Computing Engineer

Job Posting Organization:
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is a leading scientific research organization established in 195

• It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and is known for its groundbreaking work in particle physics. CERN employs over 2,500 staff members and collaborates with thousands of scientists from around the world, representing more than 100 nationalities. The organization operates in multiple countries and is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of science and technology, fostering an environment of innovation and collaboration.

Job Overview:
The Computing Engineer position at CERN involves supporting development teams and ensuring the reliable operation of Open Science core services such as INSPIRE, SCOAP3, and CERN Analysis Preservation. The role requires delivering modern platform tooling, automation, observability, and infrastructure. This position combines hands-on service operations with close collaboration with developers and the rapid evaluation of new technologies. The successful candidate will be responsible for implementing best practices, deployment models, and observability to ensure smooth integration and reliable production operations. Additionally, the role includes maintaining developer tooling, operating and improving production services, leading postmortems, and designing automated platform components to enhance developer experience and operational efficiency.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Support development teams by providing best practices, deployment models, observability, and platform tooling to ensure smooth integration and reliable production operations.
• Provide and maintain developer tooling, including templates, automation scripts, CI/CD workflows, and development environments to streamline development, testing, and deployment processes.
• Operate and improve production services such as INSPIRE, CAP, SCOAP³, and related systems, ensuring reliability, performance, scalability, and security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">security.
• Participate in monitoring, incident response, and service lifecycle management.
• Lead and contribute to postmortems, conducting structured incident analysis, identifying root causes, defining actions, and driving reliability improvements.
• Design and automate platform components, including Kubernetes resources, GitOps workflows, Helm/Kustomize configurations, and infrastructure-as-code environments to improve reproducibility and reduce operational overhead.
• Prototype and evaluate new technologies, including cloud-native tooling, operators, observability stacks, and AI-related infrastructure, integrating them when beneficial.
• 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 with GitOps and ArgoCD.
• Proficiency in Kustomize and Helm (chart development/maintenance).
• Strong Git proficiency and experience with GitHub repo/organization management.
• Experience operating medium-to-large production Kubernetes clusters and holding a Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) certification.
• Familiarity with Grafana dashboard creation and maintenance.
• Knowledge of OpenSearch for logs, including indices and templates.
• Experience with HAproxy/Kubernetes ingress, including stick tables, rate-limiting, and traffic shaping.
• Understanding of AI infrastructure, including mCP servers, model serving, ML workflows (Kubeflow), vector databases, and embedding services.

Educational Background:
Candidates must possess a Master's degree or equivalent relevant experience in the field of Computer Science or a related discipline. This educational background is essential to ensure a strong foundation in the technical competencies required for the role.

Experience:
The position requires a high level of expertise and experience in relevant technologies and practices. Candidates should have a proven track record of operating medium-to-large production Kubernetes clusters, as well as experience with GitOps, CI/CD automation, and observability tools. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience in managing production services and a deep understanding of software life-cycle tools and procedures.

Languages:
Fluency in spoken and written English is mandatory, with a commitment to learn French being a valuable asset. Proficiency in additional languages may enhance communication within the diverse workforce at CERN.

Additional Notes:
The position is offered as 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 needs of the organization. The job grade for this position is 6-7, and it falls under the field of Software Engineering and IT. CERN offers a competitive salary that is tax-free, along with 30 days of paid leave per year, comprehensive health insurance coverage, family allowances, and a relocation package depending on individual circumstances.