Cloud Operations Engineer II

🌟Are you interested in working for a company that advances science and improves lives? 🌟

The EarthScope Consortium operates the National Science Foundation’s GAGE/SAGE Facility that provides the data behind earthquake early warnings, GPS/GNSS navigation, snowpack estimation, volcanic activity monitoring, and many other important services that depend on data about the Earth’s surface and subsurface. The core of our work is collecting, archiving, and disseminating petabytes of data from seismic, GNSS, strain, and other environmental sensors operated across the globe from the Arctic to the Antarctic. We are a non-profit company funded by the National Science Foundation, US Geological Survey, and other government and private organizations.

We are looking for someone with experience in a combination of DevOps, software development, and site reliability engineering (SRE) to join our five-person Cloud Enablement team. EarthScope is in the middle of a multi-year project to move all of our data services from on-premises server rooms into AWS. Our team’s support is critical to helping the software development teams develop cloud-native services deployed as infrastructure as code, with current DevOps practices.

The software side of our company has been fully remote since 2020, and we hold in-person meetings twice a year where we have a chance to meet and interact as people as well as colleagues. Our staff have a wide range of technical and scientific experiences to learn from. Many of our direct customers are research scientists either collecting or using the data we store and many of our staff are trained as scientists. We cultivate an inclusive and curious culture that stays connected to the values of the academic research community.

Please consider applying today!

* This posting will be taken down once we have received the first 100 qualified applications. 

** EarthScope Consortium Inc. is not able to sponsor applicants for work authorization within the United States. 

Job Title: Cloud Operations Engineer II

Reports to: Engineering Manager II 

Employment/FLSA Status: Full-Time/Exempt 

Remote Eligible: Yes, National, United States 

Travel Requirements: Up to 10% 

Salary Range: $90,288 - $135,432 (depending on experience, skills, and qualifications relative to the job requirements) 

Position Summary 

A Cloud Operations Engineer II substantially contributes to the planning, maintenance, documentation, operation, and security of enterprise cloud infrastructure. The incumbent will participate in investigations into software technologies for possible use within the cloud development and deployment environments and support the framework for application deployment into the companies’ cloud. 

Details of Responsibilities 

General Essential Job Duties: 

Participate in: 

• Building the technology roadmap for the organization including architecture, design, and implementation planning 
• Interaction with suppliers and business partners for areas of expertise and project assignments 
• Documenting procedures and software in accordance with EarthScope IT standards 
• Making sure all software developed for performing system administration functions is in a source code repository. 

Substantially contribute to: 

• Support for Cloud Infrastructure systems such as application deployment, server instance maintenance, networking, security, monitoring, etc. which includes any of the following activities: 

1. Collaboration with administrative and engineering teams on DevOps, targeting improvements to processes such as continuous integration. 
2. Collaboration with engineering and development teams to evaluate and identify optimal cloud solutions, driving improvements to system availability, scalability, reliability, and security. 
3. Regular systems reviews and making recommendations for improvements. 
4. Educating teams on the implementation of new cloud technologies and initiatives 

• Identification, analysis, and resolution of infrastructure vulnerabilities and application deployment issues 
• Monitoring of IT security throughout the organization and making recommendations for improvements to systems 
• Development and maintenance of cloud solutions in accordance with best practices 
• Making technical decisions based on previous experience and research. 
• Other duties may be assigned as necessary for the successful operation of the business. 

Specialized Essential Job Duties: 

• Take initiative and learn new skills, current best practices and technologies and apply them to projects while encouraging them throughout the organization. 
• Communicate clearly and effectively with stakeholders to establish requirements and implement solutions. 
• Communicate clearly and effectively with other team members to ensure tasks are completed on time and with best practices. 

Leadership and Supervisory Responsibilities: 

• This position does not have supervisory responsibility. 
• Interacts effectively and efficiently with EarthScope staff, community and partnering organizations.  
• Foster a professional culture using strong interpersonal skills, verbal, and written communications.  
• Communicate clearly and effectively with other team members to ensure tasks are completed on time and with best practices. 

Qualifications -TIER 1

Salary - $90,228 - $112,755 (depending on experience)

Minimum Education & Experience Requirements: 

• PhD degree in geoscience, computer science, physical science, engineering, or related field 

OR 

• Master’s degree in geoscience, computer science, physical science, engineering, or related field AND one (1) year of relevant experience 

OR 

• Bachelor’s in geoscience, computer science, physical science, engineering, or related field AND two (2) years of relevant experience 

OR 

• Four (4) years of relevant experience 

Qualifications – TIER 2

Salary $$112,755.50 - $135,432

Minimum Education & Experience Requirements: 

• PhD degree in geoscience, computer science, physical science, engineering, or related field AND two (2) years of relevant experience 

OR 

• Master’s degree in geoscience, computer science, physical science, engineering, or related field AND three (3) years of relevant experience of which one (1) year includes work with a lead or major role. 

OR 

• Bachelor’s in geoscience, computer science, physical science, engineering, or related field AND four (4) years of relevant experience of which two (2) years include work with a lead or major role. 

OR 

• Six (6) years of relevant experience of which two (2) years include work with a lead or major role. 

Preferred Skills: 

• An understanding of earth sciences, earth science data, and the earth science community. 

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities: 

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability for the position: 

Knowledge of: 

• TypeScript & JavaScript 
• Enterprise Java applications 
• Python and FastAPI applications 
• Linux/UNIX environments 
• Relational and document database systems, e.g. Postgresql, DynamoDB 
• Kafka and event driven streaming platforms. 
• Cloud Security and Networking practices which will include basic networking, role- based authentication, security groups, IAM policies, and the use of a Service Mesh 
• Cloud application monitoring and use of observability tools that could include Prometheus, Grafana, Cloudwatch, etc. 
• Container orchestration engines which could include Kubernetes, Kubernetes managed services in AWS or GCP, Elastic Container Service (AWS ECS), or other serverless solutions. 

Experience with: 

• Deploying containers and cloud infrastructure with zero downtime 
• Git and CI/CD Platforms such as Gitlab, GitHub, AWS CodePipeline, BitBucket, or Jenkins 
• Implementing Infrastructure as Code concepts and best practices using frameworks such as Cloudformation, Cloud Development Kit (CDK), or Terraform 
• Implementing microservices and containerized applications
• Ability to work both independently and on a team supporting multiple projects and deployments to cloud environments 

Other Requirements: 

• Appropriate availability consistent with EarthScope established practices and norms; hours may exceed 40 hours per week, particularly when traveling. 

Environment 

Physical Setting and Requirements: 

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT:

• Frequently required to sit 
• Frequently required to utilize hand and finger dexterity 
• Frequently required to talk or hear 
• While performing the duties of this job, the noise level in the work environment is usually quiet 
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds 
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include: Close vision and the ability to adjust focus. 
• Specialized equipment, machines, or vehicles used: Ability to see computer screen with detailed screen menu in low lighting conditions 

EarthScope’s Mission: EarthScope Consortium is a consortium dedicated to supporting transformative global geophysical research and education. 

To Apply:  Applicants may apply by going to the EarthScope Consortium Career Center: https://www.earthscope.org/careers/ 

Applicants MUST be authorized to work permanently in the United States.    

EarthScope Consortium participates in E-Verify. 

EarthScope Consortium is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.