IT Specialist Automation & Systems Management

European Southern Observatory; Santiago; On-site; CLP 15,000,000 - 21,000,000; Full time

Job summary

European Southern Observatory in Chile seeks an early career Computer Engineer to work on IT Operations, projects and collaborations ensuring continuous systems operation across observatory sites in Chile and connections to ESO Headquarters in Germany.

The Automation & Systems Management engineer will join IT Operations Chile, collaborating with the La Silla Paranal and other teams to automate and maintain infrastructure as code, monitoring, and lifecycle management, with contractors

Qualifications

• University degree in Computer Science or equivalent is required.
• Experience in IT operations, automation and infrastructure management is required.
• Experience with Linux environments and container platforms is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Implement and continuously improve automated systems administration practices aligned with IT architecture standards and procedures.
• Automate provisioning, configuration, patching and monitoring of IT infrastructure including hypervisors, Linux servers and approved cloud environments using IaC tools.
• Maintain automation and configuration management platforms with reliable version control and traceability of changes.
• Monitor system health and automate handling of recurring alerts and remediation tasks across different systems.
• Develop, maintain and troubleshoot scripts to improve operational efficiency and reduce manual work.
• Deploy and operate applications on Linux-based and approved container platforms according to platform standards and deployment models.
• Guide and oversee contractors for implementation and support of these technologies and lead troubleshooting of complex issues within approved architectural standards.
• Working with IT teams across sites (Paranal, La Silla) and ESO HQ to ensure secure, reliable operations.

Skills

Automation

Systems management

Linux

Infrastructure as Code

Scripting

Monitoring

Containers

Cloud environments

Hypervisors

Configuration management

Education

University degree in Computer Science or equivalent

Job description

We are looking for an early career Computer Engineer with residence in Chile, who will work on ESO IT Operations, Projects, programmes and collaborations, ensuring the continuous work of our systems environment, in particular our Observatory sites in Chile and their connection to ESO Headquarters in Germany.

ESO IT Department has a diverse team of engineers from multiple countries and backgrounds performing their work in an international environment focused on evolving IT technologies to support the most advanced astronomy initiatives in the world. In Chile, the IT Department supports the ESO observatories, including ESO Paranal and ESO ELT and multiple collaboration projects with institutions from all over the world.

The Automation & Systems Management engineer is part of the IT Operations Chile Group working in close collaboration with the La Silla Paranal Observatory departments, the IT Department team in Garching and external service providers. The primary objective of this role is to ensure reliable, secure, automated operation of the systems environment in alignment with ESO IT standards, architectural principles, and approved technology roadmaps. The engineer is responsible for implementing and maintaining automated systems administration practices, with a strong focus on infrastructure as code, configuration management, monitoring and life cycle management.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Implement and continuously improve automated systems administration practices in alignment with approved IT architecture standards and operational procedures
• Automate provisioning, configuration, patching and monitoring of IT Infrastructure including Hypervisors, Linux-based Servers and approved cloud environment, using standardised tools and infrastructure as code practices.
• Maintain and operate approved automation and configuration management platforms, ensuring reliability, version control and traceability of changes.
• Monitor systems health and performance and automate the handling of recurring operational alerts and routine remediation tasks appropriate to the different systems.
• Develop, maintain, and troubleshoot scripts to support operational efficiency and reduce manual intervention.
• Deploy and operate applications on Linux-based and approved container platforms according to established platform standards and documented deployment models.

Additionally, you will be responsible for guiding and overseeing the work of contractors for the implementation and support of these technologies and for leading the troubleshooting of complex issues while designing and implementing operational remediation measures within approved architectural standards.

The successful candidate must have a University degree in Computer Science or equivalent. The initial contract is for a two-year term subject to medical clearance and successful completion of the probation period. The title or grade may be subject to change according to qualification and the number of years of experience.

Closing date for applications is 29 November 2026