Senior Systems Administrator

Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) has an immediate opening for a Senior Systems Administrator, at our Headquarters in Waimea (Kamuela), Hawai'i, USA.

CFHT offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience, and a generous benefit package that includes medical/dental insurance, 21 days paid vacation, family medical/parental leave, a defined-contribution retirement plan, and tuition support for dependent minors.

Main Responsibilities & Core Duties

Your essential set of duties will be to:

• Take the lead on network administration, security, and design across the company and observatory.
• Provide, as part of our Systems Administration team, timely and professional support to internal and external end users.
• Take the initiative to make things better, easier, "cooler".
• Collaborate, advise, and assist fellow CFHT staff, from the Executive Team to visiting students and interns in an exceptional and confidential manner.
• Provide support, including in-person, remotely, and, as needed, after-hours, at the CFHT Headquarters and at the Observatory on Maunakea.
• Stay up-to-date on technology trends and industry developments and standards, including reviewing and recommending new or upgraded systems and technologies for use at the company.
• Support the objectives of the company, including, chiefly, providing outstanding astronomical scientific data to our worldwide community of scientists.

Technical Skills & Expertise

To be successful in this position, you should have at least two (2) years of experience in networking and related fields, and:

• Proficiency with most of the following systems and technologies: DNS, DHCP, LDAP, VLAN, STP/MSTP, Static routing, LACP, Subnetting, NAS/RAID, Server configuration (Linux/Windows), and virtual environment setup and management.
• The skills to deploy, administer, and support wired and wireless network infrastructure at Headquarters and the Observatory.
• The ability to perform hardware and software administration and maintenance, including updates, system backups, user management, and sharing and workflow configurations, in addition to physical networking/cabling.
• Expertise to establish and maintain an effective security posture through proper network segmentation, Firewalls, VPNs, and other technologies.
• Confidence to troubleshoot and maintain existing systems throughout their lifecycle, and to conduct vendor/manufacturer support submissions.
• Excellent documentation abilities for creating and maintaining accurate records of procedures, configurations, IP addresses, and other important information.

Professional Expectations

In addition to your technical skills and abilities, it is expected that you will be:

• A holder of a Bachelor of Science (or equivalent degree) in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a closely related field in physical science; or equivalent experience acquired in Network and System Administration, in addition to the 2+ years of professional experience noted above.
• Of upstanding character: trustworthy, dependable, committed, and able to maintain confidentiality, as needed.
• Highly motivated, of friendly demeanor, with a strong desire to be creative and have fun.
• Respectful of the diversity of the company, both in terms of people and opinions, and the local community of which it is a part.
• Willing, as needed, to provide on-call support during astronomical observations, that take place during the overnight hours.
• Willing, as needed, to travel to the observatory location at the summit of Maunakea (~13,800ft/4200m) to fulfill your duties.
• Willing to participate in other projects and activities, as assigned.

What You'll Learn

Ongoing professional development is key to being successful. If you are not already in possession of the following, we expect you will be over the course of your career at CFHT:

• You will accumulate the skills needed to obtain a valid, well-recognized network certificate.
• You will gain experience working with: RADIUS, MFA implementations, ZFS, Docker/Kubernetes, and workload automation.
• You will gain experience with the following software: Proxmox, pfSense, FS-switches, HPE switches, TrueNAS, FreePBX, Synology DSM, UniFi, Git, Zoom, Microsoft 365, Windows AD.
• You will gain experience in scripting (Bash, Python etc.)
• You will gain experience working with email servers, and associated configurations and management.
• You will gain experience hardening servers, clients, networks, and IoT devices to cybersecurity threats.

Before Applying

If you've made it this far, we say 'mahalo' for your interest in working at CFHT! There are a couple things we'd like you to know:

Remote Work Policy

CFHT offers partially-remote work options (max: 50% remote) to qualified employees, at the discretion of, and with the approval of their manager and the Executive Director. However, new employees who are within the first six (6) months of their employment, are required to be on-site at the CFHT Headquarters full-time (0% remote). After six months, and a successful completion of the new hire probationary period, employees can seek approval of an individualized remote work plan with their manager.

Observatory Location & Hiring Practices

CFHT is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EEO), and all qualified individuals are encouraged to apply. Federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability, or genetic information.

CFHT is located on the island of Hawai'i (also know as 'The Big Island'), and the observatory is located on Maunakea. Maunakea is culturally significant to the Native Hawaiian people, and CFHT conducts all operations with the upmost respect for our historic and unique location. All CFHT employees are expected to treat Maunakea with respect and to acknowledge the privileged position they hold while being present on Maunakea.

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