Principal Systems Engineer

Job content

About RM

RM is the leading supplier of technology and resources to the education sector, supporting schools, teachers and pupils across the globe - from pre-school to higher education – including examination boards, central governments and other professional institutions.

Our purpose is to enrich the lives of learners worldwide and we aim to improve the life chances of people - worldwide – by delivering great education products and services that help teachers to teach and learners to learn.

Join RM and Learn What’s Possible for you in your career

We’re on the lookout for a Principal Systems Engineer to join our team.

What we can offer you;

• £55,000 - £65,000 salary depending on experience
• 25 Days Annual Leave (with an option to buy an extra 5 days)
• Performance related bonus scheme

What’s the purpose of the role?

RM Connectivity Services develops, delivers and supports RM‘s Internet services product portfolio, primarily focussed on the schools and education sector. RM Connectivity Services have been providing Internet services since 1995 and currently supplies them to over 3000 sites and 2+ million users. Services include leased line, FTTP, FTTC or ADSL Internet connectivity; RM SafetyNet web filtering; managed firewalls and security services; remote access VPNs; DNS hosting; e-mail and anti-spam; and web hosting.

RM Connectivity Services is an ISO 27001:2013 certified ISP.

The job holder will work within the Connectivity Infrastructure development team, and will be responsible for leading the technical development and 3rd line operational support of various ISP-based products and services.

The job holder will work at all stages of the development life cycle, from conception or initial user requirements through design, development, testing, operational and delivery handover and product maintenance.

The job holder will work closely with the Product Management team who generate the original requirements, or the Project team formed to handle a specific project resulting from a major tender. Additionally the job holder will take operational escalations from our India-based NOC and with our internal and external customers.

What does the job entail?

The Principal Systems Engineer role is a technical role and is broken down into the following areas:

• Responsibility for leading the ongoing support and operational function of the ISP network and associated services, providing a 3rd line support role for escalated support requests from our India-based NOC. This support extends to outside normal working hours via an on-call rota and may involve some anti-social hours. Technical leadership in major incident scenarios is required.
• Architect, design and implementation of ISP services with a particular focus on Linux based technologies in a project oriented environment. They will implement and follow formal development processes and introduce improvements to existing processes. The job holder will be expected to be able to work independently within their own projects with minimal technical input from peers. Team working is essential and the job holder will need to provide technical leadership to our operations teams to ensure any projects are fully operationally embedded.
• The job holder will be tasked with identifying and implementing improvements to the RM Connectivity Services estate in order to improve service to our customers, increase operational and delivery efficiency and help grow the RM Connectivity Services business.
• In order to perform maintenance activities, implement project-related infrastructure and respond to emergency incidents the job holder will be required to travel to RM Connectivity Services nationwide locations. A full UK driving license and flexibility to travel at potentially short notice is therefore essential. Opportunities for occasional travel to our RM India operation will also be available.
• You will act as mentor and coach to more junior members of the team and facilitate a close working relationship across the UK and India Connectivity DevOps and NOC teams. You will provide technical training, share and embed best practice and processes and ensure these are adhered to.
• The job holder will also need to understand the role that other teams from around the company play in delivering operational support and any project deliverables. Good people and communication skills are important in this role.

What are we looking for?

5+ years’ experience developing and operating ISP or large enterprise related infrastructure.

Detailed Technical And Operational Knowledge In The Following

• Linux (preferably Red Hat/CentOS based distributions). RHCSA/RHCE certification or equivalent knowledge.
• Ansible Configuration Management
• RedHat Satellite / Foreman
• IPTables, IPRoute2, LVS

Technical Knowledge And Operational Experience Of The Following

• Networking, including Cisco/Juniper Switching and Routing, MPLS, routing protocols including BGP and OSPF, firewalls and network security. JNCIP or CCNP certifications or equivalent knowledge.
• Containers, including Docker and Kubernetes
• Git, CI/CD
• Azure / AWS
• Server load balancing (IPVS)
• Web Filtering / Proxies (Squid)
• DNS (Bind / PowerDNS)
• Mail (Postfix / Sendmail)
• Knowledge of open-source monitoring tools such as Icinga, Grafana, Prometheus.
• Knowledge of the integration between Linux server environments and the underlying network stack, including MPLS etc.
• Experience of programming languages and scripting for automation, including Python, Bash.
• Excellent planning and organising skills to determine and manage project timescales and estimates.
• Excellent communications & influencing skills.
• The ability to produce and present workshops and training sessions and the ability to influence RM Connectivity Services management and Technical Architects.
• The ability to achieve results through effective delegation.
• Good incident and problem troubleshooting skills, analytical skills and ability to collate and interpret data from multiple sources. Ability to assess and prioritise faults and respond or escalate appropriately

The Following Skills And Experience Are Also Desirable

• RHCSA / RHCE
• CCNP / JNCIP
• VMWare VCP

What’s in it for you?

As well as a competitive salary, you could earn a performance related bonus and you would receive our core benefits package which includes private medical healthcare, life assurance and a Group Personal Pension Plan with higher contribution levels available.

There is lots of voluntary benefits too. You could buy additional annual leave, join our dental plan, sign for a health assessment or take part in our cycle to work scheme. You could even earn yourself an extra bonus for successfully recommending a friend or family member for a position within RM.

At RM we are committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the customers and communities we serve, and to creating an inclusive and flexible workplace where all our colleagues can be themselves and succeed on merit.