Lead SOC Analyst

Together we make breakthroughs possible.

At OCLC, we build technology with a purpose: to connect libraries and make knowledge accessible worldwide, because we believe that what is known must be shared. Our teams work with complex global datasets, AI and machine learning, hybrid cloud solutions, and other technologies that connect people and organizations to the information they need. We value the power of unique perspectives and experiences to unlock innovation. At OCLC, your ideas matter, whether you have two years of experience or 20. You'll learn, create, and problem-solve with technologists, product developers, librarians, researchers, marketing pros, and support teams around the world.

Why join OCLC?

OCLC is consistently recognized as a best place to work by several independent programs. We recognize and reward people and results with a comprehensive Total Rewards package. This means competitive compensation that reflects your unique contributions-performance, experience, and skills-along with exceptional benefits, including best-in-class health coverage, retirement plans with generous company contributions, and a commitment to your overall well-being.

We know the best ideas don't always happen at a desk. Take a walking meeting around our 100-acre campus or enjoy lunch on the patio. We're committed to your success-both personally and professionally. Hybrid work environment: For many roles, three days a week on-site, with occasional additional days based on business needs.

Free use of our on-site fitness center, gym sports, group exercise classes, and game room

Onsite catering and cafeteria subsidized by OCLC

Health and wellness events

Work environments with individual and team spaces and the latest technology tools

Paid parental leave and adoption assistance

Tuition reimbursement and Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility

Company-subsidized pricing on local tickets and memberships Join us in transforming how people everywhere access information and be part of a mission-driven team that makes a global impact.

The job details are as follows:

The major purpose of the Service Operations Center (SOC) Lead Analyst at OCLC is to monitor and control the member facing online services that OCLC provide for its customer's use, and provide leadership and mentorship at a tactical level for their peers. In addition, the SOC is charged with monitoring and controlling the internal systems and services that OCLC provides for employee use. The expected service delivery outcome of this monitoring and controlling activity is the assurance that all services are functioning as expected to deliver business value, and that when they are not functioning as expected, issues are quickly identified and re mediated.

In support of this outcome the SOC operates 24x365 to provide coverage across time zones and geographic regions. The SOC is always on duty. Members of the team are expected to occasionally assist with shift coverage outside their normal schedule in support of project and business needs.

Members of the SOC team are expected to have the operational skills, the technical knowledge, and the supporting professional competencies to effectively work with other OCLC staff members and with external customers. Members of the SOC must be able to collaborate effectively under stress and they must also possess very good verbal and written communications skills. Cross team collaboration occurs as needed, to ensure the availability and quality of systems and services OCLC provides. The OCLC product set changes rapidly in response to customer demand, so does technology generally. Members of the SOC must constantly be able to reinvent themselves and learn new things that are applicable to the core SOC business function.

Core SOC functions align with the following Information Technology themes:

Monitoring

Communication

Issue Resolution

Incident Management

Execution of change activities

Continuous improvement Because what is known must be shared:

We will know the health of OCLC services at all times and we will share that information with whomever needs it to support business objectives

We will identify and manage any crisis that needs attention today but we will always remember to pursue a better tomorrow

We will do this by developing the people, tools, and teams that support the OCLC mission through collaboration with all stakeholders

We will change without fear as often as needed to achieve company goals

Monitoring:

The SOC is responsible for front line, real time, 24x365 monitoring and functional service verification as part of a shift team. This work is accomplished by SOC Analysts using a variety of OCLC provided tools and manual processes that give visibility into the health of services, business continuity processes, physical security, systems, scheduled batch job flows, and supporting technology infrastructure.

A Lead Analyst must possess broad competency in all of the tools, systems, and processes that used to perform their monitoring duties. They should have advanced understanding of how OCLC monitoring relates to our products and user experience. They are expected to be able to investigate incoming events as required to determine if they are actionable without supervision, and delegate investigation to other analysts while monitoring broader system health.

A Lead Analyst is expected to possess the judgement to use information gathered from these systems to determine if an event requires additional action and/or escalation beyond what is prescribed by existing process and instructions.

Communication:

Using business appropriate written and verbal tools, and professional content, the SOC Lead Analyst is expected to effectively collaborate with other employees from diverse backgrounds and experiences to achieve desired business outcomes. Communication with peers, customers, and partners will occur using a variety of OCLC provided voice and data tools. Lead Analysts are expected to be able to demonstrate proficiency with those tools.

Lead Analysts may further be called upon to communicate with external customers, or executive audiences in business friendly manner regarding the status of system issues. They will also be expected to autonomously attend and/or facilitate meetings to further projects, OCLC processes, or as otherwise required while keeping the SOC Organization updated to the information discussed, and any deliverables required.

