BairdSystems.Com
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Christopher L. Baird

IT professional in Peoria, Illinois. Open to full-time IT roles, on site or remote.

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Summary

IT professional with 15+ years across end-user support, systems and server administration, identity and access management, cloud and virtualization, and enterprise application support in Fortune 500 manufacturing, utility, and enterprise environments. Experienced owning escalations and root-cause analysis, administering Active Directory and Entra ID, managing endpoint fleets and imaging, supporting Microsoft 365 and business-critical applications, and maintaining backup and disaster recovery. A consistent automator who scripts repetitive work out of existence, a clear communicator with technical and non-technical audiences, and an early adopter of AI tools for everyday productivity. B.S. and M.S. in Information Systems; CompTIA Security+ in progress.

Experience

Substitute Teacher — Technology

Peoria Public Schools District 150 — Sterling Middle School

Mar 2026 – May 2026

  • Instructed middle school technology coursework and supported classroom systems and student devices.

HR IT Analyst contract

Caterpillar

Oct 2025 – Mar 2026

  • Served as first point of contact and escalation resource for 1,000+ users across hardware, software, access, and application issues.
  • Administered Active Directory and Entra ID — provisioning, deprovisioning, security groups, SSO and MFA troubleshooting.
  • Supported Workday (HRIS) and Microsoft 365 including Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive.
  • Owned onboarding and offboarding end to end, handling 15-25 onboardings and offboardings a week.

Field Support Representative

HCL (Contracting at Caterpillar)

Jan 2025 – Oct 2025

  • Delivered deskside, break-fix, and IMACD support across 500+ Windows and macOS endpoints with 95%+ first-contact resolution.
  • Imaged, configured, and deployed workstations; managed devices through Intune and handled data migration.
  • Maintained hardware inventory, prepared loaner and spare devices, and coordinated warranty returns with vendors.

IT Specialist contract

Ameren Illinois

Nov 2023 – Apr 2024

  • Supported 300+ users across desktop, server, and cloud systems in a utility environment.
  • Managed device provisioning and patching.

MES Operations Analyst contract

Rivian

Mar 2023 – Nov 2023

  • Supported Manufacturing Execution Systems across 100+ plant-floor production stations, sustaining 99% uptime.
  • Served as primary contact between IT and Operations, troubleshooting production applications, servers, and connectivity.
  • Queried system databases with SQL to trace defects and validate production data.

Server Administrator contract

Caterpillar

Jun 2022 – Mar 2023

  • Built, configured, and maintained Windows servers and VMware/Hyper-V virtualization environments at 99.5% availability.
  • Deployed and maintained Azure Virtual Desktop environments; administered Azure and AWS cloud resources.
  • Managed Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, firewalls, and VPN; applied patching, hardening, and RBAC access controls.
  • Maintained backup strategies, performed restore drills, and supported disaster recovery planning.
  • Developed Python, PowerShell, and batch automation for routine administration and diagnostics.

Junior IT Analyst contract

John Deere

Dec 2021 – Jun 2022

  • Resolved escalated hardware, software, and connectivity issues via ServiceNow with a 90% resolution rate.
  • Managed user accounts and access and documented solutions for reuse across the team.
  • Built a reporting automation that replaced a manual Excel-file process, generating the reports used for troubleshooting and eliminating approximately 40 hours of manual work per month.

Field Support Technician contract

Caterpillar

Aug 2021 – Dec 2021

  • Provided on-site support, imaging, installation, and troubleshooting for hardware, software, and peripherals.

Level 2 Customer Care Advisor

Conduent

May 2016 – May 2018

  • Handled Tier 2 escalations in a high-volume 24/7 call center, recognized in the top 1% for customer service.
  • Documented all customer activity and resolutions in Salesforce while managing multi-line call queues.

Technical skills

Cloud & Virtualization
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD/WVD), VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, cloud performance & cost monitoring
Identity & Access Management
Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), Single Sign-On (SSO), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), user provisioning & deprovisioning, role-based access control (RBAC), security & distribution groups, Group Policy, password resets, account lifecycle across SaaS applications
Server & Infrastructure
Windows Server administration, physical & virtual server build and configuration, patching & updates, performance monitoring, high availability, backup & restore, disaster recovery planning and drills
Endpoint & Device Management
Microsoft Intune (MDM), system imaging & deployment, workstation configuration, device lifecycle, asset & inventory management, hardware diagnostics and repair, printers & peripherals, IMACD
Operating Systems
Windows 10/11, Windows Server, macOS; Linux command line (basic)
Microsoft 365
Exchange & Outlook, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint administration, OneDrive, Word, PowerPoint, advanced Excel including macros and VBA; licensing & account administration
Networking
TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VPN, LAN/WAN, Wi-Fi, firewall administration, connectivity troubleshooting, remote access & remote support tools
Databases & Reporting
SQL query development, Oracle, DB2; data validation and operational reporting
Programming & Scripting
Python, PowerShell, Java, SQL, batch scripting; process automation and workflow tooling
ITSM & Ticketing
ServiceNow, Salesforce (case & record management), incident and problem management, escalation and SLA management, knowledge base authoring, ITIL practices
Enterprise Applications
Workday (HRIS), Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), HR and business-critical application support, vendor coordination, software licensing compliance
Security
Endpoint security & hardening, patch management, vulnerability remediation support, encryption support, access controls, security-event triage & escalation, compliance awareness
AI & Productivity
Daily use of AI assistants for research, troubleshooting, documentation and workflow efficiency
Professional Skills
End-user training & onboarding, technical documentation & runbooks, mentoring junior staff, cross-functional collaboration, public speaking (Toastmasters)

Education

  • M.S., Information Systems — Illinois State University2020
  • B.S., Information Systems — Illinois State University2013

Certifications and licenses

  • CompTIA Security+ — in progress
  • Illinois Professional Educator License — CTE endorsement, Information Technology (grades 5–12), valid through 6/30/2030
  • Illinois Substitute Teaching License — valid through 6/30/2030
  • Valid Illinois driver's license; reliable transportation and insurance
  • Active member, Pimiteoui Toastmasters International

Updated September 2026. Phone and email are shared on request through the contact form.