Senior Software Administrator - Department of Information Technology Services - 24933 at University of Pretoria/Universiteit van Pretoria

JOB PURPOSE:

Take responsibility for the management, planning, provisioning, maintenance (installation, configuration, upgrade and patching), problem solving, availability, performance/monitoring, backups, disaster recovery and support (also after-hours) of the Oracle Weblogic based Middleware software environments on which the University’s core enterprise applications rely as well as the effective supervision of the Middleware Software Administrator subordinate.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

The successful candidate’s responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

Install and maintain Oracle middleware software infrastructure:

• Ensure that middleware software availability adheres to Service Level Agreements committed to by ITS Management;
• Compile installation and configuration documentation and guidelines to be used by subordinate;
• Install and configure Oracle middleware software;
• Maintain the development, test and production middleware environments by using the appropriate administration tools. This includes configurations, upgrades, patches, deploys, sizing and cloning of environments;
• Monitor and tune the development, test, and production middleware environments with regard to availability, performance and disk space;
• Set up and configure the required mechanisms for monitoring the middleware environments and pro-active alerting when systems are not available or are performing poorly, and respond to these alerts;
• Develop, test and implement processes required for ease of maintenance, monitoring of the middleware environments, and improving these environments (including automation of tasks where applicable);
• Ensure that appropriate backup procedures are implemented by the database administrator and server system team for all relevant environments, and arrange regular testing of restores to ensure that environments can be recovered when necessary;
• Provide after-hours support to ITS Helpdesk, other ITS teams and users with regard to the availability of the middleware environment, and perform after-hours maintenance tasks on the middleware environment, as required;
• Liaise with product vendors and use vendor information sources to resolve software problems and obtain information about new versions, upgrades, patches etc.;
• Attend relevant presentations, seminars, launches, workshops, and courses from vendors;

Documentation and planning:

• Document installation, configuration and maintenance processes and working procedures to ensure a well-documented and well-managed Oracle middleware environment;
• Document the middleware architecture;
• Provide input to the compilation of policies related to the Oracle middleware environment;
• Assist the server team with the design, testing, implementation and maintenance of operating system infrastructure to meet business needs;
• Determine capacity requirements on the middleware environments;
• Do continuous research on new available software versions and compatibility between software, and make recommendations to management regarding viability of upgrades;
• Compile implementation plans for software upgrades and patches across Development, Test and Production Oracle middleware environments;

Support ITS Integration development team:

• Work on specific projects with Capability Development and the ITS Integration team;

Support the ITS Integration team members with:

• Investigation on configurations of middleware products as may be required for addressing business requirements and/or performance issues, and to improve performance;
• Testing and/or performance testing of integration processes;
• Problem solving on integration process related problems;
• Coordination and planning of deployment of integration processes;
• Deploy integration processes to test and production environments by executing scripts as provided by development team;
• Implement procedures to ensure well-managed version control on integration processes;

Administration and adherence to standards, policies and procedures:

• Perform administrative duties e.g. filing, documenting, reporting, attending meetings etc.;
• Control the process of deploying software or software environment changes on production, by opening and managing change control requests;

Must adhere to the following:

• IT policies and procedures;
• Business processes and rules;
• Configuration management and documentation procedures;
• System security techniques and methods;

Human Resources management:

• Improve performance by defining and executing an individual performance development plan;
• Build proficiency levels for current position and future advancement by participating in formal and informal training opportunities;
• Implement effective performance management in accordance with University policy, to develop and enhance the performance of staff members and thus contributing to the overall performance of the University;
• Monitor performance levels of personnel on a continuous basis through formal and informal performance management processes.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• Applicable Bachelor’s degree or B.Tech (e.g. B.Sc., B.Com Informatics, B.Eng.); WITH

A total of five years’ experience as Technical Middleware Software Administrator, which includes the necessary experience of Linux operating systems and installation/maintenance of Oracle WebLogic middleware software, and which may run concurrently with:

• Experience in trouble-shooting and problem resolution;
• Experience in working with users and providing user support;
• Experience in managing staff;

OR

• Applicable IT related three-year Diploma (e.g. National Diploma Computer Science, Diploma in Information Technology); WITH

A total of seven years’ experience as Technical Middleware Software Administrator, which includes the necessary experience of Linux operating systems and installation/maintenance of Oracle WebLogic middleware software, and which may run concurrently with:

• Experience in trouble-shooting and problem resolution;
• Experience in working with users and providing user support;
• Experience in managing staff.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES (SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIOURAL ATTRIBUTES):

Knowledge:

• Linux operating system;

Installation and understanding of:

• Oracle Identity and Access Management software;
• Oracle WebCenter Portal / Spaces software;
• Oracle SOA software;
• Usage of diagnostic and monitoring software;

Technical competencies:

• Troubleshooting within an IT software environment;

Behavioural competencies:

Must be able to:

• Communicate clearly and effectively with all stakeholders;
• Work under pressure and adhere to strict deadlines;
• Follow instructions, guidelines, policies and procedures;
• Identify specific needs and solve problems effectively;
• Manage time and resources effectively;
• Manage and control change;
• Attend to a variety of tasks simultaneously;
• Maintain a high level of professionalism;
• Work in multi-disciplinary team environment;

Must have the correct tendency to:

• Investigate and implement relevant best practices and guidelines;
• Investigate new technologies and methodologies;
• Share knowledge with others and assist with development.

ADDED ADVANTAGES AND PREFERENCES:

• Relevant industry certification (e.g. MCSE, Oracle, etc);

Courses in the following would be recommended:

• Linux;
• Internet and Microsoft Word/Excel;

A total of three years’ experience in:

• The system development life-cycle;
• The underlying data model;
• The architecture and structure of the underlying applications, application tables, and application servers;
• Application integration;
• Using relevant system administration tools;
• Automating system maintenance;
• Scripting;
• Proper documentation of all relevant systems.