Support Engineer

Role

The Support Engineer will report to the Senior Technical Officer and assist in various tasks of the in-house technical department.  Broadly, the primary responsibilities of the role include:

• Production - assembly and final testing of some products – RESPONSIBLE
• Repairs – Diagnosis and repair of returned faulty products - RESPONSIBLE
• Routine post-sales technical support – RESPONSIBLE
  • Resolving customer issues (either product failures or assistance with implementation).  The initial scope of responsibility – in terms of products covered and level of responsibility - will depend on the workload and the engineer’s skills and experience.  In principle, it includes 1st and 2nd levels of support.
  •  “2nd-line” support – resolving most customer problems, calling on 3rd-line support (expert Senior Support Engineers) for resolution of the most difficult problems, for specific product families.  By becoming expert on some products and competent to 2nd line level on others, the support engineers are available to back each other up.
  • “1st-line” support – answering support calls on the phone or via the ticketing system; ensuring the customer enjoys a high quality support experience, that the support request is handled rapidly and to a high standard through to a conclusion.  ApplianSys differentiates itself by giving customers rapid or even direct access to expert support, reducing the need for the customer to be passed through endless service “agents”.  However, for efficiency there is some filtering of support enquiries and the simpler ones will typically be routed to less experienced engineers. 
• Testing of development products – CONTRIBUTION

  Testing of products requires testing by someone other than a developer, someone who is technically competent to test the product.  In ApplianSys, this will often be carried out by a senior support engineer, but sometimes the role-holder may also carry this out, depending on their expertise and for particular products.

In addition, the role-holder can expect to carry out some pre-sales support tasks from time to time, depending on their level of fluency and the workload facing the support team.  In time, he/she may develop further in this direction, with pre-sales support becoming one of their primary responsibilities.  This would be part of their development towards a more advanced Senior Support Engineer role.

Key Tasks

• Providing first-line responses (taking phone calls, responding to online tickets), gathering relevant information and deciding on appropriate action.
• Second-line (giving technical answers) post-sales support by email, by phone.  Diagnosing faulty products, incorrect product configurations and incorrect network configurations.  Explaining how to configure and deploy the product.
• Supporting applications including DNS/DHCP/IPAM, Web Cache/Filtering, Security Vulnerability Assessment and VOIP acceleration, and new products as they are released.
• Working from our Coventry office during office hours, and potentially providing limited ‘on-call’ support at other times to key customers
• Carrying out remedial work on faulty products
• Assembly and final testing of some products
• Managing demonstration equipment and running benchmarks. 
• Testing products pre-launch
• Assist with administration of stock and logistics

Expected Profile

• Training and experience in computer science or similar, including specific study of network and internet technologies and evidence of competence in these
• Familiarity with Linux (preferred) or other Unix.  Ideally, ability to use command-line tools for day-to-day tasks, managing files and machines, carrying out diagnostic work, etc.
• Hardware – experienced in working with x86 architecture hardware.  Familiar with usual range of components, assembling, disassembling and diagnostic work.  Some understanding of what constitutes a “neat and tidy” assembly (wiring, layout, etc)
• Familiar and comfortable with networking and ideally with specific internet infrastructure technologies (eg open source applications - Apache, DNS, DHCP, Squid etc)
• Keen interest in IT, evidenced by experience beyond simply study.  Considerable practical experience working with PC hardware and operating systems, programming experience in internet technologies.  Used to learning new technologies rapidly under own guidance.
• Thorough, organised, comfortable in a multi-tasking environment.  Cope under stress and work to tight deadlines. Must have good customer focus or have the appropriate personality to develop it rapidly with suitable guidance.
• Self-starter: able to interpret outlined tasks and develop detailed approach to implementation on own initiative.  With good judgement to seek advice or approval at the appropriate times prior to implementation.
• Good communicator, with demonstrable ability to work in a customer-facing environment.

Useful

• Test suite management experience.
• Experience with rack mount servers and especially server appliances
• Languages and international experience an advantage
• Programming experience – Python, Perl, Javascript, PHP all useful

Salary

Competitive salary, performance culture - regular salary review and bonuses

Location

Coventry

Start

ASAP

How to Apply

ApplianSys is a UK-based venture capital-backed company which designs and markets server appliances – servers featuring a tailored combination of hardware and network application software to carry out one specific task in a network. 

ApplianSys takes existing application software – either open source or from commercial partners – and embeds it in its appliance “platform”.  This includes a number of software elements ApplianSys supplies to create a finished plug-and-play, security-hardened appliance designed for ease of use. These elements include additional application functionality, web GUI, on-box utilities (standard components), API to interface between ApplianSys and third-party software, and so on.

ApplianSys continually adds new products to its portfolio.  The aim is to offer a wide range of network solutions in appliance form.  The range currently includes DNS/DHCP, web cache/filtering, security vulnerability assessment, instant messaging and multi-function appliances. 

ApplianSys has its headquarters in London, with its main technical facility at the University of Warwick Science Park’s Business Innovation Centre in Coventry.  This recruit will be based there.

ApplianSys is Investors In People accredited and aims to be a best practice company.