Senior DevOps Engineer

Department

BSD PED - Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation - Pediatric Cancer Data Commons - Software Engineering

About the Department

The Biological Sciences Division’s ‘Data for the Common Good’ (D4CG), is a rapidly growing team of experts in medicine, clinical research, public health, data standards, data infrastructure and programming, data governance, and international data sharing. Headquartered in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago, Data for the Common Good works to connect and share disparate data sets in order to alter long-standing research paradigms and enable the study of new research questions that drive cures. Its signature flagship project, the Pediatric Cancer Data Commons (PCDC), houses the world’s largest set of clinical data for pediatric cancer, uniting clinical data from across five continents for almost all types of pediatric cancer. Leveraging its expertise in establishing data commons, Data for the Common Good is expanding to create similar infrastructure across other rare diseases, including monogenic diabetes and monogenic epilepsy, and rare adult cancers as well as a university-wide initiative called the Sociome, a scalable and extensible infrastructure and architecture that will ultimately assemble, quantify and organize the entirety of social context experienced by every individual.

Job Summary

We are seeking a talented and motivated Senior DevOps Engineer to enhance our deployment processes, automate general services, refine our automated testing pipeline, and generally support our cloud infrastructure services. The Senior DevOps Engineer will play a key role in supporting automation across all platforms developed by the team, including PCDC and other disease commons, as well as the GEARBOx platform, a clinical trial matching tool. Responsibilities include participating in the design, implementation, and maintenance of new and existing applications, systems architecture, and network infrastructure. Additionally, the Senior DevOps Engineer will ensure the operation and security of all servers and networks, configure, install, maintain, and upgrade applications for the organization's infrastructure.

​​​Our department follows a hybrid work structure that fosters productivity, collaboration, and employee well-being. Working from the office is encouraged for tasks that require a high degree of collaboration.

This at-will position is fully 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.

Responsibilities

• Deployment of applications in both production and non-production environments.

• Maintain and update current infrastructure. (Updating Dockerfiles, and services versions, like Kubernetes and elasticsearch).

• Implement automated testing and deployment pipeline(s) (like Jenkins). 

• Manage IAM in the team to the different resources (for instance access and permission to AWS accounts). 

• Improve deployment scripts and general automation.

• Designs new systems, features, and tools. Solves complex problems and identifies opportunities for technical improvement and performance optimization. Reviews and tests code to ensure appropriate standards are met. 

• Utilizes technical knowledge of existing and emerging technologies, including public cloud offerings from Amazon WebServices, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. 

• ​​​Performs other related work as needed. 

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

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

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications 

 

Education: 

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or similar field. 

 

Experience: 

• 5 or more years of professional work experience as a DevOps Engineer.

• Professional experience utilizing a cloud services provider. 

• Proficiency in CI/CD tools within a professional setting. 

• Strong background in network technologies.

• Familiarity with continuous testing tools in a professional capacity Proficient in shell scripting for automation tasks.  

 

Preferred Competencies  

• Professional experience with Terraform and/or CloudFormation.

• Professional experience with Amazon Web Services (AWS). 

• Proficiency in Kubernetes, Docker, and Karpenter.

• Strong scripting skills, preferably with Bash or similar languages. 

• Experience in systems administration (e.g. Linux servers). 

• Experience with Python or similar scripting languages would be advantageous. 

 

Working Conditions  

• This position will be eligible for an alternative work arrangement. 

 

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

Scheduled Weekly Hours

40

Drug Test Required
 

No

Health Screen Required
 

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
 

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

​
FLSA Status

Exempt

​
Pay Range

$100,000.00 - $140,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement
 

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or 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.