Senior IT System Administrator

Location: South Kensington (hybrid) 

Job Summary

The Data Science Institute (DSI) maintains several critical services as part of the research infrastructure available to staff.

The DSI Cloud is a 100+ servers’ OpenStack infrastructure available for various research projects. This infrastructure comprises the bulk of tasks for the candidate and will require to be able to work in autonomy at our remote Slough location periodically (~ once a month, with paid expenses). The setup is spread across equipment in our remote data centre and also on campus in South Kensington.

You will be expected to support the maintenance of the DSI Cloud, working closely with the System and Infrastructure Operation Manager and the DO Team to ensure the smooth operation and running of the DSI infrastructure. This position will require regular interaction with hardware equipment, OS management and scripting for task automation.

The ideal candidate would have experience in understanding both the software and hardware aspect of managing and running a small-size private cloud.

Duties and responsibilities

On a day-to-day basis you be expected to:

• Plan and oversee the technical running of the DSI Cloud.
• Allocate resources and provide technical support for students and staff to ensure that the research deadlines are met when using the DSI Cloud.
• Set and monitor technical standards on the DSI equipment, including OS and hardware updates.
• Configure and maintain the Ubuntu and Windows Server installations in DSI Cloud.
• Configuration and monitoring of in-house OpenStack installation.
• Ensure accurate completion of documentation, records and reports as appropriate.
• Show of initiative to solve problems at a moment’s notice particularly important due to the volume of visitors (external and internal) to the DO.
• Contribute to the development of new service health check infrastructure on the cloud
• Prioritise maintenance tasks and ensure working conditions on all equipment.
• Manage any required service or repairs including involving in the procurement aspect of the work.
• Communicate and liaise with the central ICT department on any infrastructure update projects or ongoing college wide incidents.

Essential requirements

• BSc in Engineering, Computer Science or related discipline
• OpenStack Cloud administration
• Light-weight administration of Windows Server Forest
• Deployment and commissioning of datacentre hardware
• OpenStack Services and architecture
• Ubuntu-based operating system management
• Excellent understanding of IT security practices
• Docker and LXD containerisation
• Network Equipment Management (Huawei CE Switch/FS/Cisco Stacks)
• Ceph Storage Management

Further Information

Full details of this role can be found in the Job Description.

This is a 1 year fixed contract with a possibility of extension.

Should you require any further details on the role please contact: Arek Ciechacki – a.ciechacki@imeprial.ac.uk

The College is currently trialling a Work Location Framework until early 2023.  Hybrid working may be considered for this role and the role holder may be expected to work 60% or more of their time onsite, with 40% the minimum time spent onsite.  The opportunity for hybrid working will be discussed at interview.

Imperial College is committed to equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination and to creating an inclusive working environment. We are an Athena SWAN Silver award winner, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Disability Confident Employer and work in partnership with GIRES to promote respect for trans people.

Closing date: 14/05/2024

To apply, visit www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs and search by the job reference ENG02553.

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