Systems Engineer I
Impact Networking · Lake Forest, IL
$75,000–$90,000from the description
Jul 21, 2026
Lake Forest, IL
Jul 23, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
An entry-level systems engineering role within a managed services provider's technical operations center, handling incidents, service requests, and change management across server, workstation, cloud, backup, and application environments. The position involves monitoring infrastructure, troubleshooting issues using documented procedures, and coordinating with customers, internal teams, and vendors. It suits someone with a couple of years of IT support or systems administration experience who is still building expertise across technologies like Windows Server, VMware, Azure, and Microsoft 365.
Junior level · 2+ years · Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI · Full-time
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 15 people in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (network and computer systems administrators). range 4–20
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $105,439 (middle half $84,570–$132,981). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
The posting does not specify a city; Impact Networking is headquartered in Lake Forest, IL (Chicago metro area), and the role is tagged #LI-Onsite, so the Chicago CBSA is used as the best available location.
The 'TOC Systems Engineer I' title and the 2-year minimum experience requirement both point to a Junior/entry-level band; the role is explicitly described as 'designed for an engineer developing technical expertise.'
Windows Server, VMware/ESXi, Active Directory, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Datto (backup/DR) are listed under 'Working knowledge or exposure to' in the qualifications block — this is a required-qualifications section, so they are treated as hard gates despite the softer 'working knowledge' framing.
HaloPSA is listed as 'preferred' and N-able RMM as 'a plus' in the qualifications section — both are marked preferred accordingly.
ITIL and service management familiarity is explicitly called 'a plus' and is marked preferred.
Certifications (CompTIA A+, Network+, Server+, Security+, and Microsoft certs) are listed under 'Desirable education or certifications' — all marked preferred.
A Bachelor's degree is listed as 'preferred' with equivalent work experience accepted, so the degree requirement is set to None.
The role is classified as 15-1244 (Network and Computer Systems Administrators) because the primary day-to-day work is operating and maintaining customer infrastructure (monitoring, incident response, server/workstation/backup administration) within a managed services provider, rather than building or shipping software. 15-1211 is noted as a runner-up given the systems-analyst and ITSM process elements.
Read the full posting
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