Your responsibilities

You will join a dynamic team of engineers, physicists, and technicians dedicated to constructing the CMS Inner Tracker for the High-Luminosity LHC.

The barrel and forward pixel subdetectors will be assembled together at CERN before they are installed in CMS. This works entails the integration of mechanical structures with powering, cooling, and data acquisition systems, and the validation of the full detector.

The CERN CMS Tracker group