IT Science Computing Engineer

UKCEH is looking for an experienced IT Computing Engineer to join our specialist Science Computing team, contributing to scientific discovery, and generating the data, insights and solutions that researchers, businesses and governments need to solve complex environmental challenges.  

Working at UKCEH is rewarding. Our science makes a real difference, enabling people and the environment to prosper, and enriching society. We are the custodians of a wealth of environmental data, collected by UKCEH and its predecessors over more than 60 years.  

As a valued member of our team, you’ll get:  

• 27 days annual leave, rising to 29 days after five years, plus 3 days for our Christmas closure    

• 10% employer pension contribution  

• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave (subject to qualifying requirements)  

• 24 hour, 365-day access to support with physical, mental, social, health or financial issues plus access to our trained Welfare Officers  

• Flexible working opportunities  

And much more...  

You will be joining a small and specialist team within the IT department, dedicated to ensuring UKCEH can evolve its world-leading science.  We support the science teams by providing HPC and cloud-based systems both on-prem and cloud. As the organisation focuses on its tech stack, you’ll help identify and expand our resources to accommodate increasing demands. 

We are looking for two people who can demonstrate experience administering Linux environments and proficiency using configuration management systems and/or event-driven processes. As part of a small team, you’ll also need experience in project work, including capturing end user and operational requirements, and developing robust solutions for use in production, as well as providing comprehensive documentation.   
 
Your primary focus will be ongoing development and support of dependable science computing infrastructure and services.  Implementing efficiency, effectiveness, and adaptability improvements, in an ever-changing operational environment.  

Additionally, part of your role is to knowledge share your specialist skills and provide mentorship within the team.  We need your communication and negotiation skills to problem solve, build good relationships, write accurate process documents and provide necessary reports.  Tools you’ll be working with are: Wiki, Netbox, Service Desk Plus, Ansible, Proxmox, Ceph and Kubernetes.  These responsibilities require excellent interpersonal skills, especially as you’ll be the main point of contact (and for escalation). 

If you’re looking to be instrumental in achieving our strategic aims, enjoy building and driving improvements forward, we’re keen to hear from you!   

You’ll be joining a leading independent, not-for-profit research institute that’s committed to recruiting talented people like you, progressing your career and giving you the support you need to thrive at UKCEH.  

Your main responsibilities will include:  

• Routine maintenance - patch management, monitoring design, configuration coding, system hardening, auditing, and coding any necessary glue tools 

• Leading on Ansible automation – building modules, supporting DevOps, implementing CIS standards and policies  

• Conducting monitoring and capacity planning activities – optimising resources for storage, CPU, and RAM capacity, to meet science needs 

• Providing crucial support for production Linux systems across various distributions, including Redhat, Centos, Rocky, and Ubuntu 

• Offering expertise in server and storage management within a complex Linux environment, utilising a range of infrastructures 

• Building, configuration and administration of scientific computing technologies, encompassing HPC Linux servers, virtual machines, containers, networking, software development environments, cloud computing services (Azure, AWS), and field equipment 

• Using hypervisor and container technologies such as VMware, KVM, LXC, Docker, and Kubernetes 

• Contributing to service improvements, recommending new systems and software, actively coordinating and participating in multiple, cross-functional initiatives 

For the role of IT Science Computing Engineer, we’re looking for somebody who has: 

• Relevant work experience or degree in an IT-related subject 

• Experience supporting production Linux systems across multiple distributions 

• Proficiency in using configuration management systems such as Ansible, Puppet, Chef, or Salt  

• Previous experience working with public cloud technology and providers (AWS, Azure), including API public cloud and internal APIs 

• Experience with container technologies, such as LXC, Docker, and Kubernetes 

• Demonstrable experience with high-performance computing (HPC)  

• Experience using monitoring software such as Zabbix 

• An understanding of application infrastructures, with the ability to design solutions and diagnose arising issues 

• Excellent written and spoken communication skills, able to build good working relationships, demonstrating good listening skills and the ability to steer a conversation towards finding solutions, using a collaborative and inclusive approach 

• Confidence to simplify intricate issues and technologies into manageable pieces, and the ability to articulate complex concepts into understandable terms to non-IT people 

If your application is shortlisted, the first stage of our recruitment process for this role is a short 15-minute online assessment on the role responsibilities listed above.  Successful completion of this assessment will determine whether you will be called for a 2nd stage interview, which will be in person at your preferred site, which will include a 30-minute practical assessment after a 1-hour interview (some panel members may be attending remotely). 

If we’ve just described you, we’d love to meet. Apply now.  Please send us your CV, which highlights any relevant skills and experience, together with what excites you most about the role and working for UKCEH.     

Whilst we do invite applications from international candidates, we are currently unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position.