View Vacancy -- IT Systems Engineer - MLC 2772

Open Date
05/02/2026, 15:25
Close Date
01/03/2026, 23:55
MRC Mary Lyon Centre

The Mary Lyon Centre at MRC Harwell (MLC) is located in an expanding science and innovation campus in Oxfordshire and is an internationally renowned centre at the forefront of genetics research.  As the hub of the new National Mouse Genetics Network, the specialist facilities and capabilities of the MLC support a number of research groups across the UK to accelerate our understanding of human diseases, such as cancer, developmental disorders and neurodegeneration.


UK Research and Innovation is a new entity that brings together nine partners to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, more information can be found at www.ukri.org

MRC - 4
Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire
£42,159 - £44,801 per annum (dependent on skills and experience)
Fixed Term
Technical & Scientific Professionals
Full Time
6 Months

Overall Purpose: 

We are seeking an IT Systems Engineer to join our IT Services team at the Mary Lyon Centre at MRC Harwell (MLC).

This is an excellent opportunity to further develop your technical skills within a supportive and collaborative Informatics department. 

The successful candidate will assist in the management and maintenance of a modern and robust IT infrastructure across a wide range of platforms. You will work closely with the service desk team and other informaticians within a networked environment comprising over 150 physical and virtual servers (VMware, Windows, Linux) and over 400 Windows end-user devices. We operate an on-premises, purpose-built primary data centre with over 2 Petabytes of enterprise disk storage, replicated to a secondary data centre in a separate building.

Platforms include MS365, Defender, Intune, VMware, vCenter, Patch Manager Plus (PMP), Microsoft Configuration Manager, Tenable and ClearPass. 

If you are an excellent team player with a proactive attitude, this could be the perfect opportunity for you. 

Main Duties/Key Responsibilities: 

  • Windows server administration and patching
  • Proactive use of Manage Engine Patch Manager Plus for vulnerability remediation
  • Monitoring of systems and assessment of vulnerability scans, actioning mitigations as required
  • Cyber Security assessments, ensuring that standards are met and maintained
  • MS365 administration and management
  • Management and maintenance of Microsoft Active Directory Domain and Group Policies
  • Ensuring adherence to MRC and UKRI IT policies
  • Production and maintenance of technical documentation, standard operating procedures, and processes

 Working Relationships: 

The post-holder will be expected to:

  • Collaborate with the IT Service Desk team, communicating change management and direction as required
  • Work closely with other Systems Engineers across a range of projects and scheduled tasks
  • Report to the Head of IT to convey progress and proactively contribute strategic ideas for continual improvement
  • Provide third-line support to MLC staff members as required

Education/Qualifications/Training Required:

Essential:

  • A strong technical IT/computing educational history, ideally to BSc level, or equivalent relevant professional experience

Previous Work Experience Required:

Essential:

  • Experience of maintaining and supporting IT systems within a similar technology environment
  • Experience of delivering second- and third-line technical support

 Desirable:

  • Experience of delivering and managing IT projects to support business objectives

Knowledge and Experience:

Essential:

  • Strong working knowledge of MS365, Active Directory and Group policy administration and management
  • Experience of Windows server and end-user device patching, administration and management
  • Administration and management of VMware hosts, virtual servers, and associated infrastructure 

Desirable:

  • Strong working knowledge of IT Security and cyber resilience principles
  • PowerShell or Ansible scripting

Personal skills/Behaviours/Qualities:

Essential:

  • An excellent team player with effective communication skills
  • A proactive, self-motivated attitude towards project organisation and delivery, with the ability to prioritise effectively
  • Willingness to take ownership of a task through to successful delivery
  • Ability to create concise and useful documentation
  • Attention to detail, producing quality implementations
  • Ability to liaise with third-party solution providers 

Desirable:

  • Proven troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
  • Ability to contribute ideas as part of our continual improvement programme

Equality & Diversity:

The MRC values the diverse skills and experience of its employees and is committed to achieving equality of treatment for all.  Our objectives are that all individuals shall have equal opportunities for employment and advancement on the basis of their skills, aptitudes and abilities.  The MRC is committed to the engagement and retention of the best possible talent and to creating an environment that encourages excellence in scientific research through good equality and diversity leadership and management. 

Corporate/Local Responsibilities & Requirements:

The post-holder must at all times carry out their responsibilities with due regard to the MRC’s:

  • Code of Conduct
  • Equality and Diversity policy
  • Health and Safety policy
  • Data Protection and Security policy 

The above lists are not exhaustive, and the post-holder is required to undertake such duties as may reasonably be requested within the scope of the post.  All employees are required to act professionally, cooperatively and flexibly in line with the requirements of the post and the MRC.

 

The MRC is a unique working environment where scientific researchers and professional support staff can actively partake in world class innovation and collaboration opportunities and their skills and knowledge through accessing a wide catalogue of  training & development, including professional registration with the Science Council.

In addition, MRC (part of UKRI) provides its community of employees access to a whole host of useful benefits, including a defined benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement (30 days plus 2.5 privilege days & 8 bank holidays), family friendly policies (6 months full pay maternity & adoption leave),  a range of shopping/travel discounts, access to our Employee Assistant Programme Scheme, Health and Wellbeing Support and a salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme.  Please follow this link to find out more - Benefits

Our success is dependent upon our ability to embrace diversity and draw on the skills, understanding and experience of all our people. We warmly invite people from diverse backgrounds and heritage, including people who identify as having a disability, to apply for a role that excites them.   As "Disability Confident" employers, any candidate who opts into the scheme and best meets the essential criteria, will be shortlisted for interview. 

UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider whether this conflicts with your personal values or beliefs.

We will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as an essential part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check.  The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role.  UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.

This opportunity is closed to applications.