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Working at ESO
Are you interested in working in areas of frontline technology and in a stimulating international environment? Do you feel your profile matches our requirements? Learn more about our current vacancies and apply online. Read more..
The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries.
ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in northern Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor (home to ALMA and APEX), and the ESO Headquarters are located in Garching, near Munich, Germany.
At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory. ESO is a major partner in ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, ESO is building the 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which will become 'the world's biggest eye on the sky' and whose operations will be fully integrated into the Paranal Observatory.
ESO is advertising at its Headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany, the positions of
We are looking for software engineers to join our Data Flow Infrastructure (DFI) group in the Science Operations Software department of the Directorate of Engineering. The DFI group is responsible for the development and maintenance of software tools which are critical for the end-to-end operations of the ESO observatories, including:
- Specification, submission, validation, and refereeing of observing proposals;
- Long-term and short-term scheduling of observations;
- Specification and progress reporting of observations;
- Science Archive applications: transfer, archiving and distribution of raw and processed data;
- Science Archive query interfaces (e.g. http://archive.eso.org/scienceportal or https://almascience.eso.org/aq);
- Data organization and pipeline processing infrastructure;
- Data quality control infrastructure.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
You will be responsible for the development and maintenance of software tools that support science operations at ESO observatories. You will work closely with astronomers to define and validate these tools and collaborate with project managers on planning and scheduling project tasks. You will be expected to work independently, meet agreed deadlines, and proactively contribute to ongoing process improvements. Your experience will demonstrate the ability to work both autonomously and collaboratively within a team. Excellent communication skills and the ability to work respectfully in a multicultural environment are essential. You should also have the motivation and commitment to deliver customer-focused services. Your main responsibilities will include translating scientific and technical requirements into software specifications, maintaining and further developing existing operational dataflow tools, such as observing preparation and execution tools, the science archive, and the data handling infrastructure. You will work with software engineering and operations teams to integrate and deploy these tools and contribute to the broader development activities within the Dataflow Infrastructure group. ESO offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the world's most advanced optical and radio observatories located in the Chilean Atacama Desert. You will be part of a highly international environment, working in English and in close collaboration with astronomers in small, agile project teams where your contributions can have a significant impact. At ESO, you can immerse yourself in the exciting world of astronomy, while developing your technical and interpersonal skills, and benefiting from a flexible mobile working policy.
Reports to:
Head of the Dataflow Infrastructure Group
Key Competences and Experience:
Essential:
- Joint requirements definition and analysis with product owners, user story writing
- Strong conceptual and analytical skills and interest in developing a deep understanding of the problem domains
- Software architecture and design, including REST APIs and OpenAPI Specifications
- Strong experience and a passion for development using Spring boot with Java, Groovy or Kotlin
- Sound knowledge of SQL and relational databases; experience with noSQL databases
- Eager to expand your skills, explore new problem domains, and stay up to date with the latest trends and advancements in software engineering
- Willingness to continuously improve engineering practices and software quality
- Interest in taking responsibility to manage software projects with several software engineers
- Flexibility to work both on server- and client-side depending on project needs
- Familiarity with the Linux environment and its command line usage
- Collaborative team spirit and customer-focused service
Essential for some positions:
- Experience developing web user interfaces with Angular, Typescript, HTML, CSS; or
- Strong experience in Python
Desirable for some positions:
- Grails framework
- Couchbase noSQL database
- Elastic Stack (ELK)
- Experience in scientific software and astronomical data formats (e.g. Flexible Image Transport System)
Qualifications:
An advanced university degree in Computer Science, Astronomy, Physics, Engineering, or a related scientific/technical field. A first-level university degree in combination with an additional two years of relevant working experience and/or additional technical qualifications will be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.
Language Skills:
Excellent command of the English language
Remuneration and Contract:
We offer an attractive remuneration package including a competitive salary, comprehensive pension scheme and medical, educational and other social benefits, as well as financial help in relocating your family and support to place your child/children in daycare.
Our Salary Structure
ESO's salary structure is based upon a range of career paths which reflect the nature and level of our jobs. Each career path is made up of two or three grades which are used to further reflect experience.
Please follow this attached link for more details https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/salary-structure/
ESO aims to support members of personnel in maintaining a good work-life balance (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/#work-life-balance) between their professional and private life. ESO is also committed to offering family-friendly support (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/intstaff/#family-friendly-support), creating a work environment and policies which allow staff to balance their professional and private responsibilities through flexible working arrangements and financial support for families.
The contract is for a fixed term duration of three years and is subject to successful completion of the probation period. There may be a possibility of extension(s) subject to individual performance and organisational requirements, and as defined in the applicable policies and staff rules and regulations. For any further information, please visit ESO's conditions of employment (https://www.eso.org/public/jobs/conditions/). Please note that the contract policy and in particular the regulations concerning fixed-term and indefinite contracts are currently under review which may lead to changes in the contractual conditions applicable to this position.
Duty Station:
Garching near Munich, Germany with occasional duty trips to the ESO sites in Chile.
Career Path:
Career Path V
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 http://jobs.eso.org/. Applications must be completed in English and should include a motivation letter and CV. Within your CV, please provide the names and contact details of three persons familiar with your work and willing to provide a recommendation letter upon request. Referees will not be contacted without your prior consent.
Deadline for applications is 11 May 2025.
Interviews are expected to start soon after this date.
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. Please visit https://www.eso.org/public/about-eso/sustainability/dei-at-eso/ for further details.
Nationality
No nationality is in principle excluded from employment at ESO, however, recruitment preference will be given to nationals of our Member States, host states and strategic partners: Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Chile, irrespective of gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion.