Site Reliability Engineer 2
Boise State University

Job Info

About Us:

Boise State University, powered by creativity and innovation, stands uniquely positioned in the Northwest as a metropolitan research university of distinction. Learn more about Boise State and the City of Boise at https://www.boisestate.edu/about/boise-and-beyond/. Boise State University is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty, staff, students, and academic program offerings and to strengthening sensitivity to diversity throughout the institution. Boise State University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, and members of historically underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply. We are a welcoming campus that supports diversity and inclusion.
Job Summary/Basic Function:
The Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) position is focused on operational work in support of Boise State's Amazon Web Services (AWS) environments. The position's responsibilities include troubleshooting, incident response, and other administrative activities in support of the reliability of Boise State services deployed on AWS; as well as development tasks that automate systems and services.
Cornerstone objectives of the Site Reliability Engineer, in support of the operational and development responsibilities, include: ensuring reliability of Boise State services deployed on AWS, expanding the deployment of virtual applications on AWS AppStream, and proactively reducing manual processes in daily operations by designing, building, maintaining and managing an effective CI/CD pipeline.
The Site Reliability Engineer will need to be capable of troubleshooting and analyzing complex problems in a logical, process-oriented manner, be adept at managing large scale changes on a regular basis, and employ creativity and innovation to improve processes that eliminate recurring issues. The Site Reliability Engineer will also be the technical intermediary between the WordPress Support team, business owners in Communications and Marketing, the WordPress theme developer, and the OIT Product Owner.

Level Scope:
Recognized subject matter expert who knows how to apply theory and put it into practice with in-depth understanding of the professional field with limited oversight from managers. Independently performs the full range of responsibilities within the function; requires deep job knowledge of area typically obtained through higher education combined with experience. Manages large projects or processes and problems faced are difficult and often complex; analyzes problems/issues of diverse scope and determines solutions. May manage programs that include formulating strategies and administering policies, processes, and resources; functions with a high degree of autonomy. Influences others regarding policies, practices and procedures.

Essential Functions:
• Operational Support
Respond to incidents and requests, investigate issues, manually apply changes, and expand the deployment of virtual applications on AWS AppStream. This work will span AWS and private cloud systems. Operational support is not performed in a vacuum and will require time spent in collaboration with peers as well as investigation into new methods and practices.
• Development
Develop automation to push toward automatic, not just automated, systems and services. Create and manage monitoring tools that monitor necessary components of systems and services. Create and leverage code delivery pipelines to deliver regular releases of changes into environments. Development work is not performed in a vacuum and will require time spent in collaboration with peers as well as investigation into new methods and practices.

This role will be additionally tasked with automation surrounding our AWS accounts, including tasks related to AWS Organizations, account creation, service control policies, tagging policies, and assisting with multi-account policy changes. This work will involve both operational and development tasks.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:
• Ability to present and explain complex technical concepts, problems, and solutions to both technical and non-technical people.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Self-starting personality, unafraid to display initiative.
• Focus on efficiency, automation, and reducing costs.
• Love to learn, enjoy troubleshooting and thinking through complicated problems
• Ability to persistently apply creative thinking and innovation to solve system and network problems.
• Ability to identify manual and repetitive tasks and automate them while building reusable processes.
• Willingness and ability to maintain a positive, quality-oriented, reliable, and flexible attitude.
• Willingness and ability to do what it takes to achieve objectives, including off-hours support.

Minimum Qualifications:
Bachelor's Degree with 5 years relevant professional experience.
• 1+ year(s) experience interacting with or managing SQL and/or NoSQL databases (MySQL/MariaDB, SQL Server, DynamoDB, etc.)
• 1+ years of application virtualization experience leveraging application virtualization tools (AppStream, Virtual Desktop, Citrix, etc.)
• 1+ year(s) experience with AWS or another major cloud hosting provider (Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud)
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, etc.)
• Proficiency with at least one high-level language (e.g. Python, Golang, etc.)
• Experience with systems operations or software engineering
• Strong understanding of security design principles
• Experience with Git in a team environment
• Experience with network theory e.g. TCP/IP, UDP, ICMP, etc., MAC addresses, IP packets, DNS, OSI layers, and load balancing

Salary and Benefits:
The starting salary for this position is $70,553.60, commensurate with experience. Boise State University is committed to offering a benefits package that provides health and financial protection plans as well as resources to promote health and well-being. Our program provides flexibility so you can choose the benefits that are right for you and your family. Learn more about our benefit options at https://hrs.boisestate.edu/benefits/.

Required Application Materials:
Please update cover letter, resume and provide contact info for three professional references.

Advertised: January 22, 2021
Applications close: February 12, 2021