Kubernetes Service Engineer (IT-CD-PI-2025-18-LD)

Company Description

At CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, physicists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe. Using the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments, they study the basic constituents of matter - fundamental particles that are made to collide together at close to the speed of light. The process gives physicists clues about how particles interact, and provides insights into the fundamental laws of nature. Find out more on http://home.cern.

Job Description

Introduction

Interested in supporting and helping shape the evolution of the cloud native infrastructure at CERN? Join the CERN IT Compute and Devices (CD) group and the team responsible for the Kubernetes and Container Registry services hosting core business and scientific computing use cases in the organization.

You will play a lead role in managing and extending the service, ensuring its evolution to support new use cases and onboard external resources. In particular, you will:

• Together with our user community, define and set priorities and a roadmap for service evolution and ensure appropriate resource allocation;
• Support and improve the integration with all other components in CERN’s computing infrastructure, covering identity, storage, networking and compute;
• Ensure timely delivery of new features and user support to the different user communities at CERN and its collaborating organizations, in particular the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG).

Functions

In the CERN IT department and the IT-CD group, you will:

• Supervise junior team members and ensure efficient collaboration with other groups in IT and other departments;
• Contribute to the development of features in the service roadmap and coordinate releases and service upgrades;
• Ensure appropriate collaboration with vendors, research and industry partners, looking for further optimization of our systems and platforms in a fast-moving environment.

Qualifications

• Degree in the field of Computing Engineering or related field
• Master's degree or equivalent relevant experience in the field of Computing Engineering or a related field.

Experience:

We are looking for someone with the following demonstrated experience/skills:

• Demonstrated experience in developing and supporting Kubernetes platforms and services to end users with distinct use cases;
• Extensive knowledge of containers and container orchestration systems, in particular Kubernetes, Prometheus, Harbor, Argo and other tools in the cloud native ecosystem;
• Familiarity and previous experience with DevOps practices;
• Additional experience in the following areas would be an asset;
• Experience in operating and optimising large scale infrastructures;
• Experience with private cloud computing platforms, such as OpenStack, or public cloud providers, such as AWS, GKE, or Microsoft Azure, would be an asset;
• Previous experience collaborating with projects and communities in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

Technical competencies:

• Knowledge of operating systems;
• Knowledge of system configuration tools;
• Architecture and design of ICT systems;
• Identification and selection of relevant emerging ICT technologies;
• Knowledge and application of software life-cycle tools and procedures.

Behavioural competencies:

• Working in teams: working well in groups and readily fitting into a team; participating fully and taking an active role in team activities. Cooperating constructively with others in the pursuit of team goals; balancing personal goals with team goals.
• Solving problems: addressing complex problems by breaking them down into manageable components. Recognizing what is essential; discriminating between important and peripheral information and being able to see the whole picture. Testing solutions for long-term suitability, cross-checking with all concerned before implementation.
• Managing self: taking initiative beyond regular tasks and making things happen. Working well autonomously; taking on activities and tasks without prompting.
• Building relationships: showing appreciation for the ideas and contributions of others and encourages others to express their views, even if controversial Being able to put self in the shoes of others in order to understand their needs and interests.

Language skills:

Spoken and written English: ability to understand and speak the language in professional contexts.

Additional Information

Eligibility and closing date:

Diversity has been an integral part of CERN's mission since its foundation and is an established value of the Organization. Employing a diverse workforce is central to our success.

This vacancy will be filled as soon as possible, and applications should normally reach us no later than 14.03.2025 at 11:59 CET.

Employment Conditions

Contract type: Limited duration contract (5 years). Subject to certain conditions, holders of limited-duration contracts may apply for an indefinite position.

Working Hours: 40 hours per week

This position involves:

• Stand-by duty, when required by the needs of the Organization.

Job grade: 6-7

Job reference: IT-CD-PI-2025-18-LD

Benchmark Job Title: Computing Engineer