About this role

My client is seeking to speak to experienced System Administrator professionals to join them on a full-time basis in their state of the art facility in Dublin. The System Administrator is responsible for effective provisioning, installation/configuration, operation, and maintenance of systems hardware and software and related infrastructure. This individual participates in technical research and development to enable continuing innovation within the infrastructure. This individual ensures that system hardware, operating systems, software systems, and related procedures adhere to best practice, enabling staff, customers and business operations to continue uninterrupted. They will also need to have a solid understanding of each core system, its function and importance to the business, maintenance requirements and support agreements to support the users of these systems throughout the business.

This individual will assist project teams with technical issues in the Initiation and Planning phases of our standard Project Management Methodology. These activities include the definition of needs, benefits, and technical strategy; research & development within the project life-cycle; technical analysis and design; and support of operations staff in executing, testing and rolling-out the solutions. Participation on projects is focused on smoothing the transition of projects from development staff to production staff by performing operations activities within the project life-cycle.

This individual is accountable for the following systems: Linux and Windows systems that support a range of business applications, tools and ERP systems that enable the business to function.

System Administrator Engineering and Provisioning

• Engineering of System Administrator-related solutions for various project and operational needs.
• Install new / rebuild existing servers and configure hardware, peripherals, services, settings, directories, storage, etc. in accordance with standards and project/operational requirements.
• Install and configure business systems and applications.
• Develop and maintain installation and configuration procedures.
• Contribute to and maintain system standards.
• Research and recommend innovative, and where possible automated approaches for system administration tasks. Identify approaches that leverage our resources and provide economies of scale.

Operations and Support

• Perform daily system monitoring, verifying the integrity and availability of all hardware, server resources, systems and key processes, reviewing system and application logs, and verifying completion of scheduled jobs such as backups.
• Perform regular security monitoring to identify any possible intrusions.
• Perform daily backup operations, ensuring all required file systems and system data are successfully backed up to the appropriate media, recovery tapes or disks are created, and media is recycled and sent off site as necessary.
• Continually review backup protocols to ensure they meet business demands. Maintain, test and update disaster recovery plans and procedures.
• Perform regular file archival and purge as necessary.
• Create, change, and delete user accounts per request.
• Provide Tier III/other support and / or training per request from various sites. Investigate and troubleshoot issues.
• Repair and recover from hardware or software failures. Coordinate and communicate with impacted stakeholders.
• Assist with external and internal auditors during IT Audit.

Maintenance

• Apply OS patches and upgrades on a regular basis, and upgrade administrative tools and utilities. Configure / add new services as necessary.
• Upgrade, configure and maintain system software and business applications as per upgrade schedule.
• Maintain operational, configuration, or other procedures.
• Perform periodic performance reporting to support capacity planning.
• Perform ongoing performance tuning, hardware upgrades, and resource optimization as required. Configure CPU, memory, and disk partitions as required.
• Maintain data center environmental and monitoring equipment
• Change control and management
• Documentation

IT Environment & Requirements

• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft technologies including Server and Workstation Operating Systems (Server 2008/2012, Windows 7/10) with strong knowledge of Active Directory and Microsoft Exchange and SQL server.
• Strong networking and TCP/IP skills
• Knowledge of technologies supporting Virtualisation (Hyper V), Symantec AV, Enterprise Backup (Veeam) and Storage Area Networks (Dell PowerEdge and Dell EqualLogic)
• Telephony – Cisco Video conferencing, Elastix VOIP

Business Support Role

• Engage with other sites as and when needed to support and collaborate on IT issues
• Engage in IT Projects when requested
• To train members of staff in IT related tropics where needed
• Communicate effectively and appropriately across business units.
• Monthly KPI reporting
• Project reporting
• And / or complete reporting requirements as specified by management.

Skills Required

• Degree in Information Technology or equivalent industry qualifications
• 4-6 years’ experience in a similar role
• Must be a team player.
• Excellent communication
• Excellent documentation and organisational skills
• Understanding of ITIL and PRINCE2 methodologies.