Are you passionate about infrastructure at scale and curious about how bare metal servers are managed across a fleet of 10'000 nodes? Join CERN's IT Cloud team and help run and evolve the OpenStack-based cloud infrastructure that underpins most CERN and LHC experiment services.
In this role, you will work at the intersection of systems engineering and software development, contributing to the life-cycle management of physical servers (from delivery and burn-in to provisioning and phase-out) using OpenStack Ironic.
You will collaborate closely with senior engineers, the upstream OpenStack community, and CERN's diverse user communities, gaining deep hands-on experience with bare metal provisioning, BMC protocols, and Python development in a large-scale production environment.
If you enjoy working close to the hardware, contributing to open-source projects, and solving real operational challenges at scale, come join us!
Your responsibilities
- Run and help evolve CERN IT's OpenStack-based cloud infrastructure.
- Maintain and develop the bare metal life-cycle management framework built on OpenStack Ironic: integrate new server deliveries, provision nodes to user communities, and maintain tooling for burn-in, stress-testing and phase-out.
- Contribute to the upstream OpenStack/Ironic code base, leveraging CERN's links with the open-source community.
- Collaborate on automation and tooling improvements using Python and configuration management systems.
Your profile
- Experience administering or working with Linux systems in a server or data-centre environment.
- Experience writing Python scripts or applications for automation or systems tasks.
- Familiarity with configuration management tools such as Puppet or Ansible is a plus.
- Experience with bare metal server management, BMC protocols (IPMI, Redfish) or hardware provisioning workflows is a plus.
- Contributions to open-source projects or upstream communities is a plus.
Skills
- Strong knowledge of the Linux operating system.
- Experience with git version control.
- Programming experience in Python.
- Interest in bare metal infrastructure and hardware life-cycle management.
- Familiarity with configuration management systems (e.g. Puppet or Ansible) is a plus.
- Experience with management of physical servers or BMC protocols such as IPMI or Redfish is a plus.
- Ability to collaborate in a multidisciplinary, international team and communicate clearly.
- Spoken and written English, with a commitment to learn French.
Eligibility criteria:
- You are a national of a CERN Member or Associate Member State.
- By the application deadline, you have a maximum of two years of professional experience since graduation in Computer Science or a related field (or a related field) and your highest educational qualification is either a Bachelor's or Master's degree.
- You have never had a CERN fellow or graduate contract before.
- Applicants without University degree are not eligible.
- Applicants with a PhD are not eligible.
Job closing date: 10.08.2026 at 23:59 CEST.
Contract duration: 24 months, with a possible extension up to 36 months maximum.
Working hours: 40 hours per week
Job flexibility: Hybrid
Target start date: 01-October-2026
Job reference: IT-CD-CLI-2026-179-GRAE
Field of work: Software Engineering and IT
Benchmark job: 200020 - Computing Engineer
Global Benefits
- A monthly stipend between 5266-5793 Swiss Francs per month (tax free) depending on your degree.
- 30 days of paid leave per year plus 2 weeks annual closure.
- Coverage by CERN’s comprehensive health insurance scheme (for yourself, your spouse and children), and membership of the CERN Pension Fund.
- Family, child and infant monthly allowances depending on your individual circumstances.
- A relocation package (installation grant and travel expenses) depending on your individual circumstances.
- Possibility to extend your contract up to 36 months.
- On-the-job and formal training including language classes.
Overview of CERN - Discover a world where the impossible is made possible!
At CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, we are pushing the frontiers of science and technology. Our groundbreaking work brings together not only physicists but also a diverse range of professionals from engineering, technical, scientific, and administrative fields. Together, we foster an environment where innovation and collaboration thrive.
Every day, we face exciting new challenges and opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge research that shapes our understanding of the universe. We meet these challenges through the diverse perspectives within our teams, ensuring every contribution is valued and driving our shared sense of inclusion and purpose. Diversity is a core value of CERN since its foundation, and it remains central to our mission and continued success.
If you are ready to be part of a dynamic, inclusive community pushing the boundaries of knowledge, CERN is the place where your curiosity and skills can thrive. Be part of our mission to uncover what lies at the heart of the universe! TAKE PART!
More information about us, here: careers.cern
Skills Required
- Experience administering or working with Linux systems in a server or data-centre environment.
- Programming experience in Python (scripts or applications) for automation or systems tasks.
- Experience with git version control.
- Spoken and written English and commitment to learn French.
- You are a national of a CERN Member or Associate Member State.
- Maximum of two years of professional experience since graduation and highest qualification is Bachelor's or Master's degree by application deadline.
- You have never had a CERN fellow or graduate contract before.
- Applicants without a University degree are not eligible.
- Applicants with a PhD are not eligible.
- Ability to collaborate in a multidisciplinary, international team and communicate clearly.
- Familiarity with configuration management tools such as Puppet or Ansible.
- Experience with bare metal server management, BMC protocols (IPMI, Redfish), or hardware provisioning workflows.
- Contributions to open-source projects or upstream communities.
What We Do
CERN is an international laboratory for particle physics research, providing unique particle accelerator facilities to uncover what the universe is made of and how it works.
