Technical Specialist - Support Engineer

The role

The post holder’s main responsibilities are focused on the administering, maintaining and securing the Joint Open Infrastructure for Network Research (JOINER) platform which underpin the wide range of research activities across 15 JOINER nodes within the UK and 1 node in Ireland (will be extended both nationally and internationally in the future). You will provide technical support to an active and diverse user community and advise on efficient and best practices. You will be involved with monitoring & analysing the how these systems are used and in delivering enhancements to improve the effectiveness of the services and the user experience. Support extending the platform and new user onboarding.

What will you be doing?

You will monitor & maintain the health and performance of the JOINER infrastructure, ensuring secure, efficient, and reliable operations. Responsibilities include analysing trends, evaluating new technologies, supporting users, and contributing to planning, documentation, and platform development. You will work with hybrid cloud environments (VMware, AWS), networking equipment (Juniper, Fortinet), and data centre systems, following change management protocols. The role involves system tuning, upgrades, incident response, and knowledge sharing. You’ll promote automation, continuous improvement, and mentor junior staff while maintaining strong collaboration with academic stakeholders, professional services, and vendors to support scalable, future-ready research infrastructure. You will prioritise tasks ranging from one-to-one user consultations on specialist workflows across a diverse community through to system-wide and environment tuning, routine lifecycle upgrades, security patching and restoration actions in the event of an issue or outage.

You should apply if

We seek individuals with good hands-on experience & full familiarity with agile, iterative service delivery. Essential skills include good level of networking knowledge, Linux and Windows system management (monitoring, provisioning, version control), scripting (Python, BASH), and software deployment. All round Microsoft Management platform experience.  i.e. AD, AAD, M365, O365 etc You should have excellent communication skills and be able to engage with stakeholders across varying technical levels. Awareness of hybrid cloud platforms (VMware, AWS, Preferably VCF/TCA), network infrastructure (Ethernet, Fibre Channel), storage systems, orchestration tools (Kubernetes, Docker), and server room operations is expected. Experience with Microsoft platforms (AD, AAD, M365), VMware VCF/TCA, Juniper and Fortigate appliances & deep knowledge of HALO ITSM (admin and user) are highly desirable. Willingness to travel nationally and internationally to support to support JOINER node installation and maintenance. Have a clear UK driving license and prepared to travel nationally and internationally as required. 

Please evidence the above in your cover letter.

Additional information

For informal queries, please contact:

Amin Emami, amin.emami@bristol.ac.uk

To find out more about what it's like to work in the Faculty of Engineering, and how the Faculty supports people to achieve their potential, please see our staff blog:

https://engineering.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/category/engineering-includes-me/

Contract type: Open-ended with fixed-funding until 30/06/2026

Our strategy and mission

Available documents

• SUPP112440 - Research Infrastructure -JD.pdf
• Science Engineering Further Particulars 2024-2025.pdf

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