Systems Administration & Operations

Systems administration and IT operations resent a sector of the digital landscape where roles are consistently available across organisations of all sizes. These positions cover the ongoing management, configuration and reliability of an organisation’s technology environments.

Most available roles require competence in Windows Server and Active Directory administration, as well as Microsoft 365 and Azure Active Directory management. This comes as organisations migrate identity and collaboration infrastructure to the cloud. Engineering, data and cloud-oriented teams require Linux administration, as well as experience in RHEL, Ubuntu, or similar distributions. Job descriptions often mention visualisation platforms, which may be VMware, vSphere or Microsoft Hyper-V, though the importance of on-premises virtualisation is shifting as organisations adopt more cloud-based solutions.

Applicants who can apply infrastructure-as-code principles will find a broader range of opportunities, even when they’re seeking primarily operational roles as automation is on the rise. Mid-level roles are increasingly expected to have experience with scripting languages such as PowerShell, Python or Bash, or with configuration management tools like Ansible, Puppet or Chef.

At a senior level, systems and operations roles focus on architecture, capacity planning, vendor management and aligning operational processes with the needs of the organisation. This could look like resilience, disaster recovery and change management.