Senior Platform Engineer

Department
 

BSD CTD - Platform Engineering

About the Department
 

The Center for Translational Data Science (CTDS) at the University of Chicago is a research center whose mission is to develop the discipline of translational data science to impactful problems in biology, medicine, healthcare, and the environment. We envision a world in which researchers have ready access to the data needed and the tools required to make data driven discoveries that increase our scientific knowledge and improve the quality of life. We architect ecosystems of large-scale commons of research data, computing resources, applications, tools, and services for the broader research community to use data at scale to pursue scientific inquiry and accelerate discovery. Learn more at https://gdc.cancer.gov/, https://gen3.org/, https://stats.gen3.org/, and https://ctds.uchicago.edu/. This at-will position is wholly or partially funded by contractual grant funding which is renewed under provisions set by the grantor of the contract. Employment will be contingent upon the continued receipt of these grant funds and satisfactory job performance.

Job Summary
 

The job performs a variety of activities relating to software support and/or development. Provides analysis, design, development, debugging, and modification of computer code for end user applications, beta general releases, web pages, and production support. Troubleshoots problems using existing procedures to find a possible solution. The Senior Platform Engineer provides production support, production monitoring, CI/CD design & implementation, & security automation across the open-source software platforms CTDS develops and operates for translational data science. Production support includes triaging, researching, communicating, and addressing production incidents. For monitoring, the engineer will wrangle disparate system monitoring assets and develop common analytics to inform optimization, define benchmarks and confidence intervals, and to forecast, proactively mitigating production incidents. CI/CD pipelines are for hybrid cloud architecture on-premises and in commercial cloud providers like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for technical tasks and timely delivery of such tasks, meeting the required level of quality.
• Participation in complex and challenging activities, including design and implementation.
• Provides support and maintenance for existing applications.
• Provides technical mentorship to interns and onboarding staff and technical leadership in technical initiatives.
• Actively participates in the hiring process and provide fair and productive interview feedback.
• Elaborates on technical solutions internally and externally when required.
• Investigates, analyzes and resolves day-to-day technical problems using standard procedures.
• Works with stakeholders to gather and analyze requirements for developmental programs. Receives a moderate level of guidance to design applications to meet University and business requirements.
• Performs code testing on components and works to ensure that appropriate implementation standards are met. Evaluates design alternatives for development cost and solutions using various methods.
• Supports and maintains existing applications. Works with web developers and responds to requests from users.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications
 

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

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Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

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Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Advanced degree in computer science, mathematics, statistics, engineering, or a relevant quantitative field.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• 3+ years experience developing infrastructure, configuration and/or deployment automation or demonstrated skills and qualifications through projects, initiatives, or outstanding performance.
• Hands-on scripting experience (Bash, Python, or other dynamic language).
• Unix/Linux programming or system administration experience.
• Experience with OpenStack and AWS p(EC2/S3) cloud technologies.
• Experience with configuration management utility (Chef, Puppet, Ansible).
• Experience with F5 or other load balancing technologies (Nginx, AWS ELB/ALB, etc.).
• Experience with source control and build systems (SVN, Git, Jenkins, etc).
• Experience with container based deployment (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Experience with log aggregation tools (ELK stack, Splunk).
• Experience with security frameworks (FISMA, NIST, FIPS).
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Openstack), CI/CD, and Agile methodologies.

Preferred Competencies

• Ability to collaborate and interact effectively with team members, following guidelines and best practices and ensuring accountability for deliverables and outcomes.
• Ability to take and provide constructive and helpful input and feedback on technical issues.
• Ability to elaborate on technical solutions internally and externally when required.
• In-depth knowledge in core areas of DevOps technologies, including scripting languages, deployment/configuration frameworks, and/or cloud platforms, or having demonstrated the ability to achieve that level of proficiency in a short period of time.
• Ability to take multiple complex tasks and break them into smaller ones, estimating the effort needed to complete them, prioritizing them appropriately, and ensuring the completion of each task, meeting the required level of quality.
• Ability to work in a collaborative team and ensure accountability for deliverables and outcomes.
• Ability to prioritize and manage workload to meet project milestones and deadlines.

Working Conditions

• Office environment.

Application Documents

• Resume (required)
• Cover Letter (preferred)

When applying, the document(s) MUST  be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family
 

Information Technology

Role Impact
 

Individual Contributor

FLSA Status
 

Exempt

Pay Frequency
 

Monthly

Scheduled Weekly Hours
 

40

Benefits Eligible
 

Yes

Requires Compliance with University Covid-19 Vaccination Requirement
 

Yes

Drug Test Required
 

No

Health Screen Required
 

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
 

No

Posting Statement
 

Employees must comply with the University’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements. More information about the requirements can be found on the University of Chicago Vaccination GoForward .
The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

 

Staff Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

 

We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages a diversity of perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange.

 

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.  A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.  Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

 

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. The Report can be accessed online at: http://securityreport.uchicago.edu . Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E. 61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.