Monday, November 02, 2009

Comcast - Operations Architect

Systems Operations Architect

This position is responsible for managing, gathering, and processing information related to Comcast operations architecture leadership and delivery. Responsibilities include BSS and/or OSS (Business/Service/Network management) operational and technical architecture. This individual will collaborate with Comcast technical teams, business, engineering product teams, Operations personnel, Enterprise Technology, Product Managers, and Strategic Partners/Vendors in gathering or creating Operational requirements and engineering comprehensive and cost-effective operations architectures that meet functional and performance expectations.

The candidate will be expected to function in the role as a Operations Architect. The ops architect will lead the design, build, and test of development and operations architecture components/solutions. The Operations Architect has multiple levels of participation depending on the lifecycle:

Concept Phase:
In the Concept Phase, the OA is responsible for discovering potential operational and security requirements and identifying integration points with existing systems.

Analysis Phase:
In the Analysis Phase, the OA is the skin in the game for operations during early design and vendor analysis. At this phase, the OA defines/enforces initial requirements for security, maintainability, monitoring, data retention, scalability, reporting and performance. The OA will ensure that logging complies with established standards around level of detail, format and location.

Design:
In the Design Phase, the OA works with development/COTS vendors to establish a scaling model, gathers availability requirements and loops in necessary SMEs such as the Security team, Network Engineers, SAN engineers, etc. The OA also works closely with development to ensure that the initial design adheres to the operational requirements established in the previous phase. The output mid-way through this phase is a physical topology diagram of the dev, functional QA, and integration environments. The physical design for Production and Staging (Performance Testing Env) are delivered at the end of this phase. These diagrams are used as blueprints by the different teams to purchase/build the environments.

Development:
In the Development Phase, the OA works with the dev team to validate assumptions related to the scaling model and application performance. Once final scaling numbers are established and changes in sizing are accounted for, the hardware orders are placed. The OA reviews in the system design in detail with the impacted operations teams. Also during this phase, the OA facilitates an Operational Review between development and the production support teams and a Security Review between development and the security team(s).

Testing:
In the Testing Phase, the OA reviews performance test data. The OA designs and facilitates operational recoverability testing with the Test Engineers, DBA's and SAs. These results are used to validate the design against the requirements established in the initial phases. The OA is the SME for the infrastructure and helps identify any design performance/availability issues. The OA works with Engineering to address infrastructure gaps found during testing and creates CRs for development to address code-related issues. The output of this phase is the Run Book describing the various points of failure and failover mechanisms.

Implementation:
In the Implementation Phase, the OA works with Operations to do last minute checks to ensure all components are available and functioning as designed (connectivity between systems, port definitions, etc). Monitoring is also tested in this phase. The OA is also an escalation point for Infrastructure-level questions and issues.

In addition to their role in the SDLC, the OA is responsible for recommendations related to:
-Shared Infrastructure not tied directly to a single project
-Operational Support Structure
-Infrastructure Standards (host naming, filesystem, port numbering, appliances)
-Monitoring and Management Tools/Standards


Required Skills:
Good knowledge of Server, Database, SAN, Security, Hosted solutions and Telecom Network architecture are highly desired.

Education and Experience
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / Information Systems/Electrical engineering desired, 8-10 years experience managing Enterprise Equipment and Telecom infrastructure.
-10+ years of IT operational experience supporting a 24X7 production environment
-7+ years experience with Linux/Unix systems administration
-3+ years development experience in preferably in Java technologies
-3+ years of Database administration experience in Oracle or MySQL
-Minimum of 2 years integrating LDAP into directory structures and/or managing directories
-3+ years of Data Base administration experience in Oracle or MySQL
-5+ years experience with operation and management of Cable /Telecom architecture. Knowledge of data life cycle and Enterprise backups
-Thorough understanding of TCP/IP fundamentals (DNS, FTP, SSH), general networking technologies, network architecture and connectivity troubleshooting
-Experience with server hardware builds, OS install, patching and maintenance
-Strong experience with relevant scripting or programming languages (perl, JavaScript, Python, C, Java, etc.)
-Experience with SAN/NAS technologies
-Knowledge of server systems design, RAID and disk subsystems, cluster management, troubleshooting, and hardware replacement
-Familiarity with multi-tiered, highly available web applications in a hosted datacenter environment -including administration, configuration, troubleshooting, performance tuning, and preventative maintenance
-Familiarity with basic project management methodologies
-Solid understanding of IT Security best practices

Skills
• Experience with BSS/OSS enterprise architecture
• Experience in the operation and maintenance of architectures based upon Service Oriented Architecture technologies and methodologies.
• Experienced in cross functional architecture and delivery development team leadership/mgmt
• Hands on system development and integration design experience/background (SOA, J2EE, OO, distributed architecture).
• Demonstrated experience in BSS/OSS/IT Solution architecture design and delivery.
• Effectively manages administration and troubleshooting of group-level system
• Identifies, analyses, and drives problems to resolution, handling complex issues simultaneously while effectively communicating across teams
• Builds team relationships across the organization
• Delivers customer service excellence by knowing customer's business needs, identifying appropriate technical solutions, and meeting/exceeding service expectations


*The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of the job.

Comcast is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at Comcast via-email, the Internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from Comcast HR/Recruitment will be deemed the sole property of Comcast. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by Comcast as a result of the referral or through other means.
Comcast is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, creed, color, national origin, qualified disability or veteran status, ancestry, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, sex or any other legally protected category. Comcast is also an AA/Drug Free Workplace.