Open Date
05/02/2025, 09:10
Close Date
02/03/2025, 23:55
Research Institute
MRC Mary Lyon Centre
Research Institute / Unit Information
The Mary Lyon Centre at MRC Harwell (MLC) is located in an expanding science and innovation campus in Oxfordshire and is an internationally renowned centre at the forefront of genetics research. As the hub of the new National Mouse Genetics Network, the specialist facilities and capabilities of the MLC support a number of research groups across the UK to accelerate our understanding of human diseases, such as cancer, developmental disorders and neurodegeneration.
UK Research and Innovation is a new entity that brings together nine partners to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, more information can be found at www.ukri.org
Band

MRC - 4

Location
Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire
Salary
£40,832 - £43,391 per annum
Contract Type
Fixed Term
Job Type
Technical & Scientific Professionals
Full Time / Part Time
Full Time
Contract Length
Fixed until March 2027
Job Description

EDUCATION/QUALIFICATIONS/TRAINING REQUIRED:

Essential:

• A strong technical IT/computing educational history, ideally to BSc level, or equivalent relevant professional experience

PREVIOUS WORK EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Essential:

• Experience of maintaining and supporting IT systems within a similar technology environment
• Experience of delivering second- and third-line technical support

Desirable:

• Experience of delivering and managing IT projects to support business objectives

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Essential:

• Strong working knowledge of IT Security and cyber resilience principles
• MS365, Active Directory and Group policy administration and management
• Windows server and desktop administration and management
• Administration and management of VMware hosts, virtual servers, and associated infrastructure

Desirable:

• Networking administration and troubleshooting
• Administration and management of Linux server environments
• Administration and management of a large enterprise storage solution

PERSONAL SKILLS/BEHAVIOURS/QUALITIES:

Essential:

• An excellent team player with effective communication skills
• A proactive, self-motivated attitude towards project organisation and delivery, with the ability to prioritise effectively
• Willingness to take ownership of a task through to successful delivery
• Ability to create concise and useful documentation
• Attention to detail, producing quality implementations
• Ability to liaise with 3rd party solution providers

Desirable:

• Proven troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
• Ability to contribute ideas as part of our continual improvement programme

Further Information

OVERALL PURPOSE:

We are seeking an IT Systems Engineer to join our IT Services team at the Mary Lyon Centre at MRC Harwell (MLC).
This is an excellent opportunity to further develop your technical skills within a supportive and collaborative Informatics department.
The successful candidate will assist with the management and maintenance of a modern and robust IT infrastructure across a wide range of platforms. You will work closely with the service desk team and other informaticians, within a networked environment comprising over 150 physical and virtual servers (VMware, Windows, Linux) and over 400 Windows end-user devices. We have an on-premise, purpose-built primary data centre with over 2 Petabytes of enterprise disk storage, replicated to a secondary data centre in a separate building.
Platforms include MS365, Defender, Intune, VMware, vCenter, Patch Manager Plus (PMP), Microsoft Configuration Manager, Tenable and ClearPass.
If you are an excellent team player with a proactive attitude, this could be the perfect opportunity for you.

MAIN DUTIES/KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Server administration and scheduled patching
• Monitoring of systems and assessment of vulnerability scans, actioning mitigations as required
• Maintenance and management of enterprise data storage and replication
• Network and firewall management and troubleshooting
• Cyber Security assessments, ensuring standards are met and maintained
• MS365 administration and management
• Management and maintenance of Microsoft Active Directory Domain and Group Policies
• Ensure adherence to MRC and UKRI IT policies
• Production and maintenance of technical documentation, standard operating procedures, and processes

Working Relationships:

• Collaborate with the IT Service Desk team, communicating change management and direction as required
• Work closely with other Systems Engineers across a range of projects and scheduled tasks
• Report to the Head of IT to convey progress and pro-actively contribute strategic ideas for continual improvement
• Provide third-line support to MLC staff members as required
• Collaborate with bioinformaticians and software developers in the wider Informatics department, providing infrastructural support
• Work closely with end users and those responsible for generating and managing substantial amounts of data

CORPORATE/LOCAL RESPONSIBILITIES & REQUIREMENTS:

The post-holder must at all times carry out their responsibilities with due regard to the MRC’s:

• Code of Conduct
• Equality and Diversity policy
• Health and Safety policy
• Data Protection and Security policy

The above lists are not exhaustive and the post-holder is required to undertake such duties as may reasonably be requested within the scope of the post. All employees are required to act professionally, cooperatively and flexibly in line with the requirements of the post and the MRC.
The MRC is a unique working environment where scientific researchers and professional support staff can actively partake in world class innovation and collaboration opportunities and their skills and knowledge through accessing a wide catalogue of training & development, including professional registration with the Science Council.
In addition, MRC (part of UKRI) provides its community of employees access to a whole host of useful benefits, including a defined benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement (30 days plus 2.5 privilege days & 8 bank holidays), family friendly policies (6 months full pay maternity & adoption leave), a range of shopping/travel discounts, access to our Employee Assistant Programme Scheme, Health and Wellbeing Support and a salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme. Please follow this link to find out more - Benefits
Our success is dependent upon our ability to embrace diversity and draw on the skills, understanding and experience of all our people. We warmly invite people from diverse backgrounds and heritage, including people who identify as having a disability, to apply for a role that excites them. As “Disability Confident” employers, we guarantee to interview all applicants who have disclosed they have a disability and who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.
UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider whether this conflicts with your personal values or beliefs.
We will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as an essential part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check. The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment