Location: Head Office, Teagasc, Oak Park, Carlow, R93 XE12
SecondaryLocation: Teagasc, Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin 15
Administration
Salary: Admin Grade 4 with a Salary Scale of €53,208 to €74,112
Closing Date: 02/10/2025 12:00 PM
Permanent Full Time
Job Description
Duration:
Permanent. A panel may be formed from which future similar vacancies may be filled; such a panel will remain active for a maximum period of 12 months.
Basic Function:
With organisation wide responsibilities, the successful applicant will play a lead role in the secure delivery and strategic development of Teagasc's ICT technical services. The successful applicant will have strong technical ability, broad experience of various facets of ICT Infrastructure, specific experience and certifications in Microsoft 365 and Azure, project leading abilities and excellent customer and vendor relationship management skills.
The appointee will play an active part in a team that designs, leads projects and manages ICT operations and services across the organisation. The primary purpose is to manage, maintain, secure and develop the Teagasc ICT infrastructure in order to provide an efficient and resilient service to Teagasc staff, students and external clients.
Responsibilities will include oversight of the support of Systems, Networks and Servers, with specific responsibilities around the Office365 suite of tools and Azure Infrastructure. A background knowledge and understanding of server operating systems and hardware, SAN and NAS storage, monitoring, automated deployment of software and patching associated with delivering these services to the organisation is desirable. This will align with the Infrastructure team's focus on improving overall security, robustness and functionality and achieving efficiencies in the delivery of ICT services. The appointee will, in conjunction with the Managed Service partner, external business partners and other ICT staff, lead out on the design and implementation of new infrastructure and the support and security hardening of existing systems and services such as Office365 and Azure.
The appointee may be required to attend both data centre sites in Kildare Street, Dublin 2 and Backweston, Co. Kildare and other sites on both a scheduled or ad-hoc basis.
Hybrid Working:
Applications under the Home Working and/or Remote Working polices of the Agile Working Programme may be considered for up to 2 days per week.
Diversity & Inclusion:
At all levels in Teagasc, we believe in growing and keeping alive an open, diverse and inclusive workplace which is respectful to all and nurtures different perspectives, for the benefit of all in the organisation. We are committed to the principles of 'Equal Opportunities, No Barriers, Active Inclusion'. We actively welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds.
Job Objectives
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
* Actively contribute as a member of the Infrastructure team to the delivery of infrastructure services and support within Teagasc and as a member of the ICT Department to the overall delivery of the Department's goals.
* Manage and participate in the systems administration of our estate of virtual servers and cloud services. Our estate currently entails Windows and some Linux systems, Active Directory, VMware, SAN, Commvault, Veeam, Fileshares, Monitoring platforms, Microsoft on-premise and cloud technologies (Microsoft 365, Azure AD, Teams, Azure Entra External ID, D365 CRM, various Azure Server and Database instances, Dataverse instances and PowerApps dashboards), Juniper, Dell and Cisco switches and other network devices.
* Provide expert/systems knowledge to support and guide the Managed Service partners on the application of Teagasc policies, processes, procedures and standards.
* Participate in Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity planning and exercises.
* Manage the security hardening of cloud systems and applications across the estate.
* Assist with the configuration and management of mobile devices across the estate via Microsoft InTune.
* Responsible for procurement with regard to the acquisition of services, software and hardware including drafting, reviewing and evaluating of tenders.
* Participation in Supplier and Contract Management, including review of Supplier performance and Risk Registers.
* Tracking and reporting the use and ownership of hardware/IT assets throughout their lifecycle.
* Lead planning, scheduling and controlling the build, test and deployment of patching, OS upgrades and software upgrades and assist with the rollout and maintenance of various security and other tools, in conjunction with the Security team.
* Responsible for incident management and resolution.
* Responsible for problem tracking and resolution (including attendance at problem management meetings).
* Project manage own projects and oversee project work being delivered by the Managed Service and external suppliers. Currently various systems are in transition or are planned for likely transition to Microsoft Cloud instances in the foreseeable future. Integrating on-premise and cloud components is becoming a more frequent requirement as tools and architectures evolve.
* Contribute to the maintenance and development of infrastructure documentation.
* Strategic Partnerships - working closely with the ICT Technical Services Manager and Network Manager in developing strategic partnerships and relationships with managed service providers and vendors.
* Research emerging technologies, architectures, service models and products.
* Maintain responsibility for own performance and development through active participation in PMDS and ensure continuous self-development in matters relating to this post.
