Job profile

UNIX System Software Engineering Support (Solaris focus) in Darmstadt (Germany)

The Consultant shall have extensive experience in the administration and troubleshooting of distributed systems. The experience should have been made in an operational or production environment, characterized by custom applications in addition to standard software, running both on the client and server side, and by high availability requirements. The Consultant shall have an expert knowledge and a significant work experience of the UNIX operating system(s) with a Solaris focus.

To join our DCS IT team working in Germany, we are looking for an UNIX System Software Engineering Support (Solaris focus). 

Place: Darmstadt – Germany.

Position: UNIX System Software Engineering Support (Solaris focus).

Starting date: beginning January 2010 for a duration of three years.

Contract type: Two options to extend the activities for a further period of one year each shall form part of the contract. Kindly indicate the earliest date of availability

Working Language: English - French

Working Permit: Candidates from U.E, Switzerland or with a valid working permit ONLY.  

Working Environment:

The Consultant shall work in the Maintenance and Engineering Division – Computer Systems Management team, supporting the different phases of computer system infrastructures.The activity is assumed, as a baseline, to require a full-time participation of one Consultant for the duration of the contract.The tasks of the Consultant will be carried out mainly at EUMETSAT facilities in Darmstadt, but travel within Europe may be required for certain activities.

Tasks:

As a member of the Computer Systems Management team, the Consultant shall provide support to all Ground Segment Commissioning and Routine Operations.

The duties range from the support to the operation of the UNIX-based ground segment facilities, to the analysis, design, development, testing and maintenance of distributed hardware and system software platforms. This includes the setting-up and implementation of maintenance policies and procedures, the support to the procurement of hardware and software, and the coordination with external providers of maintenance services. 

The Consultant shall perform the following tasks: 

• installation and configuration of operating system and other software, tuning of operating systems parameters to optimize performance;
• analysis, planning and performance of H/W and S/W upgrades or reconfigurations, taking care of compatibility issues between subsystems;
• monitoring of the system performance, investigation into H/W and system S/W problems and performance of the relevant corrective actions;
• ensuring that in case of H/W or system S/W failures the operational configuration can be restored, including the definition, maintenance, performance of backup procedures;
• liaison with the external providers of H/W and system S/W maintenance for the request and follow up of maintenance interventions;
• administration and installation of databases;
• administration of user accounts;
• support to S/W development and maintenance in relation to the utilization of system resources;
• implementation and maintenance of scripts and/or procedures where applicable for the automated and/or controlled execution of the above activities, generation or update of technical documentation in relation to system upgrades;
• provision of stand-by/on-call support;
• provision of support, as required, to critical operations.

In the performance of the activities the Consultant shall apply the relevant change control and maintenance procedures. 

Profile:

In addition to having a university degree (or equivalent), the Consultant shall have extensive experience in the administration and troubleshooting of distributed systems. The experience should have been made in an operational or production environment, characterized by custom applications in addition to standard software, running both on the client and server side, and by high availability requirements. The Consultant shall have an expert knowledge and a significant work experience of the UNIX operating system(s), and should be familiar, to the extent required by the performance of the above tasks, with as many as possible of the following system software environments:

• on SUN computers: SOLARIS;
• on DELL computers: Linux;
• on HP Alpha systems: TRU64;
• Databases: ORACLE;
• TCP/IP internetworking and the related network protocols and applications, e.g. NIS, NFS, DNS, SNMP, FTP;
• high availability software like IBM HACMP, Veritas Cluster, LEGATO AAM, HP MC/Service Guard or any other;

Experience in the installation, administration and troubleshooting on some of the following shall be considered as an advantage:

• IBM pseries computers running AIX;
• RAID arrays (EMC);
• SAN (Brocade);
• Backup and recovery systems
• Knowledge of Windows operating systems.

It is also an advantage if the consultant can carry out basic hardware support like installing interface cards or physically setting up networks.The variety of the tasks and the scope of the systems to be supported require a high degree of autonomy and good analytical skills together with the ability to effectively cooperate within the team and with internal customers.The official languages of EUMETSAT are English and French. The working language for the position is English and therefore the consultant must be able to work effectively in this language and have knowledge of the other, together with good communication skills. 

Working hours and Reporting :

Two types of support are required from the Consultant:

• normal support;
• standby / call-out support.

Formal reporting is required at monthly intervals or in the event of a major task completion. The monthly reports and any other reports or technical documentation generated shall be submitted in writing directly to the EUMETSAT technical representative.The work will be released in individual Work Packages.