Storage Administrator

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 as 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.

Next steps: Please submit an up-to-date CV and supporting cover letter outlining your motivations for applying and highlighting relevant transferable skills and experiences.

Why join us

At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.

Join a culture of innovation. We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential.

Enjoy lots of benefits:

• Financial incentives: Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances.
• Flexible working arrangements - including hybrid working patterns.
• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover).
• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to public holidays.
• Relocation package including installation grant (if required).
• Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely).
• Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances.
• Benefits for non-UK residents: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.

What else you need to know

International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions.

Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we believe that diverse teams drive innovation and scientific excellence. We encourage applications from candidates of all genders, identities, nationalities and/or any other diverse backgrounds.

How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. Applications will close at 23:59 CET on the date shown below. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date.