Original job description
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Purpose
Amazing things happen when diverse communities work together to create positive change. Together, we are making things right for our communities, our planet, and our future. Markham Campus embeds York University in the heart of one of the most diverse and dynamic urban communities in the province and country. Reflecting the local economy, academic programs and research revolve around the core themes of technology and entrepreneurship and how they are driving innovation across all areas of knowledge and society.
Challenging the traditions of what a university campus can offer Markham Campus acts as a unique meeting place for students to interact directly with employers, start-up companies, and community partners from across York Region.
Reporting to the Director, Laboratory Services, at Markham Campus and the Computer Development Manager at Lassonde School of Engineering, the Teaching & Research Computing Specialist (Specialist) exists to provide consistent, high-quality teaching and research computing services across York University's Keele and Markham campuses, while accelerating Markham's readiness as programming expands. The Teaching & Research Computing Specialist is a senior technical position shared 50/50 between the two campuses, intentionally structured to leverage the mature, highly scaled environment at Keele within the Lassonde School of Engineering and to support the development of a cohesive, service-oriented computing model at Markham.
The role works across both campuses with shared accountability for service continuity, reliability, standardization, and continuous improvement. The role supports a cross-campus, one-stop-shop approach that is high-performing, user-focused, and grounded in strong collaboration, knowledge transfer, and coordinated service delivery.
Specifically at Keele, the Specialist supports and enhances a large, diverse computing environment comprising more than 50 servers and over 400 Linux and Windows workstations, maintaining reliable, secure, and efficient multi platform infrastructure that underpins teaching and research computing. At Markham, the incumbent plays a key role in designing and implementing new systems and service models to support rapidly growing instructional and research needs, establishing a clear, scalable ' one stop shop' for academic computing while aligning with Keele's proven practices where appropriate.
Education
University degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, IT or related field, or an equivalent of four years' recent experience (defined as within the last five years) working at York University and performing the same or similar tasks. This education equivalency is in addition to the experiential requirements outlined below.
Experience
Seven (7) years of experience administering mixed Linux and Windows environments in a teaching and research; technical academic setting.
Five (5) years of experience supporting research servers and lab computing environments, including bare-metal, virtualized, and shared multi-user systems.
Experience with systems deployment, configuration, administration, monitoring, maintenance, performance tuning, and troubleshooting across multi-platform environments.
Experience architecting, implementing, or extending IT infrastructure, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid infrastructure architectures.
Experience supporting virtualization platforms and virtualized infrastructure in complex technical environments.
Experience developing scripts, internal tools, or software applications to support automation of deployment, maintenance, monitoring, and operational processes.
Experience with backup, recovery, and business continuity procedures in server and infrastructure environments.
Experience with identity and access management, system security practices, patching, and access control administration.
Experience with relational database systems such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle, including installation, maintenance, backup, and basic administration.
Experience developing and maintaining technical documentation, build standards, runbooks, and support procedures to ensure operational continuity and knowledge transfer.
Experience collaborating with faculty, technical staff, vendors, and other stakeholders to assess needs, implement solutions, and support service delivery.
Experience with web development technologies (e.g., PHP, Python, Node.js, or similar).
Skills
Effective communication skills.
Effective project management, time management, prioritization and coordination skills
Effective attention to detail and demonstrated commitment to service excellence, particularly in environments where errors may result in significant academic, research, operational, or security consequences.
Effective judgment and ability to analyze, evaluate and synthesize highly variable and frequently ill-defined technical problems.
Effective analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills. Excellent collaboration skills, with the ability to collaborate across two campuses and diverse technical teams.
Ability to translate technical requirements into actionable system designs.
Effective organizational skills with the ability to balance responsibilities across multiple environments.
Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative development and operations team.
Additional Notes
The role works across both campuses, with a 50/50 split between Markham and Keele.
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If you are a current York University employee in the YUSA-1 bargaining unit and/or are using your job posting rights under the collective agreement to view and apply for jobs, you must apply through the Employee Career Portal - YU Hire to be considered an internal applicant.
As per Article 12.02(f) of the YUSA-1 Collective Agreement, to be considered an internal applicant, employees in the YUSA-1 bargaining unit must submit the application 5 working days following the first day of posting. This is referred to as the 'Posted Date' on the job posting. Please refer to the 'Posting Intent' on the job posting.
The University welcomes applications from all qualified individuals, including, but not limited to women, persons with disabilities, visible minorities (racialized), Indigenous Peoples and persons of any gender identity and sexual orientation. York University is committed to a positive, supportive and inclusive environment.
York University offers accommodation for applicants with disabilities in its recruitment processes. If you are contacted by York University regarding a job opportunity or testing, please advise if you require accommodation.
We are committed to enhancing our environmentally and socially responsible practices for the benefit of all members of the York community. Our long term perspective recognizes our responsibility to be innovators and to continually work as a community to reduce our ecological impact.
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PLEASE NOTE: This job posting is for an existing vacancy. Applications must be received by 11:55 pm EST on the posted deadline date, if applicable. Posting deadlines can be updated, or modified, at any time based on hiring needs. Please refer to the York U Career Portal when confirming posting deadlines.
