System Administrator

Job Summary

Under the supervision of the Manager of Infrastructure, Records and Security, the System Administrator plays a critical role in service delivery (as part of the ISR team responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the Centre’s various infrastructure systems in Headquarters and the Regional Offices), in the preparation of infrastructure systems proposals (including project schedule, system analysis, budgeting and system design), the implementation of systems (including servers, operating systems, network equipment, backup systems, telephony equipment, general system software and documentation) and participate in the business continuity and security of systems. The System Administrator brings to the Infrastructure Services the necessary skills and in-depth understanding of the architecture of the infrastructure to be able to recommend, design and implement enhancements to the architecture across all IDRC offices.

The incumbent’s primary duties include:

• Administers an effective patch management program to mitigate risks by applying standard processes across all enterprise systems;
• Administers and ensures efficient operation of SharePoint Systems (both Front End and SQL);
• Under the direction of the primary Database Administrator, perform database administration on both MS-SQL database;
• Participates in the day-to-day operational support and service delivery of the IT infrastructure by Monitor and respond to IT Infrastructure incidents through the incident tracking system;

Other duties also include:

• Proactively monitor systems for availability, capacity and performance.
• Perform LAN administration duties including configuring, modifying and deleting of LAN and email account, provisioning and modifying of VMWare servers and Operating systems.
• Assists and performs as the secondary resource for managing our enterprise system backups.
• Participates in the IT Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plan.
• Assist and performs duties as the secondary resource for the IT security officer.

Primary Duties or Responsibilities

Strategic Planning and Product Strategy

Works collaboratively with the various service teams (IMTD staff in Ottawa and the Regional Offices working on a specific service or family of services) by providing input into the change management functions for presentation to the Change Management Board and providing input into team communication (including meetings) as well as joint planning sessions on hardware and software roll-out.

Provides feedback for the creation of service project business cases and communications plans, qualifies and quantifies customer expectations and customer concerns, processes information and translates user requirements into technical terms.  Supports service business owners and product managers in marketing to users and training users and technical staff.

Participates in cross functional discussion or working groups (especially with the System Integration Services, Information Resources Centre, Information Management & Innovation Services, other Centre divisions, user groups, regional technical contacts, and contracted technicians), to provide client solutions and support.

As an identified IT product strategist provides recommendations on the potential direction for the specific product at IDRC, industry trends and timelines.  Creates recommendations and project plans to allow IDRC to move forward with a specific product strategy.

Actively participates in discussions regarding the production infrastructure environment and as required, updates ISR management. Contributes to the GIS work plan and participates in the setting of ISR priorities according to the IMTD business plan and priorities to ensure effective usage of ISR resources.

Research and Project Planning

Through research and notifications, maintains an awareness of system patches, enhancements and new features, security vulnerabilities and associated technologies which can be used to protect the information systems and associated infrastructure.

Participates in IT enhancement initiatives and projects as a team member or team leader by undertaking research, investigations, evaluations and testing of new or enhanced technologies in order to enhance the corporate IT infrastructure.

Assists the project manager and technical team, or acts as a project manager in the development of recommendations, standards, procedures, and documentation and implementation strategies for the enhancements or introduction of new technologies to the infrastructure components in all IDRC offices.  May also be called upon to assist in the staging of the recommended technologies into the production environment. As project manager, may be required to supervise junior infrastructure staff.

IT Service Delivery

Provides technical support for the daily operations of the corporate information systems servers, network infrastructure (Headquarters and the Regional Offices), system appliances, housed applications and operating systems software to ensure system availability, reliability and performance.

Monitors system performance and security (Headquarters and the Regional Offices), evaluates resource levels and when necessary investigates and analyses the problems.  Depending on the criticality of the problem reports it to the Manager, ISR for resolution or initiates fault resolution processes and reports the problem and the action that was taken to the Manager, ISR.

Oversees the backup of required electronic information to the appropriate media in order to comply with the storage and business resumption plans.  Recommends to management modifications to the backup cycle in order to ensure application availability and when required, implements the approved modifications. Works with ISR staff to ensure processes and procedures are optimized to ensure effective information backups.

Provides technical support to regional office IT staff in diagnostics, troubleshooting and analysing issues associated with information systems, connectivity, security, and backup or system hardware within the Regional Offices.

Participates in IDRC ITCSM (IT Continuity Service Management) planning, exercises, and execution to ensure the integrity of IT systems both at Headquarters and the Regional Offices.

Communications

Researches and prepares notes, status reports, technical documentation, and proposals to be used by various technical and non-technical staff and management.  Assists the product strategists in the preparation of briefing notes, technology summaries and analysis reports.

Communicates/exchanges technical information on IT administration and troubleshooting techniques and skills to IMTD staff (Headquarters and Regional Offices). May be required to make presentations during annual meetings and other technical gatherings.

Represents the ISR and IMTD in working groups, discussions and forums with business application owners and stakeholders to provide insight on technological implications, support concerns and availability of resources.

Travels to the regional office sites, partner locations and IT conferences to provide technical deployment support and exchange and discuss IT information.

Resource Management

Contributes to the statement of work and deliverables of consultants and contractors engaged to assist in the implementation and maintenance of infrastructure components by monitoring work to ensure deliverables are met and recommending the approval/sign-off of work items and time schedules to the Manager of the ISR.

Provides input to the estimation of infrastructure component costs and projections for budgeting purposes and identifies potential impacts and opportunities.

Directs, guides, mentors and occasionally supervises in ad-hoc team settings, junior members of the ISR team in order to increase their knowledge, expertise and capacity.