The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) is seeking a Senior Storage Infrastructure Specialist for a three-month contract. Following recent infrastructure upgrades, this role will optimise our Dell PowerScale and Isilon environment to ensure maximum performance, efficiency, and scalability. The specialist will play a key role in supporting the NFSA’s petabyte-scale storage platform, which underpins critical Media & Entertainment workflows, including high-throughput media ingest, editing, archival, and retrieval.
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.
You must be a citizen of Australia
Essential criteria
Weighting
1. Proven experience in designing, administering, and optimising enterprise-scale Dell PowerScale and Isilon storage environments, to support high-performance and large-scale workflows. [60%]
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. [20%]
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. [10%]
4. Comprehensive understanding of storage security, data protection, and lifecycle management principles, including system hardening, access controls, replication, and backup/recovery strategies. [10%]
Desirable criteria
1. Scripting skills (Python/Bash) for automation and data analysis are highly desirable
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.
Offer ended on 19.11.2025