Howard County Government

Compensation

Full Description

Howard County Conveniently located in the heart of central Maryland between Baltimore and Washington, Howard County offers the charm of a historic past mixed with the excitement of a cosmopolitan community. Howard County Government Howard County Government is a leader in innovation, sustainability, and consistently ranked as one of the best places to live and work in the country. In 2025, Howard County Government received a record-breaking 83 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) – the most in the state of Maryland. NACo is the leading organization representing county-level government operations. These awards recognize innovative and transformative programs that provide new services for county residents, improve existing programs, upgrade working conditions, and enhance citizen participation and public policymaking. What are we looking for? We are looking for outstanding individuals to join our team and contribute to excellence in Howard County operations. What you'll like most about working at Howard County Government: We are committed to workplace excellence in every area of County government. • We have a highly talented, diverse, and inclusive workplace. Your input will not only be heard, but it will be encouraged! • We offer competitive compensation and great benefits including medical, retirement, and wellness programs. • As a member of the Howard County Government team, you'll be helping drive our culture and directly impact what makes us an amazing place to work. POSITION SUMMARY: PC/ Desktop support position responsible for configuration and support of computer hardware and software. Serves as the liaison for technology related issues. Works as a Service Desk Technician to provide first and second tier application support for applications used by the county employees. Prior experience supporting Cloud applications and on-premises managed applications. Understanding of Service Desk functions specific to handling IT related issues and the ability to troubleshoot issues. Experience with Incident, Change and Problem management. Microsoft AD, Exchange and Windows 10 using best practice to troubleshoot and resolve issues. Familiarity with desktop and network security including ability to monitor and resolve issues, as well as producing reports using database reporting tools. Starting Salary Hiring Range $32.49 - $36.61 $67,579 - $76,149 Class Description Performs intermediate professional level technology and communication services work under general supervision from an administrative or technical superior. Work includes administering data bases and developing data processing systems and computer programs for user departments; providing intermediate level computer programming, software maintenance and systems design; and writing, updating or revising, and documenting programs. Work also includes interacting with user department personnel; software vendors developing systems performance specifications; and estimating resource requirements based on functional specifications. Include The Following. Other Related Duties May Be Assigned • Provide installation, and maintenance of network node desktop platforms. • Requires familiarity with major off the shelf application products ( Windows 10 OS and above, MS Office 365 Suite,) • Perform Active Directory Administration: Create New user accounts , Create distribution/Email and Security groups • Conduct problem analysis, resolution and tracking of user problems including follow through escalation procedures. • Basic understanding of AD administration. (Proficiency with setting up accounts, assigning rights) is preferred. • Participate in weekly Operations meeting. • Perform remote troubleshooting through diagnostic techniques and pertinent questions. • Determine the best solution based on the issue and details provided by customers. • Walk the customer through the problem-solving process. • Direct unresolved issues to the next level of support personnel. • Provide accurate information on IT products or services to clients. Record events and problems and their resolution in logs. • Follow-up and update customer status and information. • Pass on any feedback or suggestions by customers to the appropriate internal team. Identify and suggest possible improvements on procedures. • Assist in training users and documenting procedures. • Perform administrative functions: Fileserver outage tracking, Asset tracking. • Communicates and coordinates network schedule, backups, and downtime to users. • Prepares and maintains documentation of network configurations and cabling layouts. • Provide single point of contact for client's PC/LAN desktop needs, coordinate with other support groups, perform project management. • Perform limited administrative functions: Office 365 Administration and Asset tracking. • Communicates and coordinates network schedule, backups, and downtime to users. • Prepares and maintains documentation of network configurations and cabling layouts. • Evaluates local area network hardware and software requirements and capabilities and makes recommendations. • Coordinates installation of hardware and software by others. • Provide single point of contact for client's PC/LAN desktop needs, coordinate with other support groups, perform project management. • Evaluates local area network hardware and software requirements and capabilities and makes recommendations. • Coordinates installation of hardware and software by others. • Desktop support and general configuration of software. • Network support and general configuration. • Create new employee accounts, update group memberships, edit email distribution groups and assign and edit users in the appropriate organizational unit (OU). • Provide clients with desktop support and general PC maintenance. Ensure that all internal IT Service Desk requests are actioned. SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: There are no supervisory responsibilities associated with this position.Bachelor's Degree and one (1) year of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Preferred Education, Knowledge, Skills And Abilities • Bachelor's Degree from a four (4) year accredited college or university with a degree in Computer Science or Information Systems. • Technical experience to a team of IT Engineers and support analysts. • Excellent oral/written communication and listening skills; Exceptional interpersonal skills including teamwork, facilitation, and consensus building. • Experience with Desktop and Application Virtualization technologies such as VMWare Workstation, View and VMware ThinApp or other similar tools and technologies. • Experience with Desktop Imaging, User Personalization, software architecture and network design principles. • Knowledge of Microsoft Operating Systems including Windows 10 and above Windows Server 2017 and working knowledge of Windows applications. • Microsoft MCP certification, MSCE, Desktop Support Technician, CompTIA A+, MTA AND ITIL. Physical Demands And Work Environment The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to sit and use hands to handle. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Language Skills, Mathematical Skills And Reasoning Ability The ability to communication effectively with the most sensitive and non-technical computer user. Ability to establish a rapport with employees, interpret their questions and respond in a manner to help them gain the understanding and the ability to use the software. The ability to write effective training materials in a timely manner to meet needs as they arise. Ability to apply basic math and algebra. Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid logical conclusions. Ability to read computer software technical manuals and develop this information into training materials for the non-technical users.Microsoft MCP certification, MSCE, Desktop Support Technician, CompTIA A+, MTA AND ITIL