Senior Technical Analyst (Datacentres)

Job Title: Senior Technical Analyst (Datacentres) 

Department: Computing and Information Services (CIS)

Grade: Grade 6  

Salary range: £27,929 - £34,308 per annum

Working arrangements: 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday, with occasional “out of hours” requirements. The University operates a hybrid scheme, to allow staff to work flexibly on and off campus. 

Closing date: 25/01/2023

Potential Interview Date: 06/02/2023

The University  
At Durham University we are proud of our people.  A globally outstanding centre of educational excellence, a collegiate community of extraordinary people, a unique and historic setting – Durham is a university like no other.   

Across the University we have a huge variety of roles and career opportunities, which together make us a large and successful community, which is a key hub of activity within our region and nationally.  Whether you are at the very start, middle or end of your career, there is a role for you. We believe everyone has their own unique skills to offer.   

We would be thrilled if you would consider joining our thriving University.  Further information about the University can be found here .
  
The Role and the Department  

The Computing and Information Services (CIS) has an annual operational budget in excess of £12m, multi-million-pound programmes of change within year, and approximately 185 staff. The Senior Leadership Team report directly to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) with the following portfolios: Strategy and Change; Operations; Information Systems, and Cyber Security. CIS work with departments across the university to provide academic, teaching and administrative services that underpin the day-to-day activities of the whole organisation. Details of the Digital Strategy and ongoing work can be found at Digital Strategy - Durham University .  

CIS is a friendly, but demanding department, where much is expected and can be achieved by competent, self-motivated individuals who are demonstrable in their teamwork ability. The department works in a hybrid capacity depending on the job role and individual personal requirements.

Reporting to Technical Lead (Datacentres) you will work as part of a team to carry out

• Maintain a safe and secure working environment within the Datacentres
• Perform basic troubleshooting of infrastructure and escalate to Estates & Facilities Directorate staff if necessary
• Liaise with stakeholders to ensure infrastructure meets their requirements
• Hardware commissioning/decommissioning
• Hardware Audits

• Assess Access Control requests from individual departments and University Projects
• Use the Symmetry Access Control software to implement customer requirements
• Monitor and troubleshoot database operations on the Access Control server
• Perform basic troubleshooting of access control faults and escalate to external maintenance contractors if necessary
• Installation of temporary card printing facilities at times of peak demand
• Process ad-hoc requests for temporary changes to normal Access Control operation

• Configuration of backup jobs
• Tape handling processes

While carrying out the duties of this role, you will interact with staff at all levels across the University and external contractors.

Working at Durham    

A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic benefits you will receive if you join the University: you will also receive access to the following fantastic benefits:   

• 27 Days annual leave per year in addition to 8 public holidays and 4 customary days per year – a total of 39 days per year. The University closes between Christmas and New Year.
• No matter how you travel to work, we have you covered.  We have parking across campus, a cycle to work scheme which helps you to buy a bike and discount with local bus and train companies.  
• Lots of support for health and wellbeing including discounted membership for our state-of-the-art sport and gym facilities and access to a 24-7 Employee Assistance Programme.  
• On site nursery is available and children’s clubs in the summer holidays.  
• Family friendly policies, including maternity and adoption leave, which are among the most generous in the higher education sector (and likely above and beyond many employers).  
• There is a genuine commitment to developing our colleagues professionally and personally.  There is a comprehensive range of development courses, apprenticeships and access to qualifications and routes to develop your career in the University.  All staff have dedicated annual time to concentrate on their personal development opportunities.
• The opportunity to take part in staff volunteering activities to make a difference in the local community.
• Discounts are available via our benefits portal including; money off at supermarkets, high street retailers, IT products such as Apple, the cinema and days out at various attractions.   
• We offer generous pension schemes.    

Durham University is committed to equality diversity, inclusion and values  

Our collective aim is to create an open and inclusive environment where everyone can reach their full potential and we believe our staff should reflect the diversity of the global community in which we work.   As a University equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are a key part of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do.  We also live by our values and our Staff Code of Conduct.  At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community which is supportive and inclusive. It’s important to us that all of our colleagues are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI.  
  
