Duties

The Diamond Synchrotron Light source is the largest scientific facility to be built in the UK for over thirty years. The facility consists of three accelerators which provide high brightness photon beams through beamlines to experiment stations.  Diamond is now operational with an initial complement of experiment stations and a further ten in design and construction. 

The Diamond light Source uses a range of computer systems for distributed control, data acquisition, data analysis and data storage. These are predominantly x86 based PCs, running the Linux operating system, with some Windows systems for special purpose applications.  Hence Linux based servers and workstations are core to supporting the operation of the accelerators and photon beamlines. In addition, to support data acquisition and analysis, there are large central computation clusters and storage servers.  These systems are managed by a dedicated Scientific Computing Systems Administration Team.
This position will be to support the implementation and development of computing infrastructure and services.

Duties and Responsibilities to include:

• Assist in the design and development of the computer systems;
• Systems administration in conjunction with senior staff;
• Assist in the commissioning of and diagnose faults in computer systems;
• Develop automation tools for system administration tasks;
• Provide operational support and analysis of installed computer systems;
• Contribute to the processes, associated software development and data management to support the design/operation of computer systems throughout Diamond;
• Liaise with, and supervise, contractors and suppliers of turnkey computer systems and networks;
• Development of technical expertise in computer systems and skills in system management of computer systems;
• Communicate details of computer systems developments within Diamond and to other projects;
• Assist in the preparation of tenders and service level agreements for external suppliers of required services;
• Report on progress in all areas on a periodic basis;

• Honours degree in physics, Elec. Eng., Comp. science or Equivalent other degree and relevant experience or BTEC HNC/HND and relevant experience;
• An enthusiasm for solving technical problems, evaluating alternative courses of action and innovating where necessary;
• Self-motivation and a willingness to take responsibility;
• An ability to communicate effectively, both orally and written;
• An ability to work as part of a team;
• Demonstrate an understanding of staff supervision; 
• Demonstrate an understanding of project planning and management;
• Demonstrate ability to work effectively alone and without direct supervision;
• Knowledge of modern computer systems design and implementation;
• Knowledge of networking protocols such as SNMP, DNS and /NAT;
• Appreciation of computer system and network security;
• Experience of UNIX-like operating systems and their administration;
• Experience of using Unix shell scripting to automate common tasks;
• Available to travel in the UK and abroad, including occasional periods away from home;
• Be prepared to undertake further training;
• Ability to work in restricted or confined spaces;

• Knowledge of Windows operating systems and their administration;
• Knowledge of Python and/or Perl scripting;
• Appreciation of the design and implementation of modern computer networks and the attached systems and services;
• Experience of high performance computing, networking and storage technologies;
• Experience of remote administration of complex networking architectures;
• The role holder may be required to work overtime at unsociable hours;

NB: Please note that this position is advertised at two levels (also Computer Systems Administrator), with only one appointment to be made.

http://diamond.ac.uk/Careers/Vacancies/All/DIA0900B_NH.html