Linux System Administrator (Ref: IRC205719)

STFC RUTHERFORD APPLETON LABORATORY, OXFORDSHIRE, UK

SALARY £22,972 TO £30,545 PER ANNUM (DEPENDENT UPON EXPERIENCE AND INCLUSIVE OF ANNUAL ALLOWANCE)

ABOUT US

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is one of Europe's largest research organisations. We're trusted to support, enable and undertake pioneering projects in an amazing diversity of fields. The expertise of our computing staff is key to making our research happen. We work with the very latest technologies to drive advances in both hardware and software that have genuine real world applications.

STFC's Scientific Computing Department (SCD) develops leading edge software, computer and data storage infrastructures to support the work of world class science both within STFC and internationally.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Research Infrastructures (RI) group within SCD currently has a vacancy for a highly motivated Linux System Administrator to join a small team for an initial 3 year period.

Reporting to the RI Group systems Team Leader, the Linux System Administrator will be responsible for installing, maintaining and supporting both the High Performance Computing (HPC) and general purpose scientific computing resources managed by the RI group. These consist of multiple HPC compute clusters (4000+ cores) and multi-Petabyte data storage systems.

You will also be responsible for investigating, recommending and deploying new infrastructure management tools.

This role will work closely with the RI group Systems and Hardware team to implement new services, as well as working with other group members to ensure that services are able to meet staff requirements in delivering a user focused production environment.

You will have interactions with other groups both within SCD and other STFC divisions including regular communication with scientists, as well as communication with external collaborators.

This role will provide the successful candidate with opportunities to further develop your skills in Linux system administration, virtualisation, large storage systems, hardware support and HPC.

You will be part of an on-call team, and occasional UK and Overseas travel may be required.

ABOUT YOU

Suitable candidates will be educated to degree level in computer science or another scientific discipline.

You will need experience in the deployment and management of Linux (ideally RHEL) machines in a production environment, as well as experience in deployments of VMware, large scale storage solutions, or high performance computing.

Candidates should also have experience in Shell Scripting using bash or csh and/or another programming language such as Perl, Python or Java.

Experience in any of the following areas is also beneficial:

- Server Virtualisation such as VMware vSphere Enterprise.
- NAS, SAN and Direct Attached Storage systems.
- Server monitoring and management (eg Nagios, Ganglia, Cacti, etc).
- Server hardware.
- Ethernet network management.
- Performing a user support role managing and answering user queries

BENEFITS

An exceptional index linked pension scheme, 30 days leave allowance and flexi-time are offered, as well as an onsite nursery, subsidised restaurant, gym and sports facilities. Full details of offered benefits can be found on STFC's careers pages.

TO APPLY

Applicants are required to include a cover letter outlining their suitability for this role.

Applications are handled by UK SBS; to apply please follow the link below. Applicants who are unable to apply online should contact us by telephone.

THE CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS IS 1ST NOVEMBER 2015; HOWEVER, WE ENCOURAGE EARLY APPLICATIONS AS SOME CANDIDATES MAY BE INTERVIEWED BEFORE THIS DATE.