Location

Waterloo, ON & Toronto, ON

Description

The Southern Ontario Water Consortium (SOWC) is a dynamic new initiative for the research, development and demonstration of innovative water and wastewater technologies and services, involving multiple university, government, and private sector partners. IBM, as one of our lead technology partners, is contributing over $20 million in hardware and software for the SOWC to build a “smart watershed””” data environment (the data platform).

The SOWC is seeking a skilled Database Administrator for a contract opportunity initially extending to March 31, 2014. This role is integral to the SOWC.

A unique and challenging aspect of building the data platform is the collection and management of the different data streams that will be derived from the integrated instrument network that is being deployed. As the DBA you will be responsible for facilitating the data collection and synthesis of the different data streams at a central computational facility, to be located at the University of Toronto SciNet supercomputing centre. You will also be responsible for direct collaborative interaction with IBM personnel, as well as the SOWC research community.

Required Skills & Experience

  • Knowledge of IBM tools: DB2, Websphere Suite (including Portal), Infosphere Streams, Intelligent Operations Centre, Integrated Information Core
  • Database administration experience: must have hands-on experience as a data architect; demonstrated ability to design, manage, optimize and maintain databases at run-time to reduce downtime. Operations experience, including planning for and maintaining back-ups and archive systems; systems security; and overall user management
  • Work independently with partners to understand various data sources and design approaches for integration of the data sources with the SOWC platform, including quality assurance / quality control and data screening
  • Experience with distributed computing architectures
  • Knowledge of semantic modeling techniques
  • Ability to work independently and with small teams
  • Ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences
  • Interest in applying IT tools to water ecosystems
  • Ability to work in Toronto and Waterloo as needed

General Responsibilities

As a key member of the SOWC team you will have overall responsibility for the IT system, including customization of the SOWC data environment using IBM software. You will work with IBM staff and architects to design and implement the data platform.

Uploading and integration of data from various sources will be an essential element in the creation of the data platform. This will include various types of monitoring devices that are part of SOWC and baseline databases from partner organizations. You will be required to interact with a wide range of other organizations to facilitate this integration, with a fastidious commitment to data correction and integrity.
As the SOWC’s research projects evolve you will be responsible for the integration and management of the results from the various research teams leading to the development of demonstration projects involving the SOWC research community and external (government and private sector) collaborators.

Other Activities are Likely to Include

  • Working with companies or organizations to understand their interests and how they might engage with the platform
  • Seeking new projects or partners, particularly to test specific aspects of the platform (social media applications, high data streaming applications, etc)
  • Working with potential end users or partners to explore applications and outputs (views, access, warnings, modeling, etc)

If you are looking for an opportunity to be an integral member of a fast moving team that is making a difference in water management in Ontario then you should apply by sending a cover letter and resume to:

Brenda Lucas, Operations Manager