Computing Engineer

Job Posting Organization:
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is a leading scientific research organization established to explore the fundamental structure of the universe. Founded in 1954, CERN employs thousands of physicists and engineers from around the world, operating in multiple countries and fostering international collaboration. The organization is renowned for its cutting-edge research in particle physics, utilizing the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments to study matter at the most fundamental level. CERN's mission is to push the boundaries of knowledge and technology, making significant contributions to our understanding of the universe.

Job Overview:
The Computing Engineer position at CERN involves supporting development teams and ensuring the reliable operation of Open Science core services, including INSPIRE, SCOAP3, and CERN Analysis Preservation. The role requires a combination of hands-on service operations and collaboration with developers to evaluate and implement new technologies. The successful candidate will be responsible for delivering modern platform tooling, automation, observability, and infrastructure, ensuring smooth integration and reliable production operations. This position is critical in enhancing developer experience and improving the overall functionality of CERN's services.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Support development teams by providing best practices, deployment models, observability, and platform tooling to ensure smooth integration and reliable production operations.
• Maintain and provide developer tooling, including templates, automation scripts, CI/CD workflows, and development environments to streamline development, testing, and deployment processes.
• Operate and enhance production services such as INSPIRE, CAP, SCOAP³, and related systems, ensuring their reliability, performance, scalability, and security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">security.
• Participate in monitoring, incident response, and service lifecycle management, leading and contributing to postmortems and structured incident analysis.
• Design and automate platform components, including Kubernetes resources, GitOps workflows, and infrastructure-as-code environments to improve reproducibility and reduce operational overhead.
• Prototype and evaluate new technologies, integrating beneficial tools and systems into existing workflows.
• Enhance developer experience by improving documentation, automation, self-service capabilities, and platform usability.

Required Qualifications:

• A Master's degree or equivalent relevant experience in Computer Science or a related field.
• Expertise in GitOps and ArgoCD, with proficiency in Kustomize and Helm for chart development and maintenance.
• Strong Git proficiency and experience managing GitHub repositories and organizations.
• Experience operating medium-to-large production Kubernetes clusters and creating and maintaining Grafana dashboards.
• Familiarity with OpenSearch for logs, HAproxy/Kubernetes ingress, and AI infrastructure, including mCP servers and ML workflows (Kubeflow).
• Technical competencies in administration of computing systems, knowledge of software life-cycle tools, and development of system software.

Educational Background:
Candidates must possess a Master's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science or a related field, demonstrating a strong foundation in the principles of computing and software engineering.

Experience:
The ideal candidate should have extensive experience in operating medium-to-large production Kubernetes clusters, with a strong background in GitOps practices and CI/CD pipeline automation. Experience with observability and ingress systems, as well as AI infrastructure operations, is highly desirable.

Languages:
Fluency in spoken and written English is mandatory, with a commitment to learn French being an asset. Proficiency in additional languages may be beneficial but is not required.

Additional Notes:
This position is a limited duration contract for 5 years, with the possibility of extension up to 8 years and eligibility for an indefinite contract tenure. The role requires working 40 hours per week, with flexibility for hybrid work arrangements. Candidates should be prepared to work during nights, Sundays, and official holidays as required by the organization's needs. The job grade is classified as 6-7, and the reference for this position is RCS-SIS-TS-2025-272-LD. CERN offers a competitive salary that is tax-free, along with comprehensive health insurance, paid leave, and a relocation package depending on individual circumstances.