For 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we’ll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.
Job Overview
Are you passionate about Cloud Engineering?
Charles River Laboratories is seeking an enthusiastic and growth‑oriented individual to join the Global Infrastructure Services team as a Junior Cloud Engineer.
In this role, you will work as part of a collaborative, cross‑functional engineering team to support the delivery of secure, reliable, and effective cloud infrastructure solutions across Azure and AWS.
As a Junior Cloud Engineer, you will assist with day‑to‑day cloud operations, basic troubleshooting, and the deployment of cloud resources using Infrastructure‑as‑Code (IaC) and automation tools. You will develop hands‑on experience with cloud platforms, server technologies, networking fundamentals, and monitoring systems while contributing to ongoing cloud initiatives and supporting the organization’s multi‑cloud strategy.
Through consistent, high‑quality execution and a willingness to learn, you will help strengthen team productivity, enhance customer satisfaction, and support the continued modernization of CRL’s cloud environment
This is a remote role, with the ideal candidate based in UK/IRL or EU.
Job Description
Role Accountabilities:
• Support the organization’s digital transformation and cloud strategy by assisting with cloud migrations, basic configuration tasks, and operational activities under the guidance of senior engineers.
• Contribute to a high‑performing engineering team by helping deliver standardized, reliable, and well‑documented hybrid cloud services and infrastructure components.
• Collaborate with other IT teams to support the development, deployment, and troubleshooting of technical solutions, escalating issues when necessary.
• Assist senior engineers and external partners by gathering information, performing defined tasks, and supporting the delivery of cloud‑based solutions.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
• Assist with application migrations to Azure and AWS under the guidance of senior engineers, including basic configuration tasks and use of standard cloud migration tools.
• Support the deployment of IaaS and PaaS resources by following established designs, templates, and best practices created by senior staff.
• Contribute to day‑to‑day cloud operations, including monitoring, basic troubleshooting, and routine maintenance tasks across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
• Participate in project work by completing clearly defined tasks, escalating issues appropriately, and collaborating with project leads.
• Help automate and standardize operational processes by writing simple scripts (e.g., PowerShell, Bash, Python) and using automation tools under supervision.
• Assist with deploying application artifacts to development, testing, and production environments using supported CI/CD and cloud deployment tools.
• Create and update documentation for cloud configurations, deployment steps, troubleshooting procedures, and operational workflows.
• Develop working knowledge of configuration management tools (such as Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM) and participate in routine configuration updates.
• Collaborate with team members to learn cloud engineering best practices and actively participate in knowledge-sharing sessions and cross-training.
• Perform other related duties as assigned to support IT operations and cloud initiatives.
Requirements and Profile
Required Qualifications:
Education: Bachelor’s degree (B.A./B.S.) or equivalent in computer science, engineering, or related discipline.
Experience:
• Some related IT experience, or equivalent hands‑on training, internships, or coursework in cloud technologies.
• Foundational understanding of cloud computing concepts and basic hands‑on experience with Azure or AWS (lab work, certification labs, or entry‑level projects).
• Exposure to containerization technologies such as Docker or Kubernetes, with the ability to perform basic container management tasks.
• Familiarity with infrastructure‑as‑code tools (e.g., Terraform, Bicep, CloudFormation) and CI/CD pipelines, with willingness to learn and expand skills.
• Basic knowledge of Kubernetes or other orchestration platforms, with interest in developing deeper capabilities.
• Understanding of DevOps principles such as automation, version control, and repeatable deployments.
• Experience working in collaborative environments, including exposure to Agile or Scrum methodologies (academic, internship, or professional).
Other:
• Effective communication skills for large, multi-national audiences.
• Effective cross-functional leadership and collaboration skills.
• Utility player – broad understanding of tools and technologies
• Flexibility and willingness to learn new toolsets and solutions
• Some awareness of business acumen –understanding of customer value
Certification/Licensure: Azure and/or AWS certification a plus.
About Corporate Functions
The Corporate Functions provide operational support across Charles River in areas such as Human Resources, Finance, IT, Legal, Sales, Quality Assurance, Marketing, and Corporate Development. They partner with their colleagues across the company to develop and drive strategies and to set global standards. The functions are essential to providing a bridge between strategic vision and operational readiness, to ensure ongoing functional innovation and capability improvement.
About Charles River
Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients’ clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.
With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client’s unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world.
At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly supported the development of 80% of the drugs approved by the FDA in the last five years.
At Charles River Laboratories, we recognize and recruit all talent. We are a company committed to fostering a sense of belonging and work daily in this direction.
