The SAEON uLwazi Node, based in Cape Town, Western Cape, requires the services of an experienced systems engineer to be responsible for the design and development of data and metadata automation pipelines in support of the management and publication of continuous data streams originating from a variety of land- and marine-based environmental monitoring instrumentation. The incumbent will be responsible for the architecture, design, development, testing, documentation, integration and deployment of selected data management systems for SAEON and its clients.

Key Requirements:

Qualification: NQF Level 7 bachelors degree in computer science, mathematics, engineering or the physical sciences.

Experience: 7+ years of experience in systems development

Knowledge:

• Python

• SQL

• Docker

• Nginx

• Linux

• GitHub

• Relational database design

• Object oriented systems design

Key Responsibilities:

• Analyse and understand the functioning of existing production and legacy systems.

• Conduct research into available tools, technologies and best practices in formulating an approach to system design and development.

• Create and maintain system design diagrams (UML, ERD, etc) using online diagramming tools.

• Create and maintain system documentation using GitHub and/or the SAEON wiki.

• Develop system features and enhancements.

• Create unit tests for services and APIs.

• Fix bugs.

• Participate in code reviews.

• Maintain source code using git and GitHub.

• Work with the systems development lead to establish scope and timelines for deliverables.

• Keep track of progress and status of tasks using the GitHub project management tool.

• Provide progress updates during weekly development team meetings.

• Engage with team mates to discuss and evaluate system designs, technology choices, etc.

• Give presentations and demonstrations of work, at intervals, for review and feedback by team leads and stakeholders.

• Liaise with the infrastructure team to coordinate server provisioning and system deployment.

• Configure runtime environments, databases, web servers and proxy servers, as needed, in respect of system deployments.

• Apply library updates and security patches to deployed systems.

• Monitor production systems operations and performance.

• Coaching and mentoring of junior systems developers.

• Develop and maintain entity-relational models that support the harvesting,

• processing, synchronization and publication of data from a variety of raw data sources.

• Create a database(s) to implement the E-R model(s), with support for storing multiple levels of data and metadata.

• Ensure that data produced and/or hosted by SAEON is highly available, consistent, secure and recoverable.

• Consult with internal and external stakeholders to understand and capture system requirements.

• Analyse the existing system as applicable, understand and document its functionality, database structure, and the nature of its data holdings.

• Develop and document an entity-relational model suitable for long-term preservation, management and access to data.

• Implement or upgrade a database and a secure API supporting both automated and user interaction with the relevant data.

• Develop a secure web application providing a user-friendly interface to the relevant API.

• Migrate all existing data into the new database, with verifiable data integrity checks.

• Coordinate the testing and deployment of new and upgraded systems, and the decommissioning of old systems.