Linux System Administrator

Location; Oxfordshire

Salary; £35k - £40k + Benefits

The post holders’ primary role is to manage part of the core server infrastructure for research projects. It is expected that you will be the lead role in key areas of your work both within the Department. Reporting into the Research Support Manager you will, however, keep an oversight of IT needs and support within the Information Engineering group, ensuring needs are appropriately met. You will need strong knowledge and experience of Linux Server System Administration - installation, configuration, and ongoing support of server systems as well as the ability to ensure adequate security measures are in place.

Responsibilities/duties

Infrastructure

• Act as a primary System Administrator, responsible for the delivery of innovative, resilient, and coordinated service across all of our sites

• Take responsibility for the architecture, deployment, maintenance and support of these technologies, including on-going development and identifying opportunities for improvements in line with business priorities

• Maintain service continuity so as to meet the needs of the Department

• Design and Implement appropriate disaster recovery solutions to protect Departmental services and data.

• Work closely with other System Administrators within the department to contribute to the strategic IT plan

Business Analysis and Development

• Identify areas of process improvement and act upon them to enhance IT service provision within the Department

• Provide the organisation with end-to-end solutions that reduce total cost of ownership, are more efficient than their predecessors wherever possible and deliver scalable, robust systems

• Create opportunities to standardise systems and processes so that they are easily supported by the IT team and more readily understood by customers

• Actively engage with University bodies such as central IT Services, the ICT Forum and units with similar technologies or concerns

• Undertake regular review of procedures, processes and systems and look for ways to support existing business requirements and plan for those emerging.

• Communicate effectively at all levels of the Department in order to understand the organisation and create Information Systems that reflect its priorities and aspirations.

Information Engineering Support

• Take ownership of the existing systems and ensure that the functions and services that they provide are maintained or migrated to a more central equivalent.

• Take an active role in strategic planning for compute in the department!

General Support

• Assist in the development and associated mentoring of other IT colleagues Provide 1st/2nd/3rd line support for user’s issues

• Present a pleasant, helpful and professional demeanour when dealing with customers

• Embed creation of documentation for IT and customer use into daily working practice

• Troubleshoot complex issues in a methodical manner and act as senior support for complex issues arising across the department

Other

• Keep abreast of relevant developments within the Department, the wider University and relevant technologies.

• Engage in relevant self-improvement, Department’s PDR process, and attend courses, including training, as required.

• Undertake any other duties commensurate with the grade of the post
  

Essential

• Demonstrable skills with Linux system administration (ideally Debian and Ubuntu) including NFS, SSH and disk partitioning and logical volume configuration

• Knowledge and experience of supporting authentication systems such as NIS or LDAP

• Knowledge and experience of supporting email servers (SMTP, IMAP, Dovecot, postfix etc.)

• Knowledge and experience of configuring and installing Wiki and Web (Apache)

• Competency in scripting and/or programming (Perl, Python and Bash would be most useful).

• Demonstrable skills with supporting and maintaining server virtualisation platforms such as Hyper-V, VMware or equivalent

• Suitable experience in a post with similar responsibilities and a service-focused ethos.

• Excellent troubleshooting skills.

• Excellent communication skills, both written and spoken, including the ability to communicate technical issues in an accessible and supportive way.

• Proven success in organising a busy and varied workload requiring the demonstration of self-motivation and excellent time-management skills, as well as the ability to adapt to changing priorities.

If you are interested in this vacancy and believe you have the necessary skills and experience to be successful, please send your CV to alex@planetrecruitment.co.uk or call 01865 257 455