Cloud Systems Engineer, Mifos

Status: Full time
Location: Seattle, WA

Grameen Foundation’s Technology for Microfinance (T4MF) team is focused on transforming technology from a barrier into an accelerator for microfinance institutions, applying technology and business in our efforts to end poverty world-wide. The team focuses on educating MFI leaders on the long-term strategic value of information systems, training their staff to successfully align information technology with their business operations, and building a network of locally-based technology providers and a worldwide online community to support these institutions.  At the heart of the program is Mifos™, our open source software platform that gives MFIs a cost-effective, flexible management information system (MIS) that can support their needs today and into the future.  

Job Summary:   

We’re seeking a professional system administrator who is deeply passionate about ending global poverty using Free and Open Source Software. The Mifos System Administrator will lead the design, implementation, and maintenance of information systems for the Mifos Initiative. This person is responsible for: 

• Maintaining a hosted Mifos service for microfinance institutions (MFIs) worldwide,

• Maintaining the product development team’s internal services,

• Analyzing performance and reliability of the existing hosting system on Amazon EC2, and

• Designing, implementing, and maintaining improvements to the system. 

The System Administrator will work with leaders and staff on the Technology for Microfinance team to ensure that the Mifos information infrastructure is operating effectively and resolve operational problems when they occur.

The ideal candidate for this role has extensive experience with providing high-availability web services using Linux and Amazon EC2, has a strong startup mentality, agility to adapt to changing business needs, and the flexibility learn new skills and do whatever is needed to get the job done. This person will blend an understanding of business and technology, pragmatism for what is needed now, foresight to see upcoming problems, and the ability to resolve these problems before they cause difficulty for customers. This person loves communicating and working in small teams.

Experience with financial/banking software and working in the developing world a plus.

Reporting and relationships:  The System Administrator will report to the Engineering Director, Technology for Microfinance team.

Availability:  The System Administrator will be expected to work a standard workweek of 37.5 hours plus additional hours as necessary to get the job done. This position will require some international travel

Essential Job Functions

The Mifos System Administrator will have the following specific responsibilities:

• Design, implement, and maintain systems to host the Mifos software for Grameen Foundation customers.

• Work with a geographically distributed, multi-cultural, world-wide team of software developers and system administrators to ensure an appropriate level of service is provided to Grameen Foundation customers, including availability of the service and integrity and security of customer data.

• Work transparently and effectively with our Open Source community on IRC and mailing lists, keeping all non-sensitive data public.

• Work with software development team to understand the capabilities and limitations of each software release. Upgrade the Mifos service as new software is released, with no interruption in service to customers.

• Proactively assess hosting system performance and reliability, and work with the technical team to improve the system well in advance of problems.

• Manage the design, implementation, testing, and deployment of infrastructure projects to ensure their timely and reliable completion.

• Work with Mifos software development team to maintain and improve their software development infrastructure, including utility Linux servers, Hudson continuous integration server, Jira bug tracker, Confluence wiki, Subversion and Mercurial version control systems.

• Design, implement and test system administration automation software to automate routine tasks.

• Train other system administrators, programmers, and other staff in systems and procedures used to provide Mifos services.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Deep commitment to eradication of poverty and alignment with Grameen Foundation’s mission

• Focus on delivering great results.

• Enthusiasm and passion for our work.

• Experience with Ubuntu Linux, Amazon EC2, MySQL 5, Apache 2, SSH, and Java services running under Linux.

• Experience with automating routine system administration tasks using scripting languages such as Python and Bash.

• Experience designing, implementing, and maintaining highly available web service infrastructure.

• Experience implementing data backup systems and disaster recovery plans. 

• Experience with log analysis for performance and security.

• Strong problem solving skills.

• Excellent interpersonal and intercultural communication skills.

• Strong time and workload management skills and ability to manage simultaneous projects.

• Strong preference for Open Source tools and techniques.

• Experience and enthusiasm for working closely with a software development team a plus.

• Experience with version control systems, HTTP load balancers, reverse proxies, and deployment automation systems such as Capistrano, Fabric, or Chef a plus.

• Experience working with geographically distributed teams a plus.

• Experience with OpenNMS or other Open Source enterprise monitoring software a plus.

• Familiarity and preference for standard practices, such as LSB, package management and SysV-style services a plus.

• Familiarity with security technologies, such as SSL, software firewalls, and VPN a plus.

Education and Experience

• 5 years experience doing Linux system administration in a production environment.

• Bachelors or Masters’ degree in Computer Science or Mathematics; or equivalent experience.

Physical and Environmental Conditions  (This is standard on all descriptions; no need to edit this)

This position does not require unusual demands for physical effort.  This position may occasionally require physical effort to lift and transport boxes weighing no more than 50 pounds.

Work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts that require normal safety precautions typical of places such as offices, meeting or training rooms, residences, or commercial vehicles; e.g., use of safe work place practices with office equipment, and/or avoidance of trips and falls, and observance of fire regulations and traffic signals.

Additional Comment 

The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job.

Reasonable accommodations may be made in appropriate circumstances to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

Interested candidates may apply by email to jobs@grameenfoundation.org and jmcnulty@grameenfoundation.org. Please put “Sys Admin - Mifos” in the subject line.  No Calls Please.