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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 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, and will host and operate the southern array of the Cherenkov Telescope Array, the world's largest and most sensitive high energy gamma-ray observatory. ESO is a major partner in ALMA. 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.
For its IT Department within the Directorate of Engineering, ESO is opening an International Staff Member position of:
ESO's IT landscape is undergoing a broad digital transformation to modernise and improve its operations. A major focus of this effort is the Integrated Operations Programme, which is going to transform operations for the VLT and the upcoming ELT at the Paranal Observatory.
In this context, Site Reliability Engineers play a key role ensuring the reliability, scalability, and continuous improvement of ESO's digital infrastructure - supporting both site-specific needs and organisation-wide transformation. You will work in an international environment, at the ESO Headquarters in Garching, Germany with the option of mobile working within our correspondent framework. You will frequently work at the ESO Vitacura Offices in Santiago and at the observatory sites in Chile.
You will work in an international environment, at the ESO Headquarters in Garching, Germany with the option of mobile working within our correspondent framework. You will frequently work at the ESO Vitacura Offices in Santiago and at the observatory sites in Chile.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
- Collaborate with cloud architects, engineers and other stakeholders to help implement a modern, scalable hybrid cloud infrastructure.
- Contribute to the build-out, configuration, and day-to-day operations of cloud-based and hybrid systems.
- Support the deployment and integration of cloud services in a secure and compliant environment, guided by architectural direction.
- Work on infrastructure provisioning and automation using infrastructure-as-code tools and best practices.
- Manage and maintain cloud identity and access management, including roles, permissions and service principals.
- Troubleshoot issues across cloud platforms, networks, and hybrid workloads, ensuring timely resolution and root cause analysis.
- Monitor and support the performance, availability, and integrity of cloud and hybrid resources across environments.
- Participate in operational improvements and contribute ideas for optimizing cloud reliability, cost, and scalability.
- Maintain clear and up-to-date documentation, procedures, and operational runbooks.
- Operate in an international environment with a focus on collaboration, knowledge sharing, and long-term service sustainability.
Reports to:
Head of IT Architecture Group of the Information Technology Department within the Directorate of Engineering.
Key competences and Experience:
Essential:
- At least 3 years strong Cloud platforms experience (e.g. AWS, Azure, Oracle, GCP).
- At least 3 years strong Linux administration experience (RHEL/CentOS).
- At least 3 years strong experience with OS virtualization (e.g. KVM, VMware).
- At least 3 years' experience in troubleshooting complex distributed systems.
- Advanced scripting skills in Bash or Python.
- Advanced networking knowledge (DNS, DHCP, routing, firewalls).
- Advanced storage technologies experience (e.g. RAID, NAS, SAN, Object Storage).
- Working knowledge with automation/configuration tools such as Ansible or Puppet.
- Working knowledge of CI/CD pipelines.
- Working knowledge operating in a multi-site, on-premises environment.
- Familiarity with monitoring and observability tools (e.g., Icinga, TIG, Prometheus, Grafana).
Desirable:
- Multi-Cloud platforms experience: AWS, Azure, Oracle, GCP.
- Experience with Git platforms such as GitLab, GitHub, or Bitbucket.
- Understanding of web services, databases, and supporting infrastructure.
- Experience with automation to deploy and manage infrastructure, database and networking architectures.
- Basic knowledge of project management practices (e.g. Agile, Kanban).
- Strong consulting, negotiation skills and ability to work within diverse teams and key stakeholders both internal and external to the organization.
Qualifications:
A Bachelor's degree or equivalent in relevant disciplines, e.g. data science, computer science, engineering is required.
Language Skills:
A very good command of English both oral and written is essential. A working knowledge of German and/or Spanish would be an advantage.
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.
Our Salary and career structure:
ESO's salary structure is based upon a range of career paths which reflect the nature and level of our roles. Each career path is made up of two or three grades which are used to further reflect experience and performance. The role of IT Specialist is in Career Path V. Please follow this 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. 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 regular duty travel to the ESO Vitacura Offices in Santiago and to the observatory sites in Chile.
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.
Closing date for applications is 14.09.2025.
Interviews are expected to start soon after this date.
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. 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.