Systems Analyst II

Job Summary:
Responsible for the development, planning, implementation and maintenance of the department’s research-focused technological services including computer, web, and audio-visual services. Responsible for the overall direction of the department’s computing services which includes collaboration with UBC IT and Arts ISIT. Works with and provides supplementary support to the IT Helpdesk.

Job ID: 36082
Location: Vancouver – Point Grey Campus
Employment Group: Management&Professional (AAPS)
Job Category: Information Systems & Tech
Classification Title: Info.Sytems&Technlgy, Level C
Business Title: Systems Analyst II
VP/Faculty: Faculty of Arts
Department: Psychology
Salary Range: $66,787.00 (minimum) – $80,176.00 (midpoint) – $96,212.00 (maximum)
Full/Part Time: Full-Time
Ongoing: Yes
Desired Start Date: 2019/12/16
Funding Type: Budget Funded
Closing Date: 2019/12/15
Available Openings: 1

Organizational Status:
Reports to the Director, Administration and interacts with faculty, staff, and students, as well as various committees. Advises on design, and plans the implementation of new technological solutions for the delivery of research results. Identifies and establishes relationships with partnered departments, research facilities, and external vendors.

The Department of Psychology is a large department within the Faculty of Arts. In addition to 14 administrative staff, we have over 50 faculty members actively pursuing research. Approximately 120 graduate students, 250 student researchers and 30 research staff work in these labs that are located in multiple sites across campus.

Work Performed:
Specific Duties

  • Develops, plans, implements, and maintains policies and procedures for the use of technology to improve the delivery of research and administrative activities
  • Analyzes requirements of users, determines project timelines, outlines workflows, reviews progress, and determines operational priorities
  • Supports physical and virtual servers. Provides technical leadership on purchasing, implementation, maintenance and repair
  • Provides technical leadership on data governance, backup, and maintenance. Responsible for approximately 500TB of research data
  • Interfaces with Compute Canada and other external groups to assist our researchers in accessing and using their services
  • Manages the IT infrastructure including the purchase and maintenance of university computer equipment and servers for both hardware and software
  • Develops internal and inter-departmental software solutions for multiple operating system platforms including Windows, MacOSX, and Linux
  • Negotiates, reviews, and delegates work to various contractors for both internal and external departmental initiatives including IT delivery services and media services
  • Provides overall research computing support to the Department of Psychology which is distributed across 6 buildings
  • Provides client documentation and training based on internal operating procedures and workflows
  • Develops, plans, manages, and modifies the Department of Psychology information technology related security policies to ensure both systems and staff are compliant with regulatory requirements and guidelines set by the University of British Columbia and Province of British Columbia
  • Stays current with web, data center, operation, and end user technology and industry developments. Maintains up-to-date knowledge of current information technology technologies and tools
  • Purchase, deploy, repair, repurpose, and retire department computing devices. Interface with vendors providing hardware purchasing and support
  • Support a wide variety of research specific software for Linux, MacOSX, and Windows operating systems. Some of the software and/or packages are very unique and niche to a particular research focus
  • Designs, develops, and implements both internal IT and end user technical documentation. This encompasses both systems documentation, end user tutorials and training manual
  • Responsible for the development, planning, and delivery of projects and initiatives to support and create complex web applications for research
  • Coordinate and monitor the status of research-specific web applications. Analyze testing requirements and conducts functional and quality testing
  • Investigate bug reports, determine their priority and validity, and communicate relevant information. This includes numerous internal and external facing web applications

Core Duties

  • Researches and evaluates vendor supplied applications, develops recommendations, and implements accordingly.
  • Analyzes and reviews existing or proposed system features and integration, security, scalability and performance requirements with clients, business analysts, and team members.
  • Manages production and non-production application environments.
  • Maintains core application infrastructure, including virtual servers, networks and firewalls.
  • Plans and performs global configuration changes or module deployments for enterprise or complex applications.
  • Integrates vendor supplied applications with existing infrastructure and applications through custom interfaces and components.
  • Manages small to medium sized projects and related budgets.
  • Provides technical expertise, training, and consultation to other staff.
  • Develops or modifies software code to meet specifications or facilitate integration.
  • Conducts testing of new or customized application modules to ensure application meets specifications.
  • Develops application documentation requirements for functions, modifications, back-ups and operating procedures. Provides ongoing maintenance and operational support for applications.
  • Supports application lifecycle and applies and follows appropriate change management methodologies and best practices.
  • Maintains appropriate professional designations and up-to-date knowledge of current information technology techniques and tools and provides input to strategies for ongoing support and upgrade of these systems.
  • Builds and maintains good working relationships and collaborates with others to achieve client objectives.
  • Performs other related duties as required.