We welcome and encourage applications from members of groups who are under-represented in our work force including people with disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.  If you have taken time out of your career, and you feel it relevant, let us know about it in your application.  If you are a candidate with a disability, we are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, reasonable adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

What you need to demonstrate when you apply/Person Specification  
  
When you apply it is important that you let us know what skills/experience you have from a similar role and/or what skills/experience you have which would make you right for this role.  Further information about the role and responsibilities is at the end of this job description.  Where a criteria has an asterisks* next to it, it may be given additional weighting when your application is considered.    
  
Your application should cover the following criteria:  

Essential Criteria 

Desirable Criteria

How to apply  
  
To progress to the assessment stage, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification above.  Where there are desirable criteria, we would also urge you to provide any relevant evidence.  Please don’t forget to check if there is any weighted criteria (see above).  
  
While some criteria will be considered at the shortlisting stage, other criteria may be considered later in the assessment process, such as questions at interview.    
  
Submitting your application   
  
We prefer to receive applications online.  We will update you about your application at various points during the process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails   
   
What you are required to submit:  

Contact details   
  
If you would like to have a chat or ask any questions about the role, Jason Scotney would be happy to speak to you. Please contact him at [email protected] , 07853433135  
 

Typical Role Requirements  

Service Delivery

• Work independently or with other staff or contractors across the University to deliver infrastructure services and projects.
• Build, test and implement equipment, facilities, technical and virtual architecture solutions. 
• Perform maintenance procedures and tasks and takes action to respond to vulnerability issues and security incidents. 
• Manage and monitor systems to ensure safety, security and compliance with regulations for the University Estates and infrastructure.  
• Maintain asset registers ensuring that the administration of the acquisition, storage, distribution, movement and disposal of assets is documented. 
• Demonstrate ability to use a range of software tools, equipment and virtual or digital services. 
• Take responsibility for carrying out more specialist risk assessments and incident resolution. 
• Record data and information accurately, provide reports and distribute information to key stakeholders in the process or service.  
• Interpret and present information, data, equipment and resources. 
• Implement and monitor protocols, procedures, processes and regulations. 
• Monitor and report incidents. 
• Implement and monitor recognised procedures to ensure compliance and meet University values of inclusion, diversity and participation. 
• Accountable for managing/maintaining financial and budget records and reconciling consumable expenditure queries. 
• Involved in the purchase and return of goods and services. 
• A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and the University’s values.

Planning and Organising

• Plan and organise own workload with or without involvement with project work streams. 
• Plan and manage projects, ensuring the delivery of objectives in order to maintain and improve service provision.  
• Carry out more in-depth investigations, searches and research information and data to identify trends and patterns. 
• Support the capture of business requirements from users and work with colleagues to translate these into recommendations for future service provision. 

Teamwork/Networking/Stakeholders

• Reactive and proactive service provision with others to deliver an excellent stakeholder experience. 
• Supervises service users and stakeholders undertaking activities, events, project work and exhibitions. 
• Liaise with key stakeholders and client representatives across the University to inform and advise about key structural, physical, and virtual environmental changes. 
• Contribute to business meetings, working groups and committees to help shape service delivery and stakeholder expectations. 
• Relationship building, network participation internally and externally to build and update knowledge and skills. 
• Engage with external peers and specialists to exchange knowledge and information. 
• Liaise and network with contractors and third-party suppliers to facilitate the exchange of information and help focus joint effort with projects and service delivery. 
• Engage with internal and external networks, exchanging knowledge and information to provide input into the planning and development of future projects and services. 
• Provide demonstrations and instruction to others outside the team. 

Knowledge and Experience

• Experienced service practitioner, planning and co-ordinating of projects and work streams with inter-related activities. 
• Take responsibility for day-to-day decision making within own area of responsibility for operational aspects of service delivery, translating external requirements into practical application and advice. 
• Specialist support with problem solving and query handling.
• Any other reasonable duties. 

Useful links  
If you would like further information, you may find the following will help:

https://www.durham.ac.uk
 
Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.durham.ac.uk/about-us/governance/information-governance/privacy-notices/privacy-notices/job-applicants/  which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.    

When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds which are applicable to some visas.