IT Specialist – Systems Administration

We are looking for an IT Specialist to support ESO in Chile and Germany, providing expertise to ESO Projects, programmes and collaborations, all this ensuring user satisfaction, continuous operation, and appropriate project completion.

Are you passionate about Information Technology and are you looking forward for new challenges working in an exciting scientific environment supporting some of the world's biggest observatories? Would you like to work in a real international environment, with real teamwork, in a department that has staff originating from nine different countries and is spread over multiple sites on two continents, in a team of specialists delivering IT services in an evolving technological landscape? Would you like to shape your future with the opportunity to use your own experience to develop support Scientists, Engineers, and Administration people to effectively use their environments. We will provide you with on-the-job training from IT Specialists within the IT department and depending on your experience we will provide a tailored development plan within IT.

The IT Specialist for Systems Administration and Project Support is part of the IT Group in Chile working in close collaboration with the La Silla, and Paranal Observatory Departments, the IT Group in Garching, the ELT implementation team, and external service providers; an IT Specialist provides support to approximately 600 users; together with almost 3 PB of scientific, engineering and administrative data (SAN, NAS and bespoke solution), hosted on the IT managed infrastructure of approximately 400 physical blade and rackmount servers and 300 virtual servers on Linux and Windows in 6 Data Centres.

ESO IT delivers IT Services internally to other organizational units, encompassing the design, implementation, maintenance, and optimization of information technology components and systems and is supported by an on-site IT Service Provision Contract. IT Services at ESO include: Email and Calendar; Printer and Scanner; Collaboration Tools; Web Platform; Development Infrastructure; ESO Science and Science Operations support.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Design, organise, produce, deliver, and monitor the IT Infrastructure to support the operation of ESO's projects. Including among them the support for scientific instruments and scientific operation initiatives.
• Take responsibility for all aspects of service delivery for your appointed Services.
• Provide technical guidance to an outsourced/out-tasked team focused on delivering technical services, in systems administration for complex infrastructure supporting scientific instruments control and operations.
• Identify and document user requirements and collaborate with your colleagues to propose and provide solutions for these requirements.
• Automating the systems administration for these environments, while managing the obsolescence of infrastructure and providing flexible solutions for the requirements of ESO Projects.
• Lead and contribute to IT projects.

Reports to:

Head of IT Group Chile of the Information Technology Department within the Directorate of Engineering.

Key Competences and Experience:

Essential Competences and Experience:

• At least three years of IT experience in public, private or scientific environments.
• The candidate must have an excellent understanding of IT infrastructure, hands-on experience in UNIX systems administration, storage technologies and basic understanding of networking.
• Linux and virtualized infrastructure systems administration, operations, and deployment, in physical environments
• Ability to gather requirements and to resolve complex requests.
• Eager to learn new skills and technologies.
• Assign and control the delivery of technical work performed by outsourced contracts.
• Service oriented attitude, excellent communication skills and aptitude for working in a multi-cultural team are essential.
• A good command of English language (most internal meetings are performed in English) as well as good English documentation skills are required (all the current documentation is in English, any document written will be done in English).

Desirable Competences and Experience:

• Working with outsourced/out-tasked services for the daily operations on the areas of interest.
• Preparation and management of maintenance contracts and hardware provision contracts.
• Experience in VMware, Puppet, Docker and Git.
• Experience on IT Service Management.
• Experience in technical writing.

Qualifications:

Essential educational level: University degree (4-year career) in Computer Science or equivalent Qualifications which would be an asset: Certifications in Linux Servers, Virtualisation environments, and Cloud infrastructure are be considered a strong asset. ITIL certification is desirable.

Language skills:

ESO is an international organization where the official language is English. The position requires proficiency in oral and written communication in English.

Remuneration and Contract:

We offer an attractive remuneration package including a competitive salary and educational benefits, as well as financial help in relocating the candidate's family, where applicable. ESO aims to support members of personnel in maintaining a good work-life balance.

The initial contract is for a two-year term, subject to medical clearance and successful completion of the probation period, with a possibility of indefinite extension following the two years. The title or grade may be subject to change according to qualification and the number of years of experience. For further information, please visit https://www.eso.org/public/archives/static/jobs/conditions/brochure-lsm-updated-jan2020.pdf

Duty Station:

Paranal Observatory, located 120 km south of the city of Antofagasta, Chile. The working schedule will be 8 days on duty and 6 days off duty (8x6) with accommodation provided on site.

Career Path:

IV

Application:

If you are interested in working in areas of frontline science and technology and in a stimulating international environment, please visit http://www.eso.org for further details. Applicants are invited to apply online at https://recruitment.eso.org/. Applications must be completed in English and should include a motivation letter and CV. Please note that the interviews will be conducted in English.

Deadline for applications is 15 November 2023.

Interviews are expected to start soon after this date.

Nationality:

No nationality is in principle excluded from employment at ESO, however, non-Chilean applicants to this role must reside in Chile and/or have a pertinent working permit, according to Chilean regulations at the time of their application. ESO is committed to equal opportunities. The post is equally open to suitably qualified candidates irrespective of gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion.

ESO Values:

An important element in any successful employment relationship is harmony in values between an organisation and its people.

The ESO values are:

ESO strives for excellence through innovation.

ESO provides outstanding services to its communities.

ESO fosters diversity & inclusion.

ESO believes in the key role of sustainability for its future.

Achieving the above are recognized as only possible on the basis of personal values and attitudes that we expect from our employees: respect, integrity, accountability, commitment, collaboration, and clear & open communication. Applicants to any ESO role are asked to reflect on their affinity with these values and advised they may be asked about them if called for interview.

Diversity:

ESO has established diversity as an important value of the Organisation, is committed to providing an equal opportunities environment and is actively seeking to promote a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce.