Experienced system administrator for high traffic website needed in Americas at Avaaz (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) (allows remote)
Job Description
The system administrator is going to be part of a geographically dispersed team of about 20 developers, system administrators and database administrators. The System Administrator is very hands-on operating the infrastructure which is located in both AWS and a remote access datacenter. We run our own mass email software, and our infrastructure supports software increasingly SOA-based and currently written in python and php, using nginx, apache, mysql, and memcached. The position reports to the Senior System Administrator.
Specific responsibilities include:
- Work on the transition from our datacenter to AWS
- Monitor automated penetration tools and optimize network and data security
- Follow monitoring tools and service malfunctions as needed
- Assist developers with system administration tasks related to the release of existing and new code
- Setup and maintain source code repositories (currently handled by a custom git setup), improve source code and deployment processes by implementing the best tools for both
- Be available 24/7 in case of an emergency, with the expectation that this almost never happens if we do our jobs right
The ideal candidate will go through a 2 to 4 week paid trial but end up on a fulltime contract working with us on a monthly retainer, where we're not counting your hours and you have paid sick days and vacation days.
Most of the current team is in Eastern Europe and Australia, and currently we're looking to expand our timezone coverage and hire a person South or North America. Please only apply if you're available to work in this timezone.
Skills Requirements
Required
- At least 5 years of hands on system administration experience, some of which in AWS and high traffic websites
- Technical skills required - CentOS/Redhat and (some) Ubuntu linux, apache, nginx, mysql, nosql, bash scripting skills, reads php and python
- Experience with load balancing including ELB in AWS, autoscaling etc
- Experience with configuration management tools like puppet
- Knowledge of monitoring tools like cacti/nagios etc
- Strong DBA skills with MySQL and NoSQL databases
- Strong DNS skills with experience in DDNS
- Experience in high volume web environments using CDN technologies
- Experience with message queue systems, such as RabbitMQ/ActiveMQ/SQS
- Familiarity with nimble, iterative web development; excited by short time frames and high-stakes tech challenges; highly flexible with rapidly-shifting needs and priorities
- Detail-oriented without paralyzing perfectionism
- Ability to independently prioritize work and implement resolution plans quickly
Preferred
- Experience with operations in hybrid environments across multiple programming languages (php/python in our case), backend stores and cache engines
- Experience with configuring MTA software
- Communication skills with both technical and non-technical colleagues
- Experience working in development teams from diverse backgrounds and cultures, locally and remotely
- Strong culture match for Avaaz and affinity for globalist online grassroots campaigning
About Avaaz
Avaaz is an international campaigning organisation with a simple democratic mission: to close the gap between the world we have, and the world most people everywhere want. Avaaz (the name means "voice" or "song" in many languages) works on issues ranging from climate change and environmental protections to human rights, conflict, poverty, and democracy, using online campaigns to instantly mobilize people everywhere to confront injustice anywhere.
The organisation has enjoyed a meteoric rise since launching in 2007, reaching 25 million members in 193 countries and climbing fast. Avaaz members have taken over 30 million actions, told over 60 million friends about Avaaz campaigns, donated more than $15 million online, and organised 10,000 rallies and events in every country of the world. Operating in 16 languages with a team of more than 70, Avaaz is 100% member-funded.
For coordinating this work, Avaaz has been recognized by world leaders ranging from Al Gore to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that “Avaaz has driven forward the idealism of the world.” And The Times of London calls Avaaz "one of the most important new voices on the global stage." A sampling of recent coverage of Avaaz can be found here:
- Time Magazine:http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2109212,00.html#ixzz1tY4AiD3C
- BBC:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17199253
- The Guardian:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/28/avaaz-activist-group-conroy-rescue
We've just scratched the surface of what’s possible. As Avaaz enters its sixth year, it is poised for achieving dramatic growth in both scale and the scope of its work and diversification of its strategies and tactics for achieving positive change -- including exploration of new online areas such as social integration, web publishing and broadcasting, and user-generated campaigning.
Avaaz is a global organization, with most staff working collaboratively in a "virtual office" environment from four continents; staff can reside wherever they wish. However, for this particular position candidates based in North or South America are preferred due to timezone coverage need.
Joel Test score: 10 out of 12
The Joel Test is a twelve-question measure of the quality of a software team.
- Do you use source control?
- Can you make a build in one step?
- Do you make daily builds?
- Do you have a bug database?
- Do you fix bugs before writing new code?
- Do you have an up-to-date schedule?
- Do you have a spec?
- Do programmers have quiet working conditions?
- Do you use the best tools money can buy?
- Do you have testers?
- Do new candidates write code during their interview?
- Do you do hallway usability testing?
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