System Engineer

EPFL; Lausanne; On-site; CHF 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

EPFL's School of Engineering (STI) seeks a Systems Engineer to advance modern infrastructure, automation, and platform engineering to support research worldwide.

You will design reusable automation, apply SRE practices, manage storage, virtualization, and CI/CD pipelines, and integrate AI-powered tooling while ensuring security and compliance.

Qualifications

• Degree in computer science or related field
• At least 5 years hands-on system/infrastructure engineering in complex environments
• Fluent in French and English (minimum B2)
• Hands-on DevOps, IaC, and automated provisioning with reusable, standardized solutions
• Strong scripting in Python, shell, and PowerShell
• Proficient with Linux and Windows servers in production
• Experience with virtualization and containers in production
• Experience with IT governance, security, and compliance
• Experience with enterprise storage, data management, AD, and NFS/SMB
• Experience with data centre infrastructure and networking equipment
• Proficiency in configuration management and CI/CD pipelines
• Strong networking fundamentals
• Team player across researchers, engineers, and stakeholders
• Methodical and solution-focused in operating and evolving IT systems

Responsibilities

• Apply SRE practices to improve reliability and observability
• Act as escalation point for incidents including security
• Collaborate with STI AdminITs on IT best practices
• Serve as technical reference for accreditation and access control
• Design reusable automated infrastructure services and provisioning workflows
• Strengthen security and resilience through vulnerability management
• Provision and manage storage resources and access control
• Design automated deployment workflows using IaC, CI/CD
• Provide expert IT consultation for long-term solutions
• Integrate AI-assisted tools to accelerate automation and troubleshooting
• Manage software license services
• Bridge STI and EPFL central IT for strategic delivery

Skills

DevOps practices

IaC

Python

PowerShell

CI/CD

Linux

Windows servers

Networking fundamentals

Security/compliance

French (B2)

English (B2)

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Equivalent professional experience

Tools

Terraform

Docker

Kubernetes

Active Directory

Job description

Mission

• As a Systems Engineer at EPFL’s School of Engineering (STI), you will enable and support research, education, and innovation on a global scale. As a technical expert, you will advance modern infrastructure and platform engineering practices, driving automation, standardised deployment workflows, and reliable, scalable services that accelerate scientific research.
• You will actively contribute to the adoption of AI-powered tools and practices, leveraging emerging technologies to accelerate automation, enhance operational efficiency, and continuously improve the quality and reliability of IT services.
• You will work across Linux, Mac and Windows server environments, virtualisation, provisioning and management of EPFL’s storage and HPC services, and automation using configuration management, while also operating software license services and addressing complex identity, authorization, and access management challenges.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Apply Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) practices to improve service reliability, observability, and operational resilience, using automation, clear service ownership, and measurable service objectives to reduce manual effort and improve service quality.
• Act as an escalation point for complex incidents, including IT security and compliance inquiries.
• Collaborate closely with STI AdminITs by providing guidance on IT best practices and supporting them in resolving urgent IT security incidents and other technical issues.
• Serve as the technical reference for accreditation and access control within the School of Engineering.
• Design and develop reusable, automated infrastructure services and standardised provisioning workflows, enabling research laboratories to access and deploy IT resources efficiently, with an increasing focus on self-service capabilities and reduced manual intervention.
• Strengthen infrastructure security and resilience through proactive vulnerability management, system hardening, and regular testing of backup and recovery procedures.
• Provision and manage storage resources from EPFL’s shared storage services, including access management and service enablement for STI’s research laboratories.
• Design and continuously improve automated, reproducible application deployment workflows using Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, and modern platform engineering practices.
• Provide expert-level consultation to resolve complex IT issues, proposing sustainable, long-term infrastructure and platform solutions for STI units.
• Integrate AI-assisted engineering tools into daily work to accelerate automation, troubleshooting, documentation, and service improvement, while ensuring security, data protection, and human oversight.
• Manage software license services, ensuring reliable access for STI users.
• Act as a link between STI and EPFL’s central IT, promoting close collaboration and strategic delivery of IT infrastructure and services.

Profile

Must-Haves:

• A degree in computer science or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• At least 5 years of hands‑on experience in system or infrastructure engineering within complex and heterogeneous IT environments.
• A clear and confident communicator, fluent in spoken and written French and English (minimum level B2 in both), able to engage with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Hands‑on experience with DevOps practices, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and automated infrastructure provisioning, with a focus on reusable, maintainable, and standardised solutions.
• Strong programming and scripting skills, particularly in Python, shell scripting, and PowerShell, with the ability to develop maintainable automation tools and software solutions.
• Strong proficiency in Linux and Windows operating systems used in server environments.
• Experience with virtualisation and container technologies, in production environments.
• Experience working with IT governance, security, and compliance requirements.
• Solid experience with enterprise storage systems, data management and access control, Active Directory, and common storage protocols such as NFS and SMB, ideally in environments supporting data-intensive workloads.
• Practical experience with data centre infrastructure, including racks, servers, networking equipment, and hardware lifecycle operations.
• Proficiency in configuration management and CI/CD pipelines supporting infrastructure and application deployments.
• Strong understanding of networking fundamentals, including TCP/IP, SSL certificates, DNS, routing, firewalls, and network troubleshooting.
• A team player who enjoys working across teams and supporting a diverse community of researchers, engineers, and stakeholders.
• Methodical and solution-focused, with strong attention to detail in operating and evolving complex IT systems.

Nice-to-Haves:

• Experience working in a research and/or higher education context, particularly with data-intensive workloads.
• Previous experience providing technical leadership, mentoring colleagues, or coordinating infrastructure initiatives.
• Experience leading complex infrastructure deployment and migration projects; project management certifications are an advantage.
• Knowledge of software license management.
• Hands‑on experience with AI‑assisted engineering tools and a demonstrated interest in applying AI to infrastructure operations and automation.
• Familiarity with Swiss and European data protection laws and relevant regulatory requirements.

Additional Info

• The duty station for this position is EPFL's campus at Ecublens, Lausanne.
• Occasional travel may be required to other EPFL campuses (travel is compensated).

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the position will remain open until filled.

We offer

At EPFL, we believe that people achieve great results when they feel supported, respected and enabled to succeed. By joining our community, you will help shape the future of society through education, research and innovation.

We offer an inspiring, international and collaborative environment where your work has real impact and your ideas are valued. Combined with flexible ways of working and attractive employment conditions, we aim to create an environment where everyone can contribute, grow and make a difference.

Beyond work, our campuses host a vibrant community and unique environment, enriched by initiatives promoting equality, inclusion, diversity, well-being and sustainability as well as an engaging program of cultural, sports and community activities throughout the year.

Read about our employment conditions and employee benefits

Informations

Contract Start Date : 01/01/2027

Activity Rate : 100.00

Contract Type: CDI

Reference: 2547