Supervision Received:
The position will work independently. Position reports to the Director, Administration.

Supervision Given:
Supervises, hires, trains and evaluates the performance of student employees. Negotiates and reviews services provided by internal and external contractors. Coordinates overall continuity and compatibility of the Department of Psychology IT services with a supported community of faculty, graduates, and staff.

Consequence of Error/Judgement:
Decisions regarding the allocation of operational and research resources must be made with a thorough understanding and insight into the current developments and future trends that occur in the areas of computing services, audio/visual services, web development, and data center operations. Errors in judgement in these areas would severely limit our ability to compete for research funding and provide shared services with other research facilities and collaborators. Failure to effectively manage these areas of would severely impair the data to day teaching, administrative, and research functions of the Department of Psychology.

Qualifications:
Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. University degree in Computer Science with relevant training or significant experience in the appropriate computer systems and applications, or a technical diploma in computer related discipline. Minimum of three years experience or the equivalent combination of education and experience. A minimum of 5 years of experience, in-depth knowledge of applications and the business requirements supporting them or the equivalent combination of education and experience. Supervisory, budgetary, presentation, interpersonal, written and oral communication skills required. Ability to exercise sound judgment. Demonstrated project management, analytical and problem solving skills. Ability to work independently, under pressure and handle multiple tasks. UBC experience a necessity. Knowledge of, and experience supporting Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Microsoft Windows 2008/2012 Server, virtualization using KVM/LibVirt/VMWare, Research Platforms, Data Acquisition Software, Network Stack, Complex Storage Systems, PHP/MySQL, Linux Programming & Scripting Languages (Python, Perl, Bash, Java, Matlab,etc). Knowledge of, and experience supporting research hardware such as eye tracking equipment, EEG systems, cameras, and DAQ systems. Ability to provide quality service to customers in a courteous, patient manner. Core Competencies:

Collaboration (Intermediate – I):
Actively solicits ideas and opinions from others to efficiently and effectively accomplish specific objectives targeted at defined business outcomes. Openly encourages other team members to voice their ideas and concerns. Shows respect for differences and diversity, and disagrees without personalizing issues. Utilizes strengths of team members to achieve optimal performance.

Communicating for Results (Intermediate – I):
Conducts discussions with and writes memoranda to all levels of colleagues and peer groups in ways that support troubleshooting and problem solving. Seeks and shares relevant information, opinions, and judgments. Handles conflict empathetically. Explains the context of interrelated situations, asks probing questions, and solicits multiple sources of advice prior to taking action when appropriate.

Problem Solving (Intermediate – I):
Applies problem-solving methodologies and tools to diagnose and solve operational and interpersonal problems. Determines the potential causes of the problem and devises testing methodologies for validation. Shows empathy and objectivity toward individuals involved in the issue. Analyzes multiple alternatives, risks, and benefits for a range of potential solutions. Recommends resource requirements and collaborates with impacted stakeholders.

Role Based Competencies:

Accountability (Intermediate – I):
Sets objectives that meet organizational needs. Provides recommendations to individuals and teams on ways to improve performance and meet defined objectives. Monitors and provides feedback on individual and team performance against defined standards.

Business Process Knowledge (Intermediate – I):
Maps full business processes and designs operational process flow. Facilitates group input and drafts proposals for process improvements. Identifies resource implications. Implements process improvement recommendations within the context of overall business processes.

Information Systems Knowledge (Intermediate – I):
Resolves escalated problems of technical support. Identifies root causes. Sets up and integrates new and enhanced information systems. Identifies customer needs and determines the appropriate approach to apply and ensure resolution. Solicits the input of appropriate technical experts and managers as required. Ability to work effectively independently and in a team environment.
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Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

To apply, visit UBC’s Human Resources website.