We at Kartoza (https://www.kartoza.com/about/) are Open Source geeks, specialising in software development and Geospatial Information Systems (GIS).

We deploy solutions on-premise and to the cloud and we need someone dedicated to establishing and maintaining high service quality and reliability while taking the operations load off our developers. If you are passionate about communication, automation, and measurement, read further and apply to become part of an exciting niche software team.

You need to be detail-focused, conscientious and happy to work on your own and manage your own time. In this role, you will have the freedom to arrange your hours flexibly and work from the location of your choice. You will be expected to be available outside office hours to respond to critical situations (critical situations will be few and far between because you will have set up such reliable systems!).

You will need to be driven enough to meet deadlines outside a formal office space and structure.

Even though we're geographically dispersed, we are a close team, we use tools like Slack and Google Meet to keep in touch and collaborate on a daily basis. We like to work hard but also believe in maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

The DevOps and system administrator position can be either a one-year contract with the possibility of an extension or a permanent post.

Experience & Competence

Required

  • Linux system administration

  • GCP, AWS or Azure experience

  • Git version control and GitHub, GitLab or equivalent workflows

  • Security (database, filesystem, network, encryption, etc.)

  • Performance profiling, troubleshooting and optimisation

  • System monitoring and alerts (such as Grafana, Prometheus)

  • CI and CD

  • SDLC management

  • Automated testing

  • Rancher and Kubernetes (or equivalent)

  • Docker (or equivalent)

  • Web server configuration and optimisation (Nginx, Traefik, Apache)

  • DBA experience

  • Scaling strategies

  • Backup and recovery

  • Service-based architectures and microservices

  • Provisioning tools like Ansible, Chef or Terraform or similar

  • Experience minimum of two years

  • A fast and reliable internet connection

  • A good command of English, both written and spoken

  • A good communicator

  • A noise-free environment for online meetings

  • Positive “can-do” attitude

  • Enjoy working in a fast-paced environment

  • Finger on the pulse of the latest trends online

  • Working with multiple projects and teams

  • Communication with clients, team members and management

To your advantage

  • Python Programming

  • Django Web Framework

  • PostgreSQL RDBMS

  • REST Service Architecture Style

  • Geographic Information Systems

  • A good sense of humour is always nice :-)

Key Responsibilities

You will be responsible for developing and implementing SOPs for all DevOps and sysadmin-related tasks and automating these as far as possible.

We will expect you to keep yourself abreast of the latest trends and to continuously learn. Your input will be valued in guiding technology choices and developing DevOps strategy.

You will be a critical element of several projects at the same time, interacting with the client, with the project team and with management.

You will need to understand system architecture and design, provide input into new ones and improve existing ones.

Location

Geographic location is open, within limits. We need minimum time overlaps with most of our team. You need a distraction-free work environment with reliable, redundant power and reliable, redundant, high bandwidth internet.

Attractions

  • We are a remote-first company. We work remotely, with flexible hours.

  • We are an agile business which means decisions are usually made quickly.

  • We are a small team so your voice will be valuable and everything you do will have an impact on your peers and clients.

  • The Open Source software development culture allows you to build your own credentials globally.

The Company

Kartoza is a South African company delivering geospatial information applications, consulting, training and support to individuals, companies and governments globally. We develop geospatial software applications for our clients using Open Source software.

We have around twenty-five employees based in South Africa (Johannesburg, Cape Town), Indonesia (Yogyakarta, Bandung, Surabaya), Portugal and Tanzania. Remote work is our norm.

Kartoza focuses on but is not limited to building applications for vertical markets such as precision agriculture, the space industry, biodiversity management and humanitarian services. We like doing meaningful work that will improve the lives of our users. We release the bulk of the work we do as Free and Open Source Software and generate our income by providing services (support, new feature development) around the Open Source projects we participate in.

We are an equal opportunity, zero-discrimination employer and value diversity in our company.