Senior BI DevOps Engineer (Architecture)

JOB DESCRIPTION

Santam’s Guidewire BI DataHub team is looking for a Senior DevOps Engineer, with a solid Solution Architecture background.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The incumbent will work with the broader BI Team, specifically with Technical Architecture and Release & Deployment Management to support and maintain the BI DataHub technical infrastructure, DevOps processes & procedures. Specific emphasis for this role will be the support of the development teams, implementation of alerting & monitoring and the support of infrastructure and application components. Technical mentorship of the devops engineers is a critical component of this position, to ensure that the devops capability support the BI architectural guidelines and framework, with emphasis on stability and constant optimisation
 

PRINCIPLE ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Technical support of BI Datahub technology (hardware, software, databases - including upgrades, resolving vulnerabilities)
• Administration of infrastructure deployment, technical support procedures, application deployments & releases, servers, nodes, databases, etc.
• Monitoring and management of hardware & software resource performance (CPU, Memory, Disk I/O, etc.)  across all environments and take decisive action where potential business user impact is anticipated or experienced
• Collaborating with Architects and Technical Specialists on ways to automate and improve the development, release management and production observation processes & procedures
• Collaborates with Solution Architects, ETL developers, data engineers and data analysts to ensure that development follows established processes and works as intended
• Ensure that all BI solutions align to the Approved BI architecture framework
• Technical guidance to BI Devops engineers
• System troubleshooting and maintenance
• Installation of software (from operating systems through to applications) across environments

General Functions

• Consult with the Solution Architects on the Guidewire platform (PolicyCenter, BillingCenter, ClaimCenter, ContactManager, Digital, Data) in terms of application configuration and infrastructure to support application services
• Identification of bottlenecks and process inefficiencies and collaborate with team to create and implement improvements
• Identification of potential risks / issues and give input into risk plan
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive understanding of the internal workings of key software packages within BI DataHub 
• Work with key vendors to understand their current and future offerings & services with a view of adopting and driving broad implementation
• Collaborates with Architect and Technical Specialist on the future BI architecture, the implementation roadmap and solution architectures. 

Quality Assurance

• Work as a team member with Development teams and technical staff, to ensure the solutions/amendments are implemented according to best practice
• Participate in various Troubleshooting & Problem-Solving initiatives setup and managed by Technical Support and/or SGT

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• National Diploma / Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Informatics, Information Systems, Information Technology, Engineering or another quantitative field preferred
• Minimum 8 years of DevOps engineering experience
• Minimum 5 years of exposure in BI Solution Architecture enviroment
• Working experience with Windows, scripting (e.g. Powershell), SQL Databases, distributed web applications
• Exposure to ETL tools (e.g. SSIS, DataStage) will be beneficial
• Experience with CI/CD (continuous integration, continuous delivery) tools
• Experience with the Atlassian toolset (or similar) in DevSecOps process is advantageous. 
• Experience in application development, version control, support and release management
• Experience in web services, SOAP, REST, SOA,  SMTP, FTP, secure FTP
• Experience working with and supporting complex systems deployed to cloud (i.e. AWS) would be beneficial
• Experience working in Data Warehousing/BI landscapes

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Familiarity with monitoring tools and the management thereof
• Good understanding of complex IT environments, network infrastructure such as load balancers, network proxies, etc.
• Good understanding of information security and how it impacts applications, users and the broader IT environment
• Solid knowledge in data management
• Data Warehousing knowledge
• Experience in BI solutions architecture, traditional and big data solutions
• Industry best practice knowledge for BI architectures, coding (ETL) and technical warehouse solutions
• An enquiring mind with a wide degree of creativity and lateral thinking
• Focusing and guiding others in accomplishing work objectives by setting goals, establishing best procedures, measuring and facilitating performance, and developing plans for improvement
• Striving for continuous competitive improvement in line with business requirements
   

COMPETENCIES

• Competent in problem solving and troubleshooting at application and networked infrastructure levels
• Stakeholder management as it relates to business and technical users at different levels in the organisation
• Research and presentation skills 
• Must be able to work in a team focused highly pressurised and dynamic environment
• Investigation and analysis of information
• Planning and organisation
• Communication of technical guidance and instruction to team members
• Ability to write technical instructions in the use of programs and / or program modifications
• Ability to accept accountability for actions and decisions
   

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Santam is the leading short-term insurer in South Africa.  Along with its subsidiaries, the business transacts all classes of short-term insurance. Santam is a large, diversified, and transforming company and our success is rooted in our passion for our clients. Everything we do is centred on our delivery of insurance good and proper.