AURA Astronomy

Job Details

Description

The Senior DevOps Engineer at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is a key technical leader responsible for the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of critical infrastructure and services supporting observatory operations in Chile. This role requires deep expertise in DevOps practices, infrastructure automation, container orchestration, and system reliability.

The successful candidate will work closely with cross-functional teams in Chile and internationally, provide technical direction and mentorship, lead incident response and resolution efforts, and ensure the robustness and scalability of Rubin systems. This position plays both a hands-on and strategic role, contributing to architectural decisions and advising management on technical matters.

The role may involve occasional after-hours responsibilities and collaboration across multiple time zones.

Work Modality

This position may be offered in one of the following formats, in accordance with AURA’s Teleworking Protocols:

• On-site in La Serena, Chile
• Full or Hybrid Teleworking

Essential Functions

• Develop, deploy, configure, test, and maintain DevOps services
• Design and develop DevOps infrastructure deployment and provisioning solutions
• Design and implement monitoring, reporting, and service health tools
• Develop and maintain configuration management solutions
• Build test automation frameworks in collaboration with engineering teams
• Optimize performance and ensure high availability of observatory infrastructure
• Create tools that enable teams to maximize infrastructure capabilities
• Lead or collaborate on incident response to resolve critical outages and operational issues
• Provide technical guidance and support to upper management for informed decision-making
• Mentor and support less experienced engineers

Other Functions

• Perform other duties as assigned

Required Education, Experience, Skills & Abilities

• 9+ years of experience as a technical specialist in computing and networking environments
• Proficiency in at least one programming language (Python, Ruby, Go, or Rust)
• Experience with unit testing frameworks (pytest, rspec, go test, cargo test)
• Experience designing and deploying large-scale distributed systems
• 5+ years of experience using distributed version control systems (Git or Mercurial), including code reviews and pull requests
• 5+ years of experience with microservices and distributed architectures (containers, Kubernetes, serverless technologies)
• Extensive experience with the full software development lifecycle using Agile methodologies
• Extensive experience with GitHub, Jira, and issue-tracking systems
• Strong written, verbal, and presentation communication skills
• Fluent spoken and written English
• Experience mentoring junior engineers
• Clean driving record
• CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator) certification is required

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code
• Contributions to open-source projects
• Experience working within SRE, Platform Engineering, or DevOps teams
• Fluency in Ruby or Go
• Familiarity with Terraform, Foreman, and Helm chart development
• Experience with CI/CD platforms (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, Travis CI)
• Experience with software-defined storage (e.g., Ceph)
• Production experience with Chef, Puppet, Salt, or Ansible
• Experience with monitoring and logging systems such as Prometheus, Grafana, Icinga, Kafka, Logstash, Splunk, OpenSearch, and Kibana
• Extensive experience with Enterprise Linux distributions (AlmaLinux, Fedora, etc.)
• Ability to lead across organizations and complex engagements
• AWS Certifications (Solutions Architect Pro, DevOps Engineer Pro, SysOps Admin, Developer Associate)
• GCP Certification
• Red Hat certifications (RHCSA, RHCE) or other Linux certifications
• CKS (Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist) certification is highly desirable

Export Control Compliance Notice:

This position involves access to technical data that is subject to U.S. export control laws, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Pursuant to these regulations, only U.S. persons (as defined in the regulations) are eligible for access to the controlled technical data. A "U.S. person" includes a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or person granted asylum or refugee status. Applicants must be eligible to access export-controlled information as defined by U.S. law.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position at least 50% of the time.
• Occasional need to move about inside the office environment to access files, office tools, attendance in a meeting room, etc.
• Constantly operates a computer and other office productivity tools that require fine motor skills, such as a calculator, copy machine, computer printer, etc.
• May occasionally need to position self to maintain computer and related tools.
• Seldomly needed to move objects up to 10 pounds.
• Constant communication with other individuals. Must be able to discern and exchange information as appropriate to the situation.
• Constant need to distinguish, discern, and identify a variety of objects and fine details with accuracy.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and skills required by personnel so classified. This Institute promotes Equal Employment Opportunity workplace that includes reasonable accommodations to otherwise qualified, disabled applicants and employees.

Salaries for positions hired in Chile meet Chile national market rates and internal scales for AURA.

Why Join AURA:

AURA offers an excellent benefits package including paid time off and retirement plan contributions, competitive salary commensurate with experience, and a very attractive work environment. Details on benefits can be found at Benefits by Location - Aura Human Resources.

Also we offer a multicultural and collaborative work environment, committed to scientific and operational excellence. Joining our team means contributing to the success of globally significant astronomical projects, within an organization that values safety, integrity, and continuous improvement.

How to Apply

Apply by Tuesday, March 31th, for priority consideration. This position will remain open until it is filled.

Please submit a cover letter and a CV or resume, PDF fines preferred.

Individuals needing assistance with the employment process can request assistance here.

Equal Opportunity Employer

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.