management responsibility includes requirements gathering, overseeing configuration and development, coordinating testing, creating comprehensive user documentation, and conducting effective user training sessions to drive adoption.
• Develop and Maintain All User Documentation: You will be responsible for developing and meticulously maintaining all user documentation related to your assigned application(s). This includes creating clear and concise user guides, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and detailed policies and procedures that empower users to effectively utilize the applications and adhere to best practices.
• Drive User Adoption Through Training and Best Practices: You will actively drive user adoption of your assigned applications across the organization. This involves designing and delivering engaging user training programs, promoting best practices for application usage, and fostering a culture where users feel empowered and proficient in leveraging the tools to maximize their productivity and derive full value.
• Maintain Relationship with Vendor for Issues and Future Releases: You will cultivate and maintain a strong relationship with the vendor of your assigned application(s). This involves acting as the primary point of contact for resolving complex application issues and ensuring that the organization’s needs for new functionality are duly considered in future product releases and roadmap discussions, influencing vendor development.
• Support Commitment to Protect Integrity and Confidentiality of Systems and Data: You will steadfastly support the company’s unwavering commitment to protect the integrity and confidentiality of systems and data associated with your assigned applications. This includes adhering to strict security protocols, implementing access controls, and actively participating in efforts to safeguard sensitive information from unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure.

Minimum Qualifications: Your Foundation for Success

To excel as a Sr. Application Administrator focusing on a Machine Learning Platform, you will need a strong blend of academic background, significant professional experience, and specific technical proficiencies.

• Education and Experience: Education and experience typically obtained through completion of a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Communications, Computer Science, or a related field are highly desired. This academic foundation provides a strong understanding of relevant principles. You must possess 4+ years of demonstrated professional experience as an application administrator in an enterprise environment. This indicates a solid track record of managing complex applications within a large organizational setting.
• Experience with Data Domain Applications: You must have direct experience with applications in the data domain, such as Tableau (for data visualization and business intelligence), Business Objects (for reporting and analytics), or Infoburst (for report bursting and distribution). This background suggests familiarity with how data is consumed and presented to business users.
• Familiarity with Database Applications: You should possess strong familiarity with database applications like MSSQL (Microsoft SQL Server) for relational data management and Hadoop (or related technologies like Spark, Hive) for big data processing. This knowledge is crucial for understanding how applications interact with underlying data stores.
• Experience Deploying to Hosted Cloud Platforms: You must have practical experience in deploying applications to hosted cloud platforms such as AWS (Amazon Web Services). This includes understanding cloud deployment models, managing cloud resources, and ensuring application functionality in a cloud environment.
• Excellent Communication Skills: You will exhibit excellent oral and written communication skills. This is crucial for proficiently interacting with all levels of management and staff, translating complex technical issues into clear business impacts, and creating comprehensive documentation.
• General Knowledge of Office Productivity Tools: You should have a general knowledge or familiarity with standard office productivity tools such as Windows OS, the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), and Visio (for diagramming and process mapping).
• General Knowledge of Enterprise Applications: You should have a general knowledge or familiarity with enterprise applications such as or similar to JIRA (for project and issue tracking), Confluence (for team collaboration and documentation), ServiceNow (for IT service management), and Workday (for HR and finance management). This indicates an understanding of common enterprise systems and workflows.
• Demonstrated Experience Supporting Vendor-Provided Applications: You must have demonstrated experience supporting, as an administrator, vendor-provided applications. This highlights your ability to work with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software, manage vendor relationships for support and upgrades, and adapt to vendor-specific functionalities.
• Strong Coaching and Mentoring Capability: You must possess a strong capability to coach and mentor less experienced team members. This involves sharing your expertise, providing technical guidance, and fostering the professional development of colleagues, contributing to overall team growth.
• Self-Starter with Multiple Priorities Management: You will be a self-starter with the ability to manage multiple priorities effectively in a dynamic environment. This demonstrates initiative, excellent time management, and the capacity to independently prioritize tasks to meet deadlines and achieve objectives.
• Strong Attention to Detail and Accuracy: You will exhibit strong attention to detail and accuracy in all aspects of your work, from troubleshooting and configuration to documentation and reporting. This meticulousness is vital for maintaining application integrity and preventing errors.
• Background and Drug Screen: Successful completion of a background check and drug screen will be required for this position.

If this Sr. Application Administrator – Machine Learning Platform role in San Francisco, CA, aligns with your deep application administration expertise, experience with data domain applications and cloud platforms, and your passion for optimizing critical systems, we encourage you to learn more about this exciting contract opportunity. This is a chance to truly own and drive the success of vital enterprise applications within a leading organization.

To take the next step in your career and potentially make a significant impact on an Machine Learning platform, click “Apply Now.” A recruiter will be in touch with you promptly to discuss this great opportunity in detail, answer any questions you may have, and guide you through the application process. We look forward to connecting with you and exploring how your expertise can benefit our team!