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The Role

The IT Support and Systems Development Officer is key to supporting the activities of the Fields Institute, a non-profit mathematics research institute located in downtown Toronto. This role is responsible for a broad range of information technology functions in support of the general operation of the Institute, primarily providing technical support to staff and visitors, especially in the use of new tools or systems, and assisting in the general maintenance of Institute systems and the setup of new tools and systems. The person in this role will have an opportunity to develop skills by assisting with the software development of web-based applications for Institute activities and other new systems The IT Support and Systems Development Officer is a member of a small IT Team and will report to the Director of Computing Services.

This position is for an initial two-year term with the potential for indefinite renewal, and is eligible for pension and benefits.

Responsibilities

Support tasks include:

• Assisting new staff and visitors in the use of Fields IT systems;
• Assisting with the rollout of new tools and systems, providing training and support on their use;
• Providing dayto-day support for staff and visitors with IT tasks;
• Assessing needs and helping incorporate those needs into the development of new systems;
• Writing/creating documentation for new and existing tools.

Systems Administration functions include routine systems administration and maintenance tasks, including:

• Assisting in the configuration and operation of the Fields Institute's servers;
• Helping source and acquire hardware and software as required, assisting the management of relationships with vendors;
• Performing routine administrative tasks such as keeping inventory and records of hardware, setting up and updating workstations, laptops, and printers, entering and editing data in scripts and configuration files, and keeping hardware in good working order.

Software Development functions may include, depending on the availability of time and the skill set (or ability to learn) of the person in the role:

• Developing and programming web-based tools relating to registration, event management, reporting, and other custom functionality, in either or both of the front-end (React-based) or back-end (typically Perl scripts) components;
• Assisting with project planning, timeline establishment, and providing briefings on progress.

The breakdown of these tasks is anticipated to be:

• Support (60-70%)
• Systems Administration (20-30%)
• Software Development & Programming (0-20%, pending experience)

With the possibility of increased Software Development & Programming time (and commensurate salary) based on demonstrated ability in this area. That ability may be acquired while on the job.

Qualifications

Education

Education (minimum): Bachelor’s degree, preferably in computer science or a related subject, or equivalent training and experience.

Experience

2 years minimum in a role providing support, systems administration and light programming & development.

Skills

• Demonstrated ability to quickly learn and assess new tools and products, make recommendations about them, and assist people of all skill levels in using them;
• Demonstrated ability to effectively explain technical concepts to people with a wide range of technical abilities;
• Demonstrated experience with, and understanding of, a wide range of IT systems and devices (including Linux, Windows, and Mac operating systems);
• Demonstrated experience with, and understanding of, wide range of software: specifically, experience with standard office tools, and also experience integrating unusual or specialized tools into an IT environment;
• Experience with system administration tasks on a variety of different types of systems, experience in Unix environments preferred;
• Demonstrated experience with a wide range of different programming languages and environments;
• Demonstrated ability to quickly learn new languages or environments when needed.

Skills that may be brought to or acquired on the job:

• Backend scripting languages, including older ones (experience with Perl is strongly preferred);
• Implementing sound programming techniques in many contexts;
• JavaScript and the React frontend framework, including newer-style functional components and hooks, and toolkits such as Redux;
• SQL-based relational database concepts, and experience working with them.

General Attributes:

Excellent oral and written communication, interpersonal, organization and time management. Ability to communicate effectively to people with a wide range of working styles and technical abilities. A polite team player who exercises diplomacy to provide helpful support.

What Fields Provides:

A friendly and stimulating work atmosphere.  space on the St. George Campus of the University of Toronto. Competitive compensation including vacation, sick and personal leave arrangements.

This position has a baseline of 35 hours per week, occasionally up to 44 hours per week, during workday hours of 9-5, Monday to Friday, with occasional work outside of these hours as needed. This position is hybrid with at least 3 days at the Fields Institute.

Note that the Fields Institute is on the University of Toronto campus and follows the public health measures in place at the University of Toronto.

Compensation

Competitive compensation package in the range of $65,000-$85,000 depending on skills and experience.

Application
Please include a résumé and cover letter in your application. 

Questions:

Please direct inquiries to: careers@fields.utoronto.ca
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