* Assist Teagasc in meeting the commitments of the Quality Customer Service Charter and Action Plan.
* Fully co-operate with the provisions made for ensuring the health, safety and welfare of oneself, fellow staff and non-Teagasc staff and co-operate with management in enabling Teagasc to comply with legal obligations, including full compliance with the responsibilities outlined in the Safety Statement.
* Such other duties as may be assigned from time to time.
* This Job Specification is intended as a guide to the general range of duties and responsibilities and is intended to be neither definitive nor restrictive. It will be reviewed from time to time with the post-holder.
Skills Requirement
Person Specification
Essential
Desirable
Qualifications
* Candidates will ideally have a Level 8 qualification, as recognised on the National Framework of Qualifications, or equivalent in Computer Science, Information Technology or other relevant discipline. Candidates with a relevant Level 7 or Level 6 qualification will be considered and if successfully appointed will be required to complete a Level 8 qualification (supported by Teagasc) within a three-year timeframe).
* A proven track record of at least 2 years in an Enterprise ICT environment working as a Systems Administrator with a strong component of Microsoft cloud services. This should include solution design, solution implementation and maintenance and cost/billing management.
* 3 to 5 years' experience of relevant technologies – Azure, Office365, Identity and Access Management as it relates to Azure, Exchange On-line, Teams and Active Directory including DHCP and DNS, Commvault, VMware.
* Microsoft Certification in relevant Azure and Office365 technologies.
Skills/Knowledge
* Systems Administration and/or Networking Administration skills and experience.
* Vendor Management, particularly in the context of Managed Service Providers.
* Communicating and Influencing: able to implement effective and efficient communication systems; able to persuade and influence others; able to skilfully negotiate with customers and suppliers.
* Promoting Customer Service Orientation: anticipates changing needs of our service customers and is pro-active at developing effective solutions.
* Procurement and Supplier Management skills.
* Extensive experience of ICT Project Management: ability to lead projects and guide others to achieve deliverables.
* Fluent in English.
* A basic knowledge of the ITIL Service Management methodology.
* Microsoft or other relevant certifications.
* Experience with comparable cloud technologies such as AWS.
* Networking/Firewall/Webfilter/Application filter knowledge/experience and/certifications e.g. CCNA, CCNP.
* ITIL v3/2011 or v4 certification.
* Experience of technologies relating to IPS, IDS, PAM, IAM, SIEM and Syslog.
* Microsoft Windows OS administrator skills, particularly Windows firewalls and security hardening of Windows servers.
* Mobile device management experience with technologies such as InTune or AirWatch.
* PRINCE2 Project Management certification.
* Public sector procurement experience.
* Experience of ticketing systems and effective ticket management skills.
* Experience working in the context of a larger ICT team which includes Service Delivery, Networking, Applications, Security, Research Innovation and Service Delivery.
Behavioural Competencies
* Decision making within the business context: proactively consulting and collaborating with others to achieve the best solutions to work issues
* Structured Work Approach: Self-disciplined, organized and methodical
* Promoting a Quality Service: clearly set out standards and monitor performance against these (for example, service level management of service partners) and actively seek to improve existing processes and systems on a continuous basis.
* Managing Resources Efficiently: plan and organise people and other resources to meet goals within agreed timescales, by tracking and monitoring work in progress and taking appropriate corrective action.
* Positive and Supportive Leadership: lead by example and give encouragement and feedback to colleagues.
* Understanding the Business Context: Understanding the broader context that their works fits into and exercising judgment to achieve the best work solutions.
* Managing Information: structuring the collection and recording of accurate data as well as gathering and disseminating information to relevant groups in a user-friendly manner.
* Promotion of Teamwork and Collaboration: make an active contribution to meeting the objectives of the team by applying expertise and encouraging the sharing of ideas.
* Flexibility and Change: identify changing requirements and shifting work priorities and put in place an appropriate response.
* Initiative and Action Orientation: actively suggests and implements improvements to work processes and works with a high degree of independence yet knows when the involvement of others is required.
* Personal Coping Skills: be resourceful, appropriately assertive, resilient and sustain performance and composure when managing multiple priorities and competing demands.
* Continuous Professional Development: Looks to broaden his/her/their contribution areas through further training or qualifications and gives example and support to other colleagues.
Other
* Candidates must satisfy and continue to satisfy during employment with Teagasc, legal requirements to drive unaccompanied on Irish public roads.
Note: The 'essential' qualifications, knowledge, skills and behavioural competencies outlined above are 'must-have' which will be used in the selection process