UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL
School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science
College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science
Westville Campus
 
(Rank: Principal Technician - Systems & Operations)
(Grade: Peromnes Grade 8)
(Scientific Computing)
 
REF NO.:MSCS11/2014

The incumbent is to ensure the efficient running of the School’s computing systems including various undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research computing laboratories and associated computing infrastructure on the above mentioned campus.  S/he will oversee  the  implementation of various projects, manage crisis situations, supervise staff, research and evaluate new technologies, perform advanced  technical  installation  and  configuration  of  servers  and  networking  equipment, and troubleshoot complex hardware and software problems.
 
In  addition,  s/he  is  to  provide  expert  consulting  support  to  the  academic  staff  and postgraduate students and will be expected to identify and  introduce  innovative methods to continually and reliably improve and upgrade efficiency of current systems. 
 
The incumbent  will  be  responsible  for  administering,  configuring,  deploying, maintaining,  tuning  and  troubleshooting multiple  cross-platform  servers,  workstations  and associated network services and  technologies  in use by  the School.   S/he will utilise his/her Windows and LINUX/UNIX experience, relevant programming/scripting experience, as well as exposure to server  virtualisation  infrastructure  and  storage  area  networks  in  executing  his/her  duties.   The full range of duties and functions is described in detail in the job profile.   
 
The incumbent must have excellent technical knowledge coupled with problem solving and diagnostic skills.   A high level of competence with computer hardware and software across various platforms is essential, together with a high level of understanding of IP network environments including configuring various IP network services and associated technologies such as firewalls and routing. 
 
The incumbent will report to the Manager: Technical Operations.
 
Minimum Requirements:  
1.  Matric plus a relevant 3 year tertiary qualification in Computer Science or related field
2.  Overall total of 5 years hands-on relevant work experience which includes the following areas:

• At least 2 years work experience in a LINUX/UNIX environment
• Practical experience in administering a large heterogeneous network using any one of AD, eDirectory, LDAP, NIS, or similar
• Practical programming experience in any of C, C++, C#, JAVA, PERL, PHP, PYTHON, RUBY or related programming or script language
• High level troubleshooting of hardware and software on various platforms in a networked environment
• Of the 5 years relevant experience required, at least two should be at senior or supervisory level