#Data Systems Administrator, Plant Sciences

Data Systems Administrator

Primary Purpose

A flagship research project of the Nutrien Digital Agriculture Centre (NDAC) is the Geospatial Agroecosystem Inference Generator (GAIG)—a geospatial digital research platform designed to generate near-real-time, high-resolution agroecosystem intelligence across the Canadian Prairies and beyond. The Data Systems Administrator plays a central role in supporting this research project by coordinating and implementing specialized technical and scientific tasks across the project. The position is responsible for designing, operationalizing, and maintaining the digital infrastructure that supports GAIG at the University of Saskatchewan. This role ensures that GAIG’s computing, cloud, and data environments, including web-based dashboards and applications, are scalable, secure, and efficient. The Data Systems Administrator will support researchers, students, and collaborators involved in the project to effectively leverage modern digital tools, data-driven pipelines, and interactive platforms to develop, deliver, and operationalize agricultural and environmental research outputs.

Nature of Work

Reporting to the Principal Investigator and the Director of the NDAC, the Data Systems Administrator will oversee the technical components of GAIG’s digital ecosystem and contributes to the strategic planning of GAIG’s digital infrastructure and data innovation system of the project. They will also work collaboratively with the Digital Agriculture Research Data Manager of NDAC, research partners such as interdisciplinary faculty, technical staff, and USask Research Computing and IT services involved in the project to ensure that data pipelines, analytical environments, storage systems, and user-facing applications operate reliably and securely. The Data Systems Administrator is also expected to provide technical guidance and mentorship to students and staff working on the project through workshops or onboarding sessions. The work is primarily office-based at the NDAC.

Key Responsibilities on the GAIG Research Project

-System Architecture and Operations

• Design and maintain cloud and on-premises infrastructure to support large-scale research and AI workloads
• Implement continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) workflows for reproducible research environments
• Implement tools for monitoring, alerting, and observability frameworks (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, or ELK)
• Ensure scalability, security, reliability, and cost-efficiency across development, staging, and production environments

-Cloud and Compute Management

• Architect and manage workloads across cloud and hybrid compute platforms (e.g., DRAC, AWS, GCP, and or USask clusters)
• Oversee containerized deployments (e.g., Docker and Kubernetes) for modular, scalable service delivery
• Ensure security, compliance, and resource optimization for compute-intensive research tasks

-Data Infrastructure and Integration

• Manage databases supporting agricultural, geospatial, and sensor datasets
• Support data ingestion, federation, and access control across distributed systems
• Work closely with the Digital Agriculture Data Manager to optimize database schemas, indexing, and query performance to ensure reliability and scalability
• Collaborate with the Digital Agriculture Data Manager to align infrastructure with FAIR, OCAP, and open data principles

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Systems, or a related field with 3-5 years of experience
• Proven experience managing CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure automation (e.g., Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI)
• Hands-on experience with container orchestration (Kubernetes) and cloud computing platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, or OpenStack)
• Strong foundation in database management (e.g., SQL, PostgreSQL, or similar) and data integration
• Experience deploying AI/ML frameworks is an asset

Skills and Competencies

• Strong technical architecture, automation, and troubleshooting skills
• Ability to design scalable, secure, and maintainable digital environments
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills with both technical and non-technical users
• Commitment to open, transparent, and sustainable digital infrastructure practices
• Adaptability and problem-solving skills within research environments

Reporting Relationships

• Reports to the Director of the NDAC and works closely with the NDAC Data & Infrastructure Sub‑Committee on day‑to‑day responsibilities

**Department:**Plant Sciences
**Status:**Term 3 years with the possibility of extension

**Employment Group:**ASPA
**Full Time Equivalent (FTE):**1.0

**Salary:**The salary range, based on 1.0 FTE, is $69,035.00 - 107,868.00 per annum. The starting salary will be commensurate with education and experience.

**Salary Family (if applicable):**Information Technology

**Salary Phase/Band:**Phase 2

**Posted Date:**3/23/2026

**Closing Date:**4/12/2026 at 6:00 pm CST
**Number of Openings:**1
**Work Location:**On Campus

The University of Saskatchewan aspires to be what the world needs and embraces equity, diversity and inclusion as foundational to excellence and innovation. We actively seek to create a welcoming environment where all individuals feel empowered to thrive, contribute, and grow. Applications from equity-deserving groups are encouraged as part of our ongoing efforts to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve:EDI Framework for Action**.** We continue to grow our partnerships with Indigenous communities across the province, nationally, and internationally and value the unique perspective that Indigenous employees provide to strengthen these relationships. Verification of Indigenous Membership/Citizenship at the University of Saskatchewan is led and determined by thedeybwewin | taapwaywin | tapwewin: Indigenous Truth policyand the Standing Committee in accordance with the processes developed to enact the policy. Successful candidates that assert Indigenous membership/citizenship will be asked to complete the verification process of Indigenous membership/citizenship with documentation.
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