Systems Administrator

Building the space between proven and possible, MDA Space (TSX:MDA) is a trusted mission partner to the global space industry. A robotics, satellite systems and geointelligence pioneer with a 55-year+ story of world firsts and more than 450 missions, MDA Space is a global leader in communications satellites, Earth and space observation, and space exploration and infrastructure. With 40 years of operational experience and proven performance on the iconic Canadarm programs including Space Shuttle and International Space Station robotics and operations support, our Robotics & Space Operations team has 100% mission success in making space dreams come true.

The Role:

We’re on the hunt for a Systems Administrator in our Geointelligence team.

Our mission is to turn data into insight. From detecting changes in fragile ecosystems to monitoring northern ice floes and shipping routes, our near-real time data of Earth observation and the environment makes our Geointelligence team a leader in geospatial imagery, ground stations, enterprise geospatial systems and defence programs.

As a member of the Engineering team you will work on our programs such as Chorus Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Satellite, Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC), Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope, Aeronautical Navigation products, and Marine Insights products. You will work as part of a technical team to develop new capabilities, enhance existing capabilities and deliver solutions to our customers.

As a Systems Administrator, you will contribute to the design, implementation, and maintenance of specialized computer systems for various MDA customers.

Responsibilities:

• Participating in the procurement, installation, configuration and administration of specialized computer systems for MDA customers
• Key contributor to system network and hardware design.
• Installation of hardware, networking and operating systems.
• Troubleshooting system and network issues.
• Developing strategies and approaches to integrating on-premise systems and cloud-deployed systems including upgrades and enhancements, in the areas of networking and security, cost monitoring and minimization, and system management and maintenance.
• Working together with stakeholders to develop solutions that satisfy customer requirements, system constraints, security concerns, project needs and corporate IT policies.
• Contributing to system designs to provide solutions that are technically competitive, cost-effective, reliable, maintainable and satisfy customer needs.
• Updating and developing tools, processes, and best practices that contribute to the continual improvement of development, deployment, and maintenance activities such as automated scripts, test procedures, installation plans, etc.
• Supporting, collaborating with, and providing guidance to customers, development and integration teams.
• Developing, maintaining and documenting facility requirements specifications and the on-site network/hardware installation plans.
• Maintaining configuration control of all system components (HW and COTS SW), track components, media and data within classified systems and support audits of the system
• Provide product in-service support for equipment fielded with customers, both on customer sites and in factory, including: incoming HW inspections, diagnosis, repair, testing, formal-testing with QA witness, and test report generation.

Requirements:

• A Diploma, Degree or equivalent experience in computer systems, computer science, Information Systems or related fields, and 5+ years of relevant professional experience.
• Have a solid understanding and System Administration experience on operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and VMware
• Experience installing, assembling, configuring and maintaining both enterprise equipment and bespoke boards and assemblies.
• Experience in command line interfaces in Windows and Linux-based operating systems.
• Experience in Active Directory Services, DHCP, DNS and IIS.
• Experience in Virtual environments.
• Experience in high availability and disaster recovery.
• Experience installing firewalls and enterprise managed network switches.
• Experience with monitoring tools for troubleshooting and performance reporting.
• Ability to physically install equipment such as racking servers, storage, power distribution, air conditioning, network equipment, workstations and monitors.  This includes lifting heavy equipment (approx. 50lb), climbing ladders and running cables including under subfloors.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate with internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to quickly learn on the job and leverage your experiences and knowledge.
• Excellent general trouble shooting, problem-solving, creative and critical thinking skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication.
• Ability to travel to customer location for onsite diagnosis or deployment as required.
• Ability to work in teams as well as with minimum supervision.
• Ability to take initiative on issues that arise.

 Desirable:

• Experience architecting complex systems deployed in on-premise and/or cloud infrastructure, including:
  • Network infrastructure such as firewalls, load balancing, virtual networks
  • Compute infrastructure including VM management, storage mechanisms, scaling mechanisms
  • Security design and best practices
• Experience with hybrid environments that require interaction between systems running in the cloud and on-premise.
• Experience with infrastructure as code (e.g. Terraform, AWS CloudFormation).
• Experience with shell scripting (e.g. bash, Powershell).
• Experience with enterprise backup software systems.
• Experience with configuration management systems (e.g. Git).
• Experience in Operating System and Active Directory security hardening.
• General knowledge of programming and software development.
• An understanding of modern software architectures, network architectures, security principles, and software deployment patterns.
• Experience with highly secure environments following NIST 800-171 and/or CIS guidelines.
• Experience in partially air-gapped environments with limited internet access.
• Operating system, network or cloud platform certifications.

Comments/Special Considerations:

Successful candidates must obtain and hold security clearance at the SECRET level, and pass security assessment for the Controlled Goods Program (CGP).

We’re a dream team of purpose-driven, collaborative and passionate people, and we are constantly looking for others to join #TeamMDA to ignite new and innovative approaches to problem-solving that push us forward to improve life on and above Earth. If you’re excited to expand our place in space and driven to inspire the next generation, we’ll take you there.

We have entered a new era of exploration and development, and MDA welcomes all who yearn to suit up and be part of it. An equal opportunity employer prizing diversity, integrity and collaboration, we are committed to growing MDA’s and Canada’s leadership in this next golden age.

MDA Space is proud to provide accommodation(s) during the recruitment process.  Should you require any accommodations, please indicate this on your application/cover letter and we will work with you to meet your accessibility needs.

The compensation range for this position is $75,000 - $100,000 annually. The specific compensation offered will be based on the qualifications and experience of the successful candidate.