Job Description

Your responsibilities

We are offering a position in the Rucio development team at CERN. Rucio is an open-source scientific data management system responsible to manage the data of some of the biggest scientific data producers in the world. Experiments such as ATLAS, CMS, Belle II, DUNE, and many others rely on Rucio, which manages world-wide distributed data in the multi exa-byte range.

The work on this post will be carried out in the context of the European “RI-SCALE Unlocking RI potential with Scalable AI and Data” project, where Rucio will be used to manage the vast datasets of multiple European research infrastructures.

You will join the Rucio core development team at CERN, a dedicated group of software engineers and computer scientists who work on the frontier of scientific big-data. You will contribute to the design and evolution of the system, operate a Rucio deployment for the RI-SCALE consortium, and collaborate with a variety of people at CERN and the diverse open-source community of Rucio. In particular, you will:

• Design and develop features for the Rucio catalog component.
• Improve the usability and performance of Rucio in the context of the scientific use-case of RI-SCALE.
• Participate in DevOps tasks in operating a Rucio deployment for the project.
• Participate in the evolution of the Rucio architecture at large.

Your profile

Skills

• Excellent skills in the Python programming language.
• Proven experience in software design, architecture, and continuous integration.
• Strong knowledge in distributed systems, computer networks, databases.
• Knowledge of the scientific computing domain and deployments via Kubernetes is an advantage.

Eligibility criteria:

• You are a national of a CERN Member or Associate Member State.
• You have a professional background in Computer Science, Software Engineering (or a related field) and have either:
  • a Master’s degree with 2 to 6 years of post-graduation professional experience;
  • or a PhD with no more than 3 years of post-graduation professional experience.
• You have never had a CERN fellow or graduate contract before.

Additional Information

Job closing date: 14.04.2025 at 23:59hrs CET.

Contract duration: 24 months, with a possible extension up to 36 months maximum.

Working hours: 40 hours per week

Target start date: 01-May-2025

This position involves:

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

Job reference: EP-ADP-CO-2025-37-GRAP

Field of work: Software Engineering and IT

What we offer

• A monthly stipend ranging between 6287 and 6911 Swiss Francs per month (net of tax).
• Coverage by CERN’s comprehensive health scheme (for yourself, your spouse and children), and membership of the CERN Pension Fund.
• Depending on your individual circumstances: installation grant; family, child and infant allowances; payment of travel expenses at the beginning and end of contract.
• 30 days of paid leave per year.
• On-the-job and formal training at CERN as well as in-house language courses for English and/or French.

About us

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.

We are on a Quest. A Journey into discovery like no other. Bring your expertise to our unique work and develop your knowledge and skills at pace. Join world-class subject matter experts on unique projects, in a Quest for greater knowledge and deeper understanding.

Begin your CERN Quest. Take Part!

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.