Mission:

Provide timely, accurate, and helpful 3rd level technical support for ISC’s major open-source software systems. Support is primarily provided via email, but can also include video or audio calls.

ISC funds the development of open-source software by selling technical support subscriptions. We currently support 140 organizations in using our open-source successfully. Our support customers are mostly experienced and capable UNIX/LINUX system administrators or network engineers at ISPs, enterprises, and universities who have chosen to use open source for their networking applications. They need advice on best practices, configuration reviews, performance tuning suggestions, help in troubleshooting subtle issues, and help in confirming bugs and getting them fixed. Not infrequently, our support users have questions or problems that require testing to reproduce the problem or to verify a solution. This testing could result in a solution for the user, or in the identification of a specific bug or requirement for development.

We are a relatively small team, (currently 5 engineers), so we need to be efficient and flexible. We need to cover a range of time zones. For this position, working hours for Western Europe would work well.

Support Tasks

• Work directly with ISC’s customers, providing them with accurate and prompt technical support for supported products within their contracted response time frames during the work day, and at other times when on call. Manage customer expectations.
• Take on-call shifts as assigned. We promise fast response to important customers, and to deliver that fast response, someone must always be on call and available.
• Reproduce problems reported by customers and open issues to track remediation of software defects.
• Attend regular meetings with Software Engineering to keep them aware of problems that customers are having. Represent our customers to Software Engineering.
• Stay current: when ISC software gets new features or relevant new RFCs are published, learn them and become an expert.
• Take turns managing the process of reporting security bugs to customers who pay for notification in advance of public announcement. Know the process and be prepared to take the lead when it’s your turn.
• Protect the confidentiality of customer information.

Support Functions

• Write technical articles and give occasional talks on ISC’s open source.
• Provide input to requirements for new features and prioritization of fixes.
• Take turns supporting the overall company software release process.
• Monitor public mailing lists and fora in which our products are discussed.
• Provide pre-sales technical assistance when requested by Sales.
• Back up other parts of the company when your skills match their needs.

Working conditions

This is an on-call position; the candidate must be available via phone or pager 7×24 when on call. On-call shifts rotate amongst support engineers. Each person is on call for evenings and weekends 1 week out of 5 or 6.

You will work as a member of a geographically dispersed team; this is a work-from-home job (must have fast and reliable internet service with no data limits). Some travel required, including annual in-person company meetings and occasional technical conferences such as DNS-OARC.

Job requirements

Minimum requirements

• Significant experience in 24×7 technical support or *NIX system administration.
• Some experience configuring and operating BIND.
• Some experience working directly with internal or external customers.
• Vital Skills: Must be able to write Unix scripts, compile source code, and build systems from tarballs.
• Must have familiarity with internet standards and protocols, especially DNS, DHCP, and TCP/IP, and be able to stay current as internet protocols evolve. Must be able to write clearly in English.
• Specialized Knowledge: Expert-level knowledge of DNS (preferably BIND), DHCP, and Unix/Linux.
• Fast and reliable internet service with no data limits is essential.

Valuable additional qualifications

• Familiarity and experience with GitLab are useful. We use Gitlab for development and issue tracking.
• Experience in using another version control system is also relevant.
• Knowledge of C, C++, Perl, sh/bash, and/or Python will be useful. BIND is written in C and Kea in C++, and the ability to read and understand code is very helpful.
• Fluency in other languages that our customers might use. Our business is transacted in English, but occasionally customers are more comfortable explaining complex problems in their first language.

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