Position Overview
The Middleware Services Lead oversees middleware and web‑services platforms that host critical applications, ensuring they are installed, configured, secured, and maintained for reliable service delivery. The role manages application servers, web servers, and related components across heterogeneous operating systems, coordinating closely with development and infrastructure teams.
The lead implements standards for deployment, troubleshooting, SSL and certificate management, and performance tuning for middleware solutions. Mapped to the Data Warehouse Architect standard job, this position also contributes to broader integration and data‑flow considerations, helping ensure middleware tiers support analytics, data movement, and downstream applications in a highly regulated environment.
Key Responsibilities
- Administer middleware and web‑services platforms such as IIS, Apache, Tomcat, and similar technologies across Windows and Linux environments, ensuring stability and adherence to standards.
- Implement deployment, configuration, and patching procedures for middleware components that support enterprise applications, including coordination with release and change‑management processes.
- Manage SSL certificates, web security settings, and hardening guidelines for web and application servers, working with security teams to address vulnerabilities and compliance requirements.
- Troubleshoot complex middleware issues involving connectivity, performance, and integration with databases, identity services, and external systems, performing root‑cause analysis and remediation.
- Maintain authoritative inventories of web and middleware services, document architectures and operational procedures, and support web analytics and accessibility efforts where applicable.
- Monitor capacity and performance for middleware tiers, analyze trends, and recommend tuning, scaling, or architectural enhancements.
- Evaluate new middleware and web‑services technologies, contribute to cost and impact analysis, and guide adoption into existing environments as appropriate.
- Provide technical leadership and mentoring to team members supporting web and middleware platforms, promoting consistent practices and knowledge sharing.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
- 12+ years of experience in technical IT roles with significant hands‑on work administering and maintaining web and middleware platforms in complex environments.
- Demonstrated ability to configure, operate, and troubleshoot web servers and application servers (for example, Microsoft IIS, Apache HTTP Server, Apache Tomcat, Oracle HTTP Server) on Windows and Unix/Linux platforms.
- Strong skills in web security and SSL certificate management, including implementing secure configurations and resolving certificate‑related issues.
- Proficiency in diagnosing performance and connectivity problems across web, middleware, and database layers, with a track record of implementing durable fixes.
- Excellent communication and documentation skills, including the ability to produce clear procedures, diagrams, and inventories and to collaborate with developers, architects, and operations teams.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust investigation and to work in a U.S.‑only federal IT context, with U.S. citizenship as specified.
Preferred Qualifications
- Formal training or certification in a major middleware stack (such as Microsoft, Red Hat, or Oracle) or related web‑platform technologies.
- Experience designing highly available web‑tier architectures and load‑balancing strategies that support large‑scale or mission‑critical applications.
- Background with lifecycle management of web services, including analytics, accessibility and 508 considerations, and structured decommissioning.
- Familiarity with data‑warehouse or analytics architectures and how middleware tiers support data movement, APIs, and reporting solutions.