Bare Metal OpenStack Engineer (IT-CD-CLI-2026-179-GRAE) — CERN
- Location
- Geneva
- Contract
- full-time
- Posted
- Yesterday
Role overview
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.
- 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.
- Your responsibilities
- Run and help evolve CERN IT's OpenStack-based cloud infrastructure.
- Experience administering or working with Linux systems in a server or data-centre environment.
Main responsibilities
- 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.
Key requirements
- Experience administering or working with Linux systems in a server or data-centre environment.
Application process
- 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.
Company and context
- 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
Additional details
- If you enjoy working close to the hardware, contributing to open-source projects, and solving real operational challenges at scale, come join us!
- Contributions to open-source projects or upstream communities is a plus.
- Spoken and written English, with a commitment to learn French. Eligibility criteria:
- 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
Notes and original content
- Your profile
- Spoken and written English, with a commitment to learn French.
- Eligibility criteria:
- 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
Questions about this listing
What salary does CERN offer for this role?
CERN lists CHF 60'500 - 91'500 gross per year for this position in Geneva. This is the salary published in the original listing (or, when the employer omits a figure, a realistic estimate for the role and sector) — the calculator on this site converts it to your actual net take-home once cross-border tax and social contributions are applied.
Is this a full-time role, and what type of contract does CERN offer?
This listing is a full-time position. The contract type shown here comes directly from the employer's original posting; always confirm exact hours, notice period and probation length with CERN during the application process, since these details can vary by role even within the same contract category.
Do I need a cross-border work permit for a role in Geneva?
EU/EFTA residents living in the border zone of the country adjoining Canton Geneva can apply for a G permit; the Swiss employer files it with that canton's migration office after the contract is signed. Border-zone rules and processing times vary by neighbouring country and canton, so confirm the specifics with Geneva's cantonal migration office or with HR during the application.
How do I apply for this position at CERN?
Use the "Apply now" button on this page — it links directly to CERN's original listing at jobs.smartrecruiters.com, so your application goes straight to the employer's own applicant-tracking system. Frontaliere Ticino does not collect or forward applications itself.
