ASTRON's mission is to make discoveries in radio astronomy happen via the development of novel and innovative technologies, the operation of world-class radio astronomy facilities — such as LOFAR — and the pursuit of fundamental astronomical research.

ASTRON has embarked upon a program to develop a Science Data Centre (SDC): an initiative to maximise the scientific impact of our world-leading instrumentation portfolio by making data products and analysis tools available to scientists in the most effective ways. The SDC will provide services including hosting and distribution of petabyte-scale data archives from cutting-edge instrumentation, bulk and interactive data processing capabilities, and supporting services for the community to form collaborations, request resources, and execute scientific observing and data analysis programs. The SDC system encompasses a federated storage and compute infrastructure distributed over Europe, and a suite of services, tools, and databases that are developed in collaboration with the astronomical community and our national and international partners.

Developing and operating such an ambitious facility requires support from a strong operational unit. The newly formed Science Data Centre Operations group enables astrophysicists of all levels to make fundamental scientific discoveries by accessing processing/analysis tools and the instrumental and science ready data generated from ASTRON's world leading radio telescopes (LOFAR, WSRT/APERTIF/ARTS) and, in the future, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

ASTRON wants to strengthen the SDC Operations group with a data engineer who has (preferably) a background in ICT technology, Software Engineering or a related discipline with skills and experience in data analytics methods and tools.

In this new role as a data engineer working in the SDC Operations group, your main focus would be on the quality of the data access services and on supporting the users of the SDC. Specifically, you would:

• Guard and improve the:

- Technical readiness of the data collections and of the supporting systems;

- Consistency and quality of the data collections;

- Scalability and accessibility of the data archive on petabyte scale.

• Use and adapt Linux and Python based tooling for the operation of the data infrastructure of the SDC.
• Monitor and analyse the behaviour of the data infrastructure at database, storage, and network level.
• Provide end-to-end support to users.
• Work with the development teams to define and develop new SDC services.

If you feel you could contribute to the challenges within the SDC with your personality, acquired skills, competences and experience, we would like to invite you to respond to this vacancy and explore this further together.

• A full-time, 38 hours/week temporary appointment in the service of the Netherlands Foundation of Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I) for the duration of two years;
• a gross monthly salary on a full-time basis, in the range of € 2.846 to € 4.514 depending on relevant experience;
• a holiday allowance of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.33% of the gross annual salary;
• a solid pension scheme (ABP);
• 42 vacation days per year on a full-time basis;
• employment conditions tailored to your needs (part-time appointment, parental leave, working from home, etc.);
• opportunities and encouragement to grow and develop yourself and your career;
• ambitious colleagues driven by collaboration in an international work environment;
• beautiful premises in the heart of one of Drenthe's National Parks.

ASTRON is the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy. Its main mission is to make discoveries in radio astronomy happen, via the development of new and innovative technologies, the operation of world-class radio astronomy facilities, and the pursuit of fundamental astronomical research. Engineers and astronomers at ASTRON have an outstanding international reputation for novel technology development, and fundamental research in galactic and extra-galactic astronomy. ASTRON is part of the institute organization of NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research).

ASTRON is committed to increasing its staff diversity, and we are especially interested in applications from women and other traditionally under-represented groups.

More information about ASTRON can be found on our websites www.astron.nl and www.jobsatastron.nl. For more information on the content of this vacancy, please contact Agnes Mika, Head Science Data Center Operations a.i., [email protected]. For other information about this vacancy or procedure please contact Erika Timmerman, HR Advisor, phone: +31 521 595 100 or e-mail: [email protected].

You can apply for this job by sending your letter and curriculum vitae to ASTRON through www.jobsatastron.nl. The first closing date is 11 March 2022. Internal and external recruiting will be executed in parallel. Internal candidates have priority in the procedure. Candidates will be considered until the position has been filled.

Acquisition based on this vacancy is not appreciated.