Storage Infrastructure Specialist

We are recruiting for a short-term federal government position for a client based in Canberra, Australia.

Estimated start date

1 December 2025

Initial contract duration

3 months

Experience level

EL1 equivalent

Maximum hours

40 hours per week

Security clearance

Baseline clearance required

Location

Must be based in Canberra, Australia

Position details

The client
is seeking a Senior Storage Infrastructure Specialist for a three-month contract. Following recent infrastructure upgrades, this role will optimise a Dell PowerScale and Isilon environment to ensure maximum performance, efficiency, and scalability. The specialist will play a key role in supporting the client's petabyte-scale storage platform, which underpins critical Media & Entertainment workflows, including high-throughput media ingest, editing, archival, and retrieval.
.

Key duties and responsibilities

Key Deliverables

• Produce a comprehensive technical audit report documenting the current storage architecture, operational health, risks, and strategic recommendations.
• Develop clear architecture diagrams representing cluster configuration, storage tiering, and data services.
• Create operational runbooks to guide administration, troubleshooting, and routine storage maintenance.
• Deliver capacity and growth forecasts with actionable recommendations to ensure scalability and efficient storage utilisation.
• Conduct structured knowledge transfer sessions with ICT staff to enable ongoing management and operational continuity.

Technical Scope

• Review and optimise storage cluster configuration, including all-flash, archive, and legacy nodes.
• Analyse and optimise PowerScale data services, including SmartPools, SnapshotIQ, SyncIQ, and tiering strategies.
• Identify and address storage performance bottlenecks, including metadata efficiency, I/O, and protocol-level throughput (SMB/NFS).
• Recommend architectural changes to improve storage performance, utilisation, and reliability.
• Produce clear documentation of the storage environment, including implementation and maintenance guidance.

Skills and Experience

• Expert hands-on experience with Dell PowerScale and Isilon (OneFS 8.x/9.x).
• Proven ability to design, administer, and optimise enterprise-scale storage environments for high-performance workloads.
• Deep understanding of scale-out NAS architecture, storage tiering, and data services.
• Experience documenting complex storage environments and producing operational runbooks.
• Strong communication skills to present technical findings and recommendations to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Scripting skills (Python/Bash) for automation and data analysis are highly desirable.

Criteria

The buyer has specified that each candidate must provide a one page pitch to address the criteria, equal to 5,000 characters.

Essential criteria

1. Proven experience in designing, administering, and optimising enterprise-scale Dell PowerScale and Isilon storage environments, to support high-performance and large-scale workflows.

2. Strong communication and documentation skills, with the ability to translate technical findings into actionable recommendations, engage effectively with stakeholders, and operate within structured change management frameworks.

3. Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues across multi-protocol (SMB/NFS) storage systems, ensuring stability, performance, and data integrity in demanding operational environments.

4. Comprehensive understanding of storage security, data protection, and lifecycle management principles, including system hardening, access controls, replication, and backup/recovery strategies.

Desirable criteria

1. Scripting skills (Python/Bash) for automation and data analysis are highly desirable

Please provide a one page response to this criteria, in addition to a resume with referees.

Please contact for more information on this opportunity.