Issue resolution:

Ability to perform effective issue analysis and remediation are a critical components of this position. The Lead Analyst is expected to react to incoming incidents by troubleshooting and prioritizing the issues based on business impact. The Lead Analyst will as necessary delegate workload at a tactical level as appropriate to the experience of his peers. It is also expected that the person in this role will assist and mentor less experienced members of the team as needed to resolve issues.

Occasionally a Lead Analyst will interact with OCLC members in response to an inbound request for support and assistance. Lead Analysts are expected to accurately document these requests. When unable to resolve an event after troubleshooting and understanding it, the Lead Analyst engages other resources as needed to restore normal service and system operation.

A Lead Analyst is expected to be able to independently define and investigate issues and interact with OCLC Systems using defined processes and tools to remedy the incident. It is also necessary to be able to escalate to external groups when SOC remediation efforts cannot mitigate the issue, and will be expected to further drive the issue if it is customer impacting after escalation. A Lead Analyst is expected to possess the judgement to use information from incidents to determine if additional action and/or escalation beyond what is prescribed by existing process and instructions is necessary.

Incident management:

SOC Analysts are responsible for creating and updating incident tickets in OCLC provided incident tracking systems as needed. Analysts may also interact with OCLC provided problem and change systems in the course of their activities.

Lead Analysts are expected to understand the function, purpose, and normal operation of these systems. Incident tickets will contain sufficient detail, in business and technical terms, to allow other users from other team to make informed choices and so they can take actions fully cognizant of the service delivery risks involved. Priority is assigned using standard OCLC ITSM definitions.

Lead Analysts at this grade should be prepared to assume the role of Incident Manager as necessary for the OCLC Incident Management process.

Execution of change activity:

SOC Analysts at this grade support ongoing change execution to deliver features and functions for the OCLC product base. Analysts use OCLC provided problem and change tools to complete this work.

At this grade SOC Analysts will independently execute all forms of job requests (batch requests) in workflow tools, complete change tasks in change requests, and any other form of change activity as required to support ongoing business operations.

Lead Analysts are expected to be able to demonstrate expertise with all OCLC change, problem, and request management tools and processes. They will be expected to delegate individual change activities at a tactical level based upon the experience of their peers. In addition, they are expected to guide and mentor other members of the SOC team as needed.

Continuous improvement -

Lead Analysts are responsible for personal development in order to expand their professional capabilities and bring benefit to OCLC. It is expected that Lead Analysts will participate in training on OCLC processes, products, and services as outlined in development plans built collaboratively with their managers. In addition, Lead Analysts are expected to stay abreast of technology changes that are relevant to their role using resources available through OCLC. When OCLC sends Lead Analysts to sponsored training events Analysts are expected to be professional and engaged in learning the content being presented.

Lead Analysts are expected to be able to demonstrate expertise using OCLC provided knowledge management tools and training resources. Analysts are also expected to give constructive and actionable feedback regarding processes and tools, proactively and when asked, to help improve service delivery in support of the OCLC mission. Lead Analysts will be asked to turn this feedback into actionable plans and deliverables for the organization. Lead Analysts will also drive improvement projects in coordination with the SOC Management Team.

Lead Analysts will proactively seek out and facilitate learning opportunities for his peers in all OCLC technologies, processes, and desired business skills. Lead Analysts will be expected to serve as a mentor to less experienced or new SOC Analysts.

Limited travel between metro data centers or to local training events may be required

Position requires a High School diploma and experience in an information technology role, ideally supporting distributed systems at scale data center environment

Associates Degree in Computer Science or an equivalent technical area, certification and 3+ years equivalent IT Operations experience is required

Additional documented IT Operations experience can be accepted in lieu of formal credentials

Degree in Computer Science

Certification in web services, telecommunications, Linux or databases

ITIL training and certification

Must have the ability to understand and interpret technical information in order to take action

Must be able and willing to share relevant knowledge with others

Experience supporting or using OCLC products and services

Technical, analytical, experience and communication skills to perform incident management on complex distributed systems and services

Including the skills and abilities to perform said analysis and remediation independently

Formal major incident management experience and training

Must be able to effectively communication with developers, database administrators, application support staff and business stakeholders

Must demonstrate very good verbal and written language communications skills

Demonstrable experience mentoring less experienced peers

Verbal and written skills in multiple languages

Working Conditions: Normal office environment.

ADA/EAA: The above statements cover what are generally believed to be the principal and essential functions of this job. Specific circumstances may allow or require some people assigned to the job to perform a somewhat different combination of duties.