Division - Operations
Description - Full-Time, Open-Ended Appointment
Salary - £45199 on appointment
Renowned internationally for its research excellence supporting a sustainable ocean, Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Linux Systems Engineer to join the IT Group.
It is an important time for the ocean with key international drivers being the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the “double decade” of action – The Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.
This role will indirectly support key areas of our Linux community’s research, namely Earth Observation and Modelling. Examples of the research projects which are being delivered by these areas include: a project to generate cholera outbreak risk maps and developing a capability for cost-effective monitoring of offshore carbon storage projects.
PML has c. 180 employees, as well as students and visiting researchers. Approximately 70% of our employees are scientists, with the remainder being spread across operational groups, including the Information Technology Group (ITG).
Job Details
This role exists within the IT group at PML, the group provides services to the whole of the PML. We are currently in an exciting period of transition and modernisation with a focus on removing legacy systems whilst moving towards more modern Linux computing systems, be that on premise or in the cloud. We are looking for a knowledgeable, experienced agile person to join our team and lead the relevant parts of this innovation.
On site we currently have a sizeable on-site data centre and in the last two years we have finished the expansion of a ~£1m investment to move into Artificial Intelligence and machine learning with a cutting-edge GPU cluster. We are about to embark on a new HPC procurement and over the next few years investigating the benefits of Cloud Computing. The volume of data that we manage is growing on a daily basis as we draw in raw satellite data from the EU's Copernicus programme and NASA satellites to produce Earth Observation data products, giving insights into the health of the world’s oceans.
We have over 8PB of network storage presently and we download data using either our 2Gbps internet connection or direct satellite link. Analysis and interpretation of this data is continual, making use of the grid processing infrastructure – around 1,400 CPUs and 7TB RAM.
You will:
- Take ownership through to resolution of issues of varying complexity for PML’s workforce via the department's service desk software.
- Plan, install and maintain PML’s Servers, Storage, and Network infrastructure alongside the Head of ITG.
- Help influence and shape PML’s High-Performance, High-throughput and GPU Processing compute clusters.
- Play a key role in the development and delivery of the IT strategy by leading in the modernisation, service delivery and ongoing maintenance of the PML Linux estate.
- Help develop and manage the Linux Engineer while also deputising for the Head of ITG during his absence.
- Contribute to the ongoing continual service improvement and capacity planning activities while producing relevant, accurate and detailed documentation and reports for both existing and future systems and services.
- Resolve complex technical issues associated with PML’s system and services while working systematically with multiple third-party suppliers over extended periods of time.
- Be forward-looking and actively horizon scan for innovative technologies that will be beneficial for PML. All the while diligently expanding your own knowledge and experience to share with others across the whole of PML.
- Be able to communicate exceptionally with individuals with differing technical ability and language barriers. As well as develop documentation for both internal and external use.
To achieve this, you will have knowledge and or experience with:
- Linux and its tools and troubleshooting (Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS)
- Storage filesystems and access protocols (XFS/NFS)
- Virtualisation and containerisation (VMware/Kubernetes)
- Security best practices and firewalls (IPtables)
- Disaster recovery methodologies and technologies (EMC Networker, LTO Tape)
- Network design, configuration, and services (DNS/DHCP)
- Monitoring software and out of band management
- System administration automation. (Ansible)
- Linux Integration with Windows Active Directory (SSSD)
If you can bring any of these skills too, this will strengthen your application:
- Knowledge, experience, or qualification around cloud computing in any of the following AWS/GCP/Azure
- Familiarisation with Dell hardware/software and its support. (IDRAC)
- Working knowledge of workload management software (Slurm)
The role is based in our office in Plymouth (working from home no more than 2 days in 5 is optional) and offered with an open-ended contract. This post is offered at Operations Level 3 with a starting salary of £45,199 (depending on experience) with potential growth to £54,325. In addition, you will have a generous 30 days of annual leave plus 8 days of public holiday, a company pension with up to 10% company matched contributions, and a host of other benefits such as access to union membership, welfare and sports societies.
PML is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, and our policy can be found https://www.pml.ac.uk/getattachment/Working-with-us/SN_40_20_PML_Equalilty_diversity_and_inclusion_policy.pdf?lang=en-GB. We are proud to have achieved the Athena SWAN award as recognition of our achievements in gender equality. As part of this, we offer opportunities to discuss flexible working and whilst the selection process will be based on merit, we particularly welcome applications from female candidates, currently underrepresented. The position advertised is a full-time role requiring 37 hours per week, however, applications for part time working are also welcome (please state this in your application).