For over 70 years, Walter Surface Technologies has been a world leader in surface treatment technologies, providing high-performance abrasives, tools, power tools, chemical solutions, safety solutions, and welding process solutions designed for the metalworking industry. Our philosophy is focused on helping customers work better by delivering the best technology, products, products, performance, safety, and durability to help increase productivity and profitability.
Job Summary
Walter Surface Technologies is looking for a hands-on Senior Systems Administrator & IT Support Team Lead to support the administration, reliability, security, and continuous improvement of our infrastructure, cloud platforms, end-user technology, and IT systems.
This is a senior technical role first. The person in this position will act as the primary Level 3 escalation point for the IT Support team and must be comfortable independently troubleshooting complex technical issues, administering enterprise platforms, implementing solutions, configuring and improving IT tools, automating repetitive work, and contributing directly to infrastructure and technology projects.
In addition to the technical scope, this role provides day-to-day operational leadership to the IT Support team. This includes coordinating priorities, managing escalations, monitoring service levels and ticket quality, coaching technicians, improving support processes, maintaining documentation standards, and ensuring a high-quality user experience.
This is not primarily a people-management or service-desk-management position. We are looking for a strong technical professional who can lead by example, raise the technical capability of the team, and take ownership when difficult problems need to be solved.
Responsibilities:
- Act as the primary Level 3 escalation point for complex infrastructure, cloud, networking, endpoint, identity, security, and end-user technology issues.
- Administer and improve Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Azure, Intune, Windows, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, Active Directory, and other core platforms.
- Troubleshoot root causes, identify recurring issues, and implement durable solutions rather than temporary workarounds.
- Configure, optimize, and improve tools for endpoint management, monitoring, patching, asset management, remote support, security, documentation, and IT operations.
- Automate repetitive tasks and improve operational efficiency using PowerShell, Microsoft Graph, Power Automate, and other practical tools.
- Support infrastructure and connectivity technologies, including LAN/WAN, SD-WAN, VPN, wireless, firewalls, backup, recovery, and monitoring.
- Support endpoint and identity security controls, including MFA, Conditional Access, endpoint protection, XDR, privileged access practices, and related standards.
- Participate directly in infrastructure projects, technology deployments, system upgrades, migrations, and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Work with vendors, consultants, and internal stakeholders when specialized expertise or project coordination is required.
- Maintain clear technical documentation, standards, support procedures, and knowledge articles so solutions can be reused across the team.
Team Leadership & Support Operations
- Coordinate day-to-day IT Support priorities, escalations, and follow-through.
- Monitor ticket quality, SLA adherence, backlog health, recurring incidents, and overall support effectiveness.
- Coach technicians through complex issues and help the team build stronger troubleshooting habits.
- Improve support processes, documentation practices, escalation paths, and service consistency.
- Lead by example in communication, ownership, judgment, and customer service for internal employees.
Skills & Abilities
- Strong experience with Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange Online.
- Experience with Entra ID / Azure AD, identity administration, MFA, and Conditional Access.
- Experience with Microsoft Intune, endpoint management, Windows administration, and device lifecycle management.
- Knowledge of Microsoft Azure administration and cloud infrastructure fundamentals.
- Experience with Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, and hybrid identity environments.
- Strong PowerShell scripting skills and experience with automation, Microsoft Graph, or similar tools.
- Knowledge of networking, firewalls, LAN/WAN, SD-WAN, VPN, wireless, and connectivity troubleshooting.
- Experience with endpoint security, XDR, vulnerability remediation, patching, backup, and recovery.
- Familiarity with ITSM platforms, ticket quality, SLA monitoring, asset management, and documentation practices.
- Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, with the ability to connect technical issues to business impact.
- Excellent communication skills and the ability to work effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Bilingualism in English and French is required due to regular interaction with local and international stakeholders.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-moving environment.
- High level of initiative, sound judgment, ownership, and continuous-improvement mindset.
Education & Experience
- Degree or diploma in information technology, computer science, systems administration, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in systems administration, infrastructure, cloud, endpoint management, IT support escalation, or a similar technical role.
- Experience acting as a senior technical escalation point or Level 3 support resource.
- Experience coaching, mentoring, or providing day-to-day guidance to IT support technicians is an asset.
- Relevant certifications such as Microsoft, Azure, Intune, networking, security, or ITIL are considered assets.
How We Work
We are a lean IT team supporting a distributed organization, so this role requires someone who can move comfortably between urgent technical troubleshooting, team coordination, and longer-term improvements to the environment.
You should naturally ask: Why are we doing this manually? Can we automate this? How can we detect this before a user reports it? How do we prevent this from happening again?
We value people who take ownership, investigate before escalating, understand the business impact behind technical issues, and treat internal employees as customers.
The Person We Want
You are someone who:
- Enjoys solving difficult technical problems.
- Stays calm and structured when issues are complex or unclear.
- Looks for automation, better tools, cleaner processes, and permanent fixes.
- Can coach technicians without turning the role into a purely managerial function.
- Communicates clearly with technical and non-technical people.
- Can balance support urgency, infrastructure reliability, project work, and team coordination.
- Takes pride in leaving systems, documentation, and support practices better than you found them.
What This Role Is Not
This is not a traditional service desk management role focused mainly on people administration, reporting, or queue management. It is also not a narrow systems administration role limited to one platform or technology area.
This role is for someone who can be given a problem or outcome, take ownership, involve the right people when needed, and figure out the best way to get there.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Company events
- Company pension
- Dental care
- Disability insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Extended health care
- Flexible schedule
- Life insurance
- On-site gym
- On-site parking
- Paid time off
- RRSP match
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision care
- Wellness program
- Work from home
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Pointe-Claire, QC
