SUPA IT Officer
The Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA) seeks to appoint a dedicated IT specialist to manage the IT support for the SUPA Graduate School videoconferencing facilities, virtual learning environment, on-line prize studentship competition and general SUPA IT tasks such as the SUPA website.
You will be qualified to graduate level or have equivalent relevant experience and will be competent in developing and maintaining web applications, have excellent technical knowledge and coordinating/influencing skills across a range of user communities and desirably have demonstrable experience of providing network service operations and support across multiple UK academic sites.
Recruitment for this post is being handled on SUPA’s behalf by the University of Strathclyde. Although the post is advertised as per Strathclyde terms, it should be noted that consideration will be given to the post being placed at any of the SUPA locations.
Application Procedure:
A letter of application telling us why you have the energy, skills, knowledge and understanding of Higher Education or other ‘Not for profit’ sectors to make a real difference in the post described.
A completed application form to which a full curriculum vitae should be attached. The names and addresses of three referees should be given on the application form. The referees may be contacted by the University without further permission from the candidate unless you indicate to the contrary.
Applications should be lodged with Human Resources, University of Strathclyde, McCance Building, 16 Richmond Street, Glasgow, G1 1XQ by 20 August 2010.
Applicants who wish an acknowledgement of their paper application should address and stamp the enclosed postcard. Online applications will be acknowledged electronically.
Formal interviews for the post will be held on 9 September 2010.
Informal enquiries regarding the post can be directed to Professor Martin at (r.w.martin@strath.ac.uk) or Avril Manners at (Avril.Manners@SUPA.ac.uk) .
The University operates a normal retirement age of 65 or the September following 65th birthday. Applications will only be accepted from people up to the age of 64 years and 6 months at the date of their application unless otherwise stated. This is in line with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.
Duties of the Post:
· Manage and develop systems to work across eight university computing, network and media departments to maintain the support for the SUPA videoconferencing (VC) facility including transmission, relaying, recording and booking of SUPA Graduate School lectures, talks and research collaborations.
· Manage the on-going development, new build and maintenance of the SUPA videoconferencing (VC) facility by working with external contractors, university estate departments and local media teams.
· Develop and update the SUPA virtual learning environment (VLE) facility (currently a Moodle derivative) to ensure ongoing security and accessibility for SUPA students and lecturers.
· Provide IT support for the on-line SUPA Prize Studentship application process including a yearly review and update.
· Design, manage and develop the SUPA specific website in consultation with content providers and local IT teams. Act as webmaster. Develop, update and maintain a content management system (currently a Drupal derivative).
· Provide a service to ensure SUPA technology is maximised by academic staff in the development and transfer of teaching and learning materials, assessments, discussion forums etc
· Support staff in eight university physics departments who provide training for academics and students in the use of the videoconferencing, VLE facilities and website content management systems
· Provide and implement technology solutions to challenges presented by an expanding geographically dispersed scientific community
· Develop and manage the SUPA database of members and electronic communication across SUPA including the set up and maintenance of electronic mailing lists.
· Develop and maintain an on-line results recording and reviewing system ensuring secure access to information and data across SUPA.
· Solve problems to encompass hardware, software and networking issues across a wide range of computing systems and sites. Problems may be automatically reported by the systems or by other monitoring tools.
· Coordinate timely and reliable services, trouble shoot time critical faults and coordinate resolution, co-ordinate service developments
Person Specification:
The following criteria are considered essential:
· Graduate level education or equivalent experience
· Competence in developing and maintaining web applications using scripting or programming languages and tools
· Broad IT technical knowledge and demonstrate appropriate and effective technical documentation skills
· Significant practical experience installing, configuring and supporting web services and their infrastructure
· Significant practical experience of running videoconferencing facilities
· Significant practical experience of running IT support for a VLE
· Demonstrable experience of planning and co-ordinating IT support work
· Manages time and resources by prioritizing and organising effectively
· Must have a flexible approach and be able to undertake other IT duties and one-off projects as necessary
· Works effectively both individually and as part of a team
· Aptitude and ability to learn new skills and technologies rapidly
· Demonstrates a personal investment in professional and technical development and maintains CPD
· Good coordinating and influencing skills across a range of communities
· Excellent communication skills – written and oral
· Recognises the need for change and is forward looking
· Strong investigative and analytical skills
· Willingness to adopt new ways of working and to make improvements
· Willingness to travel between SUPA sites as required
The following criteria are considered desirable:
· Post graduate qualification in an IT related discipline
· Physics background
· Demonstrable experience of network service operation and support across multiple UK academic sites
· Specific programming language/database/tool experience/competence in developing and maintaining e/Learning applications using appropriate scripting or programming languages - Javascript, php/mySQL/Moodle, Drupal
· Demonstrable experience of open source development
Salary:
If the appointment is made to Strathclyde it will be made at an appropriate point on the Grade 7 Salary Scale (currently £28,983 - £35,646 per annum), depending on the qualifications and experience of the successful candidate. This post is available for a fixed-term period of 3 years.
Further Information:
The conditions of service applicable to the post and other information can be found on the Strathclyde website.
