IT System Administrator, Remote help with small IT Consulting Firm

I'm looking for someone with daytime availability to assist me with my IT client's needs. An ideal candidate might be someone who works full time in IT currently but has extreme flexibility in scheduling which would allow them to help with my clients during the day, or someone who just started their own MSP and is looking to fill in some gaps. If you decide to apply, I may choose to reach out to you via Upwork chat. If you don't respond fairly quickly then I likely will move on. Your quick response through Upwork chat shows me a glimpse of your ability to communicate timely. You'll do tasks from password resets to firewall config to virtual management to Windows server management to desktop support to Office 365 migrations and support and various other tasks. GPO, Acronis backups, Watchguard firewalls, Unifi wifi and switches, Active Directory, DNS/DHCP, Azure AD to name a few. We support many clients across our state and need some help handling the needs. Hours will vary each week and are not guaranteed but the right person can start today and will have daytime availability THROUGHOUT THE DAY, EACH DAY. Dependability, Customer service and communication are top priorities. It's essential to this job. You'll be responsible for seeing an issue through all the way to the end with minimal interaction from me. If you fit this criterion please apply and we'll chat. Hours can be up to 10 per week and average about 5 per week, sometimes less. You will have to work some evenings, on your schedule, to perform updates, installs, troubleshoot, etc. We will communicate every day of the workweek. You must have availability during the daytime every day. If you work a full-time job and you're just looking for work in the evenings then this isn't the position for you. You must have the desire and ability to reach out directly to clients as needed and work through issues with them. Sometimes I'll give you minimal information and you'll need to be resourceful and figure it out. You will have the tools you need like a phone app, remote connection tools, passwords etc. You will be required to keep in communication with me and with the client. You will be required to sign a non-compete and a contractor agreement. You will need to keep up with your time entries in our RMM tool as you're working on tickets- this means time entries each day. Adding your time entries at the end of each billing cycle isn't acceptable. Documentation is very important. If this is something you struggle with and don't think you can keep up with it then please don't apply. I have a single, level one employee who handles most of the desktop support and the on-site support. You will need to be there to assist him with more complex Windows, networking and server-related tasks or to help in times when his workload gets too high. Ideally, you'd be located East Coast or Central time zone. Skills needed: - Communication skills above all else - Dependability - Customer service/ friendliness - Windows Server management including AD, DHCP, DNS and others - Firewall management including Watchguard and Sonicwall - Network management - Other tech skills as needed - Virtual machine management including VMware and Hyper-V - Veeam - Ability to discover information on your own without much guidance - Ability to take and keep notes on your own - Ability to contact clients on your own, follow through with issues until they are completed - Daytime availability to answer calls and resolve support tickets - Work some evenings to install updates and other projects that can't happen during the work day - You're OK with communicating with me via text, phone and email every work day so I can give you task details and get updates from you. PAY: I can only pay about $35 per hour. So if your posted rate on Upwork is higher than that please send me a proposal around that number. Otherwise I likely won't consider you as I don't want to waste your time. I can only afford that number. Contract to hire opportunity: Our company is on path to grow enough that I'll need another full time resource soon. While contract to hire isn't a requirement, it could be an option to discuss if it makes sense for both parties.