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

Take an active role in the smooth running of compute intensive services for CERN. Provide the infrastructure and tools for analysis of the data from the Large Hadron Collider and other experiments. CERN, take part!

You will join:

• The Compute and Monitoring (CM) Group which provides compute resources, schedulers and tools to support efficient usage of over 300,000 computing cores at the CERN data centers. 
• The Linux and Configuration Services Section (LCS), responsible for providing Linux Operating System Engineering level Expertise, Configuration Management Services, Interactive Logon Services and Distributed multitenant-capable full-text search engine infrastructure based on ElasticSearch for CERN users and Service Managers.

More information on the IT Department is at: http://information-technology.web.cern.ch/.

Functions

As a Computing Engineer in the IT-CM Group, you will maintain and evolve the CERN compute services across a wide range of technologies needed to support Large Installation System Administration, which includes Configuration Management solutions, Linux Operating System internals and Remote Installation systems, Search Engine Services, as well as Interactive Logon Services used by a large (+20000) user Community.

Your main activities will consist of:

• Advice and solution design for our users and LHC experiments staff in the setup of Computing services according to established Configuration and Installation services and CERN compute services;
• Automation using Agile/DevOps tools such as Puppet to support running IT services;
• Daily management of the services which includes providing Engineering level expertise, deployment of software packages, performance and availability monitoring and computing security;
• Contributing developments to Open Source communities such as Puppet, Linux and OpenStack;
• Coordination of major deployments such as new releases of software and operating systems;
• Definition, documentation and implementation of procedures following the ITIL recommendations;
• Close collaboration with other IT Groups, Departments and physics experiments at CERN.

Qualifications

Master's degree or equivalent relevant experience in the field of computer science or a related field.

Experience:

• In depth knowledge of Linux operating systems;
• Performance Analysis of Installation Services to scale them to adapt to an ever changing world load with special focus on performance tuning, improvement, balancing, usability, automation;
• Significant Open source upstream contributions and involvement in communities;
• Previous experience using scripting languages such as Python or Go;
• Integrate software with existing systems, such as the CERN OpenStack Cloud.

Experience in the following fields will be an asset:

• Networking protocol development experiences;
• Experience in Linux kernel development, embedded Linux and/or Linux device driver experience;
• Storage experience and/or virtual machine experience.

Technical competencies:

• Installation, operation and maintenance (preventive and corrective) of computing systems: deliver and support properly-engineered IT services and products to meet the needs of CERN.
• Knowledge of system configuration tools: analyse sub-optimum procedures, streamline and document new ones; optimisation of existing tools and selection of the most appropriate one.
• User relationship management: handling of special user requests; development of technical expertise within the team; organisation of large scale deployments.
• Change management: coordination of changes within and outside the Group.

Behavioural competencies:

• Communicating effectively: expressing opinions, ideas and suggestions with conviction and in a logical/structured manner; keeping to the point.
• Achieving results: delivering prompt and efficient service taking into account customer needs.
• Solving problems: producing workable and timely solutions that meet requirements.
• Demonstrating flexibility: adapting quickly and resourcefully to shifting priorities and requirements demonstrating a willingness to accept changing circumstances; supporting initiatives for change.
• Working in teams: building and maintaining constructive and effective work relationships.

Language skills:

• Spoken and written English: ability to draw-up technical specifications and documentation.
• Basic knowledge of French or an undertaking to acquire it rapidly.

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. We welcome applications from all Member States and Associate Member States. (https://home.cern/about/member-states)

This vacancy will be filled as soon as possible, and applications should normally reach us no later than 11.03.2019.

Employment Conditions

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

These functions require:

• Work during nights, Sundays and official holidays, when required by the needs of the Organization.
• Stand-by duty, when required by the needs of the Organization.

Job grade: 6-7

Job reference: IT-CM-LCS-2019-6-LD

Benchmark Job Title: Computing Engineer

Please make sure you have all the documents needed to hand as you start your application, as once it is submitted, you will not be able to upload any documents or edit your application further