Systems Administrator Lead

For more than 35 years, Bardel Entertainment has led the animation industry through unwavering commitment to quality, creativity, and innovation. We are an internationally recognized, Emmy Award-winning studio – in two prominent Canadian cities, Vancouver and Montreal – and the creative force behind top audience hits such as The Dragon Prince, Rick and Morty, Teen Titans Go, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. 

The Systems Administrator Lead is a senior, hands-on technical role responsible for the design, implementation, and operation of core infrastructure services across systems, security, firewalls, storage, backup, and container platforms. This role supports both on-premises and cloud environments and plays a critical part in maintaining reliable, secure, and scalable infrastructure for an Animation and VFX production environment.

This position emphasizes technical leadership and ownership rather than formal people management. While prior people management experience is beneficial, it is not required. The successful candidate will lead through technical expertise, operational excellence, and collaboration.

Requirements

Systems & Infrastructure

· Design, deploy, and maintain Linux and Windows Server environments in production settings

· Ensure high availability, performance, and reliability of infrastructure supporting production pipelines

· Act as a senior escalation point for complex systems issues and outages

· Contribute to infrastructure planning, lifecycle management, and modernization initiatives

Security & Firewall Management

· Design, manage, and maintain firewall and network security configurations

· Implement and enforce security best practices, access controls, and segmentation

· Partner with security stakeholders to support compliance, auditing, and client security requirements

· Identify and remediate infrastructure security risks

Storage, Backup & Data Protection

· Design and operate enterprise storage solutions (on-prem and cloud-based)

· Own backup, disaster recovery, and restore processes

· Ensure data integrity, availability, and performance for production workloads

· Regularly validate backup and recovery procedures

Kubernetes & Containerization

· Design, deploy, and operate Kubernetes clusters in on-prem and cloud environments

· Support and maintain containerized services used by pipeline, infrastructure, and internal platforms

· Implement best practices for container security, networking, scaling, and monitoring

· Collaborating with Pipeline and Development teams to optimize container-based workflows

Leadership & Collaboration

· Serve as a technical lead and subject matter expert for systems and infrastructure

· Establish standards, documentation, and operational procedures

· Mentor and support other Systems Administrators

· Collaborate cross-functionally with Pipeline, Security, and Production teams

· Minimum 5 years of experience in an Animation or VFX Studio environment

· Strong hands-on experience with:

o Linux systems administration

o Windows Server administration

o Enterprise storage and backup solutions

o Firewall and network security management

· Practical experience operating Kubernetes and containerized environments

· Experience supporting hybrid infrastructure (on-prem and cloud)

· Strong troubleshooting, documentation, and operational skills

· Ability to manage multiple priorities in a production-driven environment

· Previous experience acting as a technical lead or mentor

· People management experience (beneficial but not required)

· Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)

· Infrastructure as Code and automation tools (e.g., Terraform, Ansible)

· Experience supporting secure content environments and client delivery requirements

Role Scope Alignment (Salary Band Context)

· Senior hands-on contributor with architectural influence

· Limited formal management responsibility

· Expected to own systems and services rather than large teams

· Balance of operational support and forward-looking improvements

Benefits

Pay Range: CAD $100,000 - $130,000 per year  

This salary range provided reflects our current expectations for these roles as of this posting's date. Your final salary offer will consider various key factors, including your education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographical location, as well as the needs and requirements of the business. 

Flexible work environment, Extended Health and Wellness from day 1, RRSP matching are just some of the benefits. For more details, check out our website. 

If this seems like a good fit, what are you waiting for, get your application in