Storage Administrator

embl; Hinxton; On-site; GBP 54,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

EMBL-EBI is seeking a Storage Administrator to own end-to-end user storage, enforce quotas, and implement tiering strategies across NAS, SAN, Object and Tape systems.

You will collaborate with IT and Technical Services, providing technical consultancy and automating deployment with Ansible while ensuring performance and data integrity in a high-demand research environment.

Qualifications

• Degree in computer science or equivalent industry experience.
• 3+ years of experience operating and maintaining large scale, high-performance storage infrastructures.
• Experience with hardware-based storage solutions across multiple vendors (Isilon, NetApp, Pure, etc.).
• Proven end-to-end lifecycle management of user storage, quota policies, and data tiering.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end management of user storage including quotas and tiering.
• Enforce storage quotas and usage policies; manage data lifecycle from high-performance to archive tiers.
• Design and maintain storage tiering strategies (Tape/Object).
• Automate infrastructure setup/configuration with Ansible; monitor and benchmark performance.
• Provide technical consultancy on storage requirements and best practices.

Skills

Linux administration

Ansible

Python

Storage concepts

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Isilon

NetApp

Pure Storage

Job description

About the role

You will be working closely with members of IT and Technical Services (ITS), and more widely with technical users across EMBL-EBI, you are responsible for the design, deployment, and operation of the substantial storage resources required to support the large data flows fundamental to EMBL-EBI activities.

Your role is not merely operational; it is a user facing technical ownership role. You will act as the primary point of contact for storage consumption, managing the lifecycle of data from high performance tiers to long term archives, ensuring that storage is used efficiently and according to organisational policy.

You will report to the HPC & Storage Coordinator within the Systems Infrastructure Team.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Direct Accountabilities (Ownership): Own the end to end management of user storage, including the definition and enforcement of quota policies and the implementation of storage tiering strategies.
• User Storage Lifecycle : Own the end-to-end management of user storage, including the definition, implementation, and enforcement of storage quotas and usage policies.
• Tiered Storage Management : Be accountable for the implementation and maintenance of storage tiering strategies, ensuring data is moved efficiently between high-performance, standard, and archive tiers (Tape/Object).
• Capacity Governance : Be accountable for monitoring storage consumption and proactively advising users on data management to prevent capacity exhaustion.

Operational Responsibilities

• System Integrity : Ensure the operation, reliability, and integrity of EMBL-EBI's storage resources (including NAS, SAN, Object, and Tape).
• Infrastructure Deployment : Design and implement future storage infrastructure, including logical configuration, physical racking, and cabling.
• Technical Consultancy : Advise users on storage requirements and best practices to ensure the most efficient use of available resources.
• HPC Storage Performance : Work with the HPC team to ensure parallel file systems remain performant, diagnosing issues associated with intense or unusual workloads.
• Automation : Automate the setup and configuration of storage infrastructure using tools such as Ansible.
• Performance Benchmarking : Lead storage benchmarking during procurement and track performance over the lifetime of the systems.
• Monitoring & Reporting : Maintain and update reporting interfaces to deliver accurate monitoring and accounting of the infrastructure.
• Documentation : Produce and maintain high quality technical documentation and operational procedures.

You have

• Degree in computer science or equivalent industry experience
• At least 3 years of experience in the operation and maintenance of large scale and high-performance storage infrastructures
• Diplomatic approach to conflict resolution
• Resilience under pressure.
• Solid experience in the provision of hardware based storage solutions across a range of vendors (Isilon, NetApp, Pure, etc.)
• Proven experience in managing the end-to-end lifecycle of user storage, including the design and implementation of quota policies, advising users on storage best practices, and the technical execution of data tiering.
• Solid experience in bare metal hardware deployment
• Strong Linux administration skills, ideally with RHEL or a RHEL clone
• Solid skills in automation frameworks, including Ansible
• Solid skills in at least one programming language, ideally python
• Experience in debugging complex issues within storage systems related to user/workload behaviours or hardware
• Solid interpersonal and written English communication skills
• Proven ability to work well in a team, building positive relationships and sharing knowledge

You may have

• Solid experience in the provision of high performance, parallel file systems such Lustre, GPFS, Weka or others
• Experience with storage benchmarking tools for example ior, iozone, warp etc.
• Experience with cloud technologies, including Google or AWS certification
• Experience with various network technologies, such as Ethernet and InfiniBand
• Experience with methodologies for infrastructure monitoring

Contract length: 3 years (renewable to a maximum of 9 years)

Salary: Grade 6 depending on relevant experience. Monthly salary starting from £3,861 after tax plus generous benefits and financial allowances depending on family circumstances. Excluding personal pension and insurance contributions.

Why join us

Do something meaningful

At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and p