Position: Technical Specialist Middleware
Children’s Worker: No
Location: National Office, Wellington
Business Unit: Technology Services, Infrastructure and Services
Group: Information Technology
Reporting to: Manager Infrastructure Applications
Issue Date: July 2015
Delegated Authority: Nil
Staff Responsibility: Nil
Our Role
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) is the lead agency for the social sector. We help the Government to set priorities across the sector, co-ordinate the actions of other social sector agencies and track changes in the social wellbeing of New Zealanders.
The Ministry provides policy advice, and delivers social services and assistance to children and young people, working age people, older people, and families, whānau and communities. We work directly with New Zealanders of all ages to improve their social wellbeing.
We serve over a million people, working out of more than 250 centres around the country. It is likely that every New Zealander will come into contact with the Ministry at some point in their life.
Our work, together with our social sector partners, is essential to achieving a sustainable and prosperous future, where all New Zealanders are able to take responsibility for themselves, be successful in their lives and participate in their communities.
Our Purpose
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent.
Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake.
Our Principles
MSD people: All own what we all do | Take responsibility for what we do | Understand our role in the big picture, who can help us and who we can help | Navigate through ambiguity and the opportunity it brings to create better ways of doing things | Act with integrity, courage and transparency | Celebrate our achievements and those of our clients
Position Description Approved By:
______Deputy Chief Executive, Organisational Solutions
Date: ……/……/……
Group
MSD uses a variety of channels to provide services to the public, including physical sites, contact centres, and limited services using the Internet. It is envisioned that Internet-based services will expand rapidly in the near future.
MSD staff use a large number of IT applications. Many are business critical systems. The following are the most significant:
· SWIFTT (Social Welfare for Tomorrow, Today) – the benefits processing and payments system.
· TRACE (Tracking, Recovery and Collection Enforcement) – debt recovery and management
· SOLO - employment system
· UCVII (Unified Customer View) – allows frontline staff to see a unified view of SWIFTT and SOLO together
· SAL (Student Allowances and Loan System)
· CHRIS and KEA –the HRMIS and FMIS systems respectively
The IT Unit’s contribution is through:
· Leadership in the development and delivery of business application solutions
· The provision of robust and reliable systems to support the business and external clients
· Total focus on serving internal customers
Business Unit
The IT Infrastructure and Services team aim to deliver excellent technical design, support and service of the Ministry’s technology infrastructure, to enable the Ministry of Social Development to meet its goals.The Infrastructure and Services team are responsible for design, implementation and management of all system access channels by Ministry staff. With the rapid convergence of fixed and mobile technologies, the team ensure the provision of devices and tools that allow Ministry staff to access systems and information in a secure manner. With a strategic approach to managing multiple form factors and the associated application integration, Ministry staff will enjoy an excellent customer experience. Through innovation and best practice technology operating frameworks, service delivery channels will be fit for purpose today and designed with future in mind.
Purpose of the Position
The role of the Technical Specialist Middleware is to work within the Infrastructure Applications team providing assistance and support to facilitate secure and effective development, implementation, management and monitoring of middleware applications.
Working Relationships
Internal:
· Manager Infrastructure Applications
· Manager Technology Services
· Infrastructure and Services Management and staff
· Other IT staff
External:
· External advisors and service providers
Key Accountabilities:
Key Result Area / AccountabilitiesDay-to-day Operations and Support / · Manage the installation, configuration, and tuning of Middleware Application servers to ensure they maintain the agreed level of performance and availability
· Monitor system performance, response times and equipment utilisation
· Manage the analysis and resolution of middleware problems.
· Administer and monitor procedures to ensure the secure and optimal performance of applications in a changing environment
· Develop and maintain middleware infrastructure documentation in a timely manner
· Ensure all security regimes, procedures and policies are adhered to i.e. IT Security Policy
· Manage vendor supplied maintenance and fixes to the systems including the application of these
· Ensure user adherence to system operating standards and procedures through liaison with IT Help
· Liaise with users to resolve issues and problems within agreed service levels, when escalated
· Participate in the planning and implementation of middleware products both individually and as part of a team
· Supports the software infrastructure design solutions for effective development, support and integration of MSD client applications
· Work in conjunction with the other IT teams to ensure back end platforms support the delivery of services to customers and clients
· Assist with analysis and evaluation of emerging technologies
· Ensure integration of all components of the end user application environment while adhering to standards
Planning Participation / · Contribute to the development of capacity planning facilities, including performance evaluations, recommendations of enhancements and upgrades to improve services and efficiency
· Develop and promulgate system standards along with the design, production and maintenance of systems documentation
Innovation, Continuous Improvement and Process Development / · Developing and/or providing input to innovative technology roadmaps that deliver technology systems and services that improve client engagement with the Ministry and all of Government
· Proactively provide input into solution and service delivery that improves efficiency customer service
· Challenge existing thinking in pursuit of increased customer satisfaction and client experience
· Maintaining a continual focus on optimising and improving systems, services, process and procedure
Project Participation / · Participate in the development and operation of projects across the wider IT group and Ministry
· Provide expert advice to IT projects in relation to middleware issues, risks and opportunities
· Manage any middleware components of projects, including supporting other project members in task completion
· Provide progress reports to the middleware team and manager on a regular basis
Team and Individual Performance / · Contribute to team communication activities
· Participate in peer review of own and others work
· Identify and act on personal learning and development opportunities
Customer Services / · Relentless focus on customer service
· Ensure that users of technology services are highly satisfied and that IT systems meet their requirements
Technical/Professional Knowledge and Experience
· High level of experience installing, configuring, tuning, operating, monitoring and troubleshooting Weblogic Server· Knowledge of RDBMS/SQL, preferably Oracle
· Knowledge of JRE, JDK, JMX, JNDI, JMS, JDBC, XML
· Knowledge of HTTP, SSL, SSH, PKI, LDAP
· Experience with HPUX, Solaris, Linux, F5 BigIP, Splunk, Unix shell scripting, Perl, TCL and Subversion desirable
· Experience of other middleware platforms (e.g. Websphere, Tomcat, Datapower Server) desirable
· Open source exposure desirable
· Programming experience desirable, preferably Java
· Experience with n-tier implementations
· Familiar with shell scripting. General Unix skills
· Knowledge of basic business requirements– a related tertiary level qualification
Attributes/Success Factors
· Strong project planning skills – able to prioritise work demands, develop schedules, identify risks/opportunities, identify resources required
· Excellent problem solving skills – identifies possible cause-effect information, seeks information from a variety of sources, considers risks/benefits, escalates when necessary
· Excellent attention to detail – maintains project checklists, checks work for errors/omissions, ensures all tasks assigned are accomplished
· Good relationship management skills - able to establish, build and maintain effective working relationships at all levels
· Strong ability to work in a team environment – able to work to support individual as well as team objectives/goals
· Be able to work independently – uses initiative to resolve issues, able to manage own workload without continuous supervision
· Strong documentation skills and communication skills – able to express ideas in a group setting, able to convey technical information to a layperson, is clear and concise
Other Requirements
· Willing to participate in an on-call roster to fulfil job requirements
Technical Specialist Middleware / 4