Systems Administrator / Desktop Administrator (Various Levels)

About CSE

The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) is Canada’s agency responsible for foreign signals intelligence, cyber operations and cyber security. Learn more about our mission.

CSE is committed to fostering a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion. This isn’t just an ideal, it’s crucial to our mission. Find out about our workplace culture, including our diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Become part of our team and you’ll understand why CSE is the most important organization you’ve never heard of.

Job summary

CSE is currently looking for systems administrators and desktop administrators from a diverse range of technical backgrounds who will thrive working on unique problems in an open minded and innovative environment, and who value the different perspectives of others.  We are looking for people who constantly strive for better solutions to keep our country safe, who seek to learn more about the cyber challenges that impact us, and who collaborate with partners, colleagues, and teams on complex problems. You should be someone who enjoys a challenging career and who desires to learn new technologies to expand and evolve your expertise.

Our positions exist in very dynamic and unique operational environments and provides direct support to CSE missions. We are a unique technical organization with hundreds of subject matter experts across IT domains. We have guilds of expertise who collaborate in agency, government, and international initiatives to find the right solution to complex problems. Individuals selected will assist with the engineering, configuration, and support of a variety of hardware and software. Our team relies heavily on virtualization to support our operations.

Your work will have a significant impact on Canada’s security posture and will contribute towards ensuring the safety of Canadians. Your role will entail technical research and development, enabling continued innovation within various IT environments. You will be responsible for effective provisioning, installation, configuration and supporting advancement of many technologies across multiple IT domains while adhering to ITIL principles.
You may work with many common enterprise services: Linux and/or Windows, data storage & protection services, scripting, and networking. You may also be exposed to cloud services, cryptography, PKI, the system development lifecycle, and automation technologies.

The intent of this selection process is to staff various entry-level, intermediate and senior positions across different activity areas of CSE. This selection process will be used to recruit three streams:

Stream 1: Systems Administrator
As a systems administrator, you will work to support critical infrastructure with unique challenges using the latest technologies.

Stream 2: Desktop Administrator
As a desktop administrator, you will support various endpoint solutions (mobility, local, VDI) and engage in critical projects with unique challenges using the latest technologies.

Stream 3: Other Specialties
CSE is looking for various specialists in multiple IT domains (for example, but not limited to: storage, monitoring, Citrix, AV/VTC, telephony, VMWare). Where a system administrator would typically have a broader range of experience, a specialist has more depth within an area of expertise.

Salary range

To find out more about our salary scale, vacation allowances and benefits (health, dental and pension plans, etc.) visit the compensation page on our website.

Area of selection

Open to Canadian citizens.

Location

The majority of our jobs are in Ottawa, Ontario. CSE has two accessible facilities. Flexible work arrangements, including telework for a portion of the work week, may be possible.

Learn more about where we work.

Essential qualifications

In order to be considered, your cover letter must clearly explain how you meet the following education and experience requirements.

Education

You must have either one of the following:

• A post-secondary education in a field related to the position, such as (but not limited to) Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Computer Engineering Technology
• An acceptable combination of education, training or relevant experience (as listed below).

Note: The educational program must be recognized in Canada, and you must be able to provide proof of education credentials. Students graduating within the next twelve months are eligible to apply.

Experience

Streams 1 and 3

• Experience or training in system administration which may include but is not limited to: operating systems, software, server, storage, backups and appliance administration in a networked environment.

Stream 2

• Experience or training in desktop administration which may include but is not limited to: all aspects of endpoint computing/deskside computing, operating systems and peripherals in a networked environment.

Official language requirements

• English essential
• Bilingual imperative: BBB/BBB

Competencies

The following technical, behavioural and leadership competencies will be assessed at a later date. You do not need to include information about them in your application.

Technical competencies

Streams 1, 2 and 3

• Infrastructures and Platforms
• Knowledge of IT

Stream 2 only

• IT User Support / Help Desk

Behavioural competencies

• Cognitive thinking skills
• Interactive communication
• Working in a team

Leadership competencies

• Achieving results
• Change and innovation

Assets

Assets are “nice-to-have” expertise and skills we’re interested in. If you do have them, they may be used to identify which team you could best complement, or they may be invoked as a volume management strategy. Please demonstrate on your application if you meet or possess the asset experience listed below.

Asset experience

• Experience working with and/or supporting Cloud infrastructure and virtualization technologies (such as VMWare, OpenStack or Hyper-V).
• Experience with IT Automation and Orchestration (such as Docker, Kubernetes, scripting, Puppet and/or Ansible).
• Experience networking in a data center environment including, IP networking, cabling, switch, and firewall configuration.
• Experience configuring and supporting storage systems.
• Experience writing and maintaining scripts in Bash or Python or Powershell.
• Experience with Unified Communication (VTC, VoIP, SIP etc.).
• Experience administering Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
• Experience configuring and supporting database systems (such as Oracle or PostgreSQL).
• Experience working with system monitoring tools (such as Nagios or OpenNMS).

Asset competencies

The following asset technical, behavioural and leadership competencies will be assessed at a later date. You do not need to include information about them in your application.

Asset technical competencies

• IT Service Management Processes
• System Integration
• Telecommunications (Data and Voice) Networks
• Project Management
• Knowledge of IM/IT Architecture

Asset behavioural competencies

• Service

Asset leadership competencies

• Collaboration
• Integrity, respect and awareness
• Strategy and vision

Operational requirements

Overtime and standby duty may be required.

How to apply

You may submit your candidacy online by selecting “Apply” at the bottom of this page.

If you cannot apply online or have a disability preventing you from applying online, please inform us by email at careers-carrieres@cse-cst.gc.ca prior to the closing date of this selection process.

Important information

We ask you to not discuss your application with others (including on social media) besides your partner, or close family members - who should also be reminded about the need to be discreet.

Assessments of candidates are conducted in the official language of their choice.

To address CSE’s current representation gaps, priority may be given to persons who self-declare as belonging to the following designated employment equity groups: women; Indigenous peoples, including First Nations who are status, or registered and non-status, or non-registered, Inuit and Métis; persons with disabilities, including people with a mental health condition and neurodivergent people; and persons from racial or ethnic groups.

Please note the Employment Equity Act, which is under review, uses the terminology Aboriginal peoples and visible minorities.

CSE offers an assessment process that will accommodate any reasonable measures you require to be assessed in a fair and equitable manner. Those measures are available to all candidates during our processes. Information you provide will be addressed confidentially.

The level of competence demonstrated in the various assessments will be used to determine your qualifications for the UNMA-06, UNMA-07, UNMA-08 or UNMA-09 level.

All communications with CSE relating to this process, including email messages and telephone conversations, may be used in the assessment of qualifications.

The intent of this process is to fill vacant positions at CSE. The process may also be used to establish a pool of qualified candidates which could be used to staff similar or identical positions with various tenures.

Due to the nature of CSE’s mandate certain roles may expose employees to content that is difficult to process. Mental health is a priority at CSE and if any personnel feel they require assistance to preserve their mental wellbeing, they have access to services, tools and other resources to help them in both their personal and professional lives.

We thank you for your interest in CSE. However, only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.