Job SummaryWe have an exciting opportunity for a DevOps Engineer to join our Core Services IT organization supporting the DIII-D National Fusion Facility. The position is located in San Diego, CA.
As our scientific mission increasingly relies on complex, time-sensitive software, our IT infrastructure must evolve alongside it. We are looking for an engineer to become an integral, supported member of our core technical group. Working closely with five experienced team members who are invested in your success, you will act as the mission-critical link between our software developers and the Systems Administration (SysOps) team. By working hand-in-hand with Plasma Control Systems (PCS) programmers to offload their hardware and system deployments, your day-to-day contributions will bridge the historical gap and transition our IT framework from traditional support into a proactive enabler for fusion research.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES - Hardware-to-Software Optimization: Act as the technical bridge between Plasma Control Systems (PCS) developers and physical infrastructure, translating high-level control algorithms into optimized configurations tailored to bare-metal hardware limits.
- Virtualization Management: Take total ownership of the facility's high-availability Proxmox VE cluster to efficiently deploy, manage, and scale the virtualized environments required by our researchers.
- Infrastructure-as-Code Templating: As an integral part of the Core Services team, work closely with Storage and Network Systems administrators to architect and maintain robust Ansible configuration templates to automate infrastructure deployments for Operations and Research Science teams across our newly segmented network topology.
- Patch Management Lifecycle: Manage the end-to-end patch management lifecycle, utilizing enterprise platforms like Red Hat Satellite or Foreman for centralized provisioning and system deployments.
- Security & Rapid Response: Drive continuous security monitoring and execute rapid response deployments to consistently achieve the DOE-mandated 48-hour SLA for critical vulnerabilities without disrupting scientific runtime environments.
- CI/CD Pipeline Administration: Manage continuous integration and delivery pipelines to maximize efficiency, testing system integrity, and application deployments to ensure reliable performance.
Job Qualifications- Typically requires a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field and nine years of related experience.
- Understanding of system administration in various OS environments, with highly preferred experience managing specialized, real-time Linux operating systems required for low-latency, deterministic scientific applications.
- Strong knowledge of configuration management tools, with a heavy emphasis on Ansible for Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) deployment and automated patch compliance.
- Deep expertise in containerization technologies, specifically Docker, to build, manage, and troubleshoot reproducible environments for software developers.
- Hands-on experience architecting, managing, and scaling modern high-availability hypervisor clusters (Proxmox VE experience is strongly preferred).
- Familiarity with continuous integration tools such as Jenkins, Travis CI, Circle CI, and source control systems (e.g., GIT and SVN).
- Proficiency in scripting languages, including Bash, Python, and JavaScript.
- Experience operating within highly regulated federal or research environments, demonstrating a strong understanding of DOE or NIST cybersecurity frameworks and Authority to Operate (ATO) compliance standards.
- Full understanding of software development lifecycle best practices.
- Strong communication and documentation skills, with the ability to bridge the gap between software development teams and core infrastructure operations.
- Excellent judgment, analytical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
- Self-motivated individual who possesses excellent time management and organizational skills.
