Senior DevOps Engineer - BI

JOB DESCRIPTION

Santam’s Guidewire BI DataHub team is looking for a Senior DevOps Engineer.

The incumbent will work with the broader BI DataHub 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.
 

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 ETL developers, data engineers and data analysts to ensure that development follows established processes and works as intended
• 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

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 of 5 years relevant experience
• Minimum of 3-5 years of managerial experience
• 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 in application development, version control, support and release management
• Experience in messaging middleware, 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
   

KNOWLEDGE

• 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

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.