Analyst/Senior Analyst – Storage and Servers

Summary of the role

ECMWF are looking for an experienced analyst with a strong background in supporting large scale data storage systems and Linux system administration.  The successful candidate will be based in Bologna and work as part of the six-person Storage and Servers team currently working between the offices in Reading and Bologna.

The team is responsible for the day-to-day operation and improvement of the ECMWF data storage systems, comprising tape libraries, disk systems, SAN and NAS attached storage as well as the support and provisioning of servers. This position involves working closely with software analysts responsible for developing and supporting the specialised in-house archiving software. 

ECMWF’s data volume and requirements are constantly growing and evolving.  This role is expected to be instrumental in defining the strategy of the Centre’s storage services.  Part of this process involves the evaluation of future technologies, as well as the selection and introduction of state-of-the-art products.

A key technology used by the team is IBM’s High Performance Storage System (HPSS).  HPSS is a complex and specialised software layer designed to support the largest multi-layered storage systems.  The candidate is expected to have recent practical experience of HPSS or other large-scale and complex data storage systems.  They will need to work on a daily basis to support and configure the system and develop a deep knowledge of the product. 

For more details of HPSS, refer to . 

About  Storage and Servers 

ECMWF operates a large-scale very active on-premises data archive, in which all ECMWF users (internal, Member State and external users) can store and retrieve data needed to support both weather forecasting research and operational forecast production. Today this system holds more than 1 exabyte of data, consisting of about 750 petabytes of primary data and about 250 petabytes of the most essential primary data duplicated into the on-site disaster recovery system. More than 500 terabytes of new data are added each day.

The underlying storage hardware is tape, and we have 10 high-capacity tape libraries, hosting more than 450 IBM enterprise tape drives and 64 LTO tape drives, giving access to data held on 55,000 tapes. On top of this tape layer, there are tens of petabytes of high performance and high-capacity disk and solid-state storage to provide cache and buffer space to the ECMWF archive services which are served by many HPE and Dell servers.  Cloud and geo-distributed storage are not yet part of the portfolio but is expected to be in the near future.

About ECMWF

ECMWF is the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. It is an intergovernmental organisation created in 1975 by a group of European nations and is today supported by 34 Member and Co-operating States, mostly in Europe. The Centre’s mission is to serve and support its Member and Co-operating States and the wider community by developing and providing world-leading global numerical weather prediction. ECMWF functions as a 24/7 research and operational centre with a focus on medium and long-range predictions and holds one of the largest meteorological archives in the world. The success of its activities relies primarily on the talent of its scientists, strong partnerships with its Member and Co-operating States and the international community, some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and the use of innovative technologies such as machine learning across its operations. 

ECMWF has recently become a multi-site organisation, with its headquarters based since its creation in Reading, UK, its new data centre in Bologna, Italy, and new offices in Bonn, Germany. It has also recently adopted a hybrid organisation model which allows its staff to mix both office working and teleworking. This generous and flexible model provides our staff with considerable flexibility to spend time outside or away from their duty station and decide how they wish to manage their professional working time at ECMWF. ECMWF is an organisation that values the whole being and both understands and values the need for flexibility in the way its staff work.

For additional details, see www.ecmwf.int.

Main Duties and Key Resonsibilities

• Assisting with the overall management of the HPSS & DB2 systems together with their configuration and automation
• Work closely with operation and developer analysts responsible for supporting the specialised in-house archiving services (MARS and ECFS)
• Liaise with Data Centre engineers and vendor technicians to install and configure the flash, disk, SAN and tape systems that underly these archives
• Working closely with development teams of various vendors, evaluate new software, storage devices and media.  Being part of the strategic planning and implementation of the storage and cloud infrastructure
• Assisting in the day-to-day maintenance, monitoring and support of the service. This will entail providing periods of 24-hour on-call support as part of a rota within the team
• Creating and maintaining monitoring scripts, tools, documentation and providing operational training for the running of the service, ensuring it is maintained effectively and efficiently
• Assist with the configuration and support of the server farm running RedHat and Rocky Linux together with supporting the data platforms; NetApp ONTAP, TrueNAS, Ceph and Archiware P5

What we are looking for

• Demonstrate previous experience of working well and building relationships within a team of computing professionals and wider teams within an organisation
• Engaging in and contributing towards technical discussions within a team
• Listening and taking on board all views to jointly identify the best way to proceed
• Having a flexible approach to handle the diverse requirements of this role, able to adapt and respond to sudden changes
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, working methodically and proactively
• Working independently and reliably in managing pressured time critical situations
• Appreciate and seek opportunities to collaborate with subject matter experts from storage and other fields to understand complex technical concepts, users’ requirements and consider how to translate these findings into deliverable solutions

Education, experience, knowledge and skills (including language)

We encourage you to apply even if you don’t feel you meet precisely all of the these criteria.

Education

• A university degree (EQF Level 6), preferably in computer science or in a technical or scientific subject, or equivalent professional qualification and experience

Experience required in the following areas

• Experience with IBM’s HPSS or similar large scale data archiving product is highly advantageous
• Very good experience in at least one of the following is required:
  –    Administration of large-scale disk and/or tape system hardware
  –    Administration of a collection of servers running Linux 
  –    Automated configuration using Ansible
  –    Infrastructure management using Red Hat Satellite
• Knowledge of a modern scripting language such as Python is required
• Experience of supporting storage area networks and/or network attached storage systems is desirable
• Some experience of configuring and troubleshooting local area network is beneficial 

Knowledge and skills required

• Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and interviews will be conducted in English
• Fluency in Italian would be advantageous as would knowledge of one of the Centre’s other working languages (French or German)

Other information

Grade remuneration

The successful candidate will be recruited at the A2 or A3 grade, according to the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations and the selection of whether this becomes an A2 or A3 post will be based upon the experience of the candidate being offered the post and the level to which they met the duties and attributes of the position. The position is assigned to the employment category STF-C as defined in the ECMWF Staff Regulations. Full details of salary scales and allowances available on the ECMWF website at www.ecmwf.int/en/about/jobs.

Starting date:                As soon as possible

Length of contract:      Four years, with the possibility of further contracts

Location:                         The position is based at ECMWF’s Data Centre in Bologna, Italy.

Candidates are expected to relocate to the duty station.

Interviews by videoconference (MS Team) are expected to take place approximately a month after the closing date.  If you require any special accommodations in order to participate fully in our recruitment process, please contact us.

Successful applicants and members of their family forming part of their households will be exempt from immigration restrictions

Interviews by videoconference (via Teams ) are expected to take place during July 2024.

Who can apply

Applicants are invited to complete the online application form by clicking on the apply button.

At ECMWF, we consider an inclusive environment as key for our success. We are dedicated to ensuring a workplace that embraces diversity and provides equal opportunities for all, without distinction as to race, gender, age, marital status, social status, disability, sexual orientation, religion, personality, ethnicity and culture. We value the benefits derived from a diverse workforce and are committed to having staff that reflect the diversity of the countries that are part of our community, in an environment that nurtures equality and inclusion.

Applications are invited from nationals from ECMWF Member States and Co‑operating States, listed below:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

In these exceptional times, we also welcome applications from Ukrainian nationals for this vacancy.

Applications from nationals from other countries may be considered in exceptional cases.