Linux Systems Administrator (Hybrid)

at  HEAnet EduCampus

HEANET – SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR (HYBRID)

HEAnet is Ireland’s National Research and Education Network, providing internet connectivity and ICT shared services across all levels of the Irish education system, reaching in excess of 1,000,000 end users. We connect learners and researchers across all of Ireland to education resources and to fellow national educational and research networks in Europe, and the rest of the world.
HEAnet also provides our client base with support in the procurement of ICT hardware, software and services. The Brokerage Services portfolio covers a wide range of products and services, delivering significant savings for the sector annually.
We have an exciting opportunity for a Linux Systems Administrator to join our Systems Team on a permanent contract basis.
This role is primarily based at our Dublin 1 offices, but we are pleased to offer a flexible remote working arrangement. This allows you to work from home up to three (3) days a week. You will be expected to work at least two (2) days a week in the office, giving you the opportunity to enjoy a balanced and dynamic work environment.

REQUIRED TECHNICAL SKILLS:

• Linux Administration: Strong foundational knowledge in Linux system administration (e.g., CentOS, Ubuntu), including file systems, configuration management, and networking
• Basic Scripting & Troubleshooting: Foundational skills in scripting (Phyton, Bash) and system troubleshooting

DESIRED TECHNICAL SKILLS:

• Container Infrastructure: Exposure to container maintenance and deployment (e.g., Docker, Swarm)
• Automation & Configuration Management: Exposure to automation and configuration management tools like Ansible, Puppet or Chef

REQUIRED SOFT SKILLS:

• Communication & Collaboration:
• Clear written and verbal communication skills with the ability to create basic documentation
• Ability to work well in a team environment, supporting and learning from Senior team members
• Ability to explain technical issues to non-technical users with guidance
• Continuous Improvement: Eagerness to learn new skills, improve technical knowledge and support process enhancements
• Self-Motivated Learner: Enthusiastic about growing in the role and expanding technical skills
• Detail-oriented: Focused on delivering accurate and quality work
• Adaptable: Willingness to embrace new challenges and tasks

The Systems Team drives the deployment and maintenance of HEAnet’s systems and services. The Teams responsibilities fall into 3 streams:

• Core infrastructure: This is a combination of virtual infrastructure, physical servers, and appliances, spread across our datacentres, and now an increasing foothold in containerization and the Cloud. Essential for smooth operation is the automation and management of these resources.
• Internal Services: All the pieces that go on behind the scenes to be able to deliver services, such as monitoring, logging, load balancers, database clusters, storage, authentication, as well as providing tools and services to other internal technical teams.
• External Services: All the above help us to provide a diverse range of shared services to IT departments, educators, learners and researchers. Some of our more widely used services include Identity and Access Management (Edugate), Wi-Fi roaming (eduroam), large file transfers, and video hosting services

We don’t expect you to have experience in all of the following areas, but it would be a plus if you do:

• Shibboleth/SAML Exposure: Experience or knowledge of working with IdP and SP setup. Familiarity with troubleshooting and maintaining SAML services.
• Security Awareness: Basic understanding of security best practices in system administration.
• DevOps & CI/CD Exposure: Familiarity with DevOps practices and tools like CI/CD pipelines.
• Cloud Platform Exposure: Experience or knowledge of working with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure).Monitoring and Performance Tuning: Exposure to system monitoring and performance tunin