Senior Systems Administrator at South African Astronomical Observatory

About the position

The South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Senior Systems Administrator Administer IT network and systems infrastructure

Key Responsibilities:

• Administer IT Operation in Cape Town campus, as well as support of remote
• Standby support one week per month for after hours and
• Manage ticketing queue for internal IT related issues ensuring timely and accurate troubleshooting of
• Ensure the security of data, network access and license
• Maintain assets, information security and other relevant IT
• Troubleshoot and resolve IT issued software and hardware in a timely
• Install, troubleshoot and maintain hardware and peripheral
• Oversee network and system infrastructure to ensure optimal
• Assistance with various IT projects such as procurement, documentation, and reconciliation of IT
• Work with external vendors to resolve all maintenance issues around the officeKey Requirements:

Qualification:

• Degree in Computer Science , National Diploma in IT or equivalent
• Drivers Licence (Code B or similar)

Experience:

• 6 years' of proven Linux systems administration or similar experience with at least 3 years in a production
• Experience with troubleshooting, setting up, and managing macOS, Windows and Linux machines
• Experience with working in a cloud
• Experience with the setup, managing and documentation of WAN and LAN
• Experience with server cluster setups
• Experience with working with 3rd party vendors for software/hardware
• Experience with VPN server and client configuration (across different platforms), IP Phones (SIP), printer configurations, configuring and troubleshooting cloud based Office 365
• Experience with LDAP or Active directory, Docker, instant messaging services,
• Proxmox or VMWare, third-party cloud providers, SSO,
• Experience in monitoring and management of large, complex systems using Nagios (check_mk), Zabbix or Prometheus
• Experience with mikrotik, PFSense or Fortigate firewalls

Knowledge:

• LAMP, Wordpress or Joomla(CMS).
• Web Control Panels
• MySQL, MS SQL or Postgresql database
• Virtualization
• Email systems

Additional Notes:

ADDITIONAL EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE & PERSONAL QUALITIES:
Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
Attention to detail, ability to see a task through to completion, passion for excellent client service, self-motivated, able to work unsupervised, curious, persistent, dedicated.
Ability to solve problems quickly and automate processes.
In-depth troubleshooting of technical problems as well as solving of more complex software and hardware problems. Familiarity with the principles and practice of system configuration management
A solid understanding of an operating system; understanding of paging and swapping, inter-process communications, devices and what device drivers do, filesystem concepts (inodes, clustering, logical partitions), ability to use performance analysis to tune systems
A solid understanding of networking. Routing and switching. A solid understanding of storage systems
Ability to program in a scripting language (e.g., Bash, Perl, Python, VBScript, PowerShell) Works well alone or on a team
A , Net , Sec is a plus
Technical certification (e.g: Microsoft certification, Linux certification, other professional qualifications) The filling of this position will be in line with the NRF's Employment Equity Policy and Plan.
The salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience

Desired Skills:

• Communication And Interpersonal Skills

About The Employer:

The National Research Foundation (NRF) supports and promotes research and human capital development through funding, the provision of National Research Facilities and science outreach platforms and programmes to the broader community in all fields of science and technology, including natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and [URL Removed] South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) is the National Facility for Optical and Infrared Astronomy of the National Research Foundation (NRF). Its headquarters are in Cape Town, while its telescopes are at Sutherland in the Northern Cape. Distributed between the two sites, SAAO employs about 130 people, many of them scientists and engineers, and is contracted to operate SALT (the Southern African Large Telescope) on behalf of the international SALT Foundation. SAAO is the premier optical/infrared research facility on the African continent, with global research and outreach collaborations, contributing to SET human capital development for South Africa