System Engineer

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EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, is one of the most dynamic university campuses in Europe and ranks among the top 20 universities worldwide.

The EPFL employs more than 6,500 people supporting the three main missions of the institutions: education, research and innovation.

The EPFL campus offers an exceptional working environment at the heart of a community of more than 18,500 people, including over 14,000 students and 4,000 researchers from more than 120 different countries.

• 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 Admin ITs 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.
• 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 Dev Ops practices, Infrastructure as Code (Ia C), and automated infrastructure provisioning, with a focus on reusable, maintainable, and standardised solutions.
• Strong programming and scripting skills, particularly in Python, shell scripting, and Power Shell, 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, ourcampuses host a vibrantcommunity 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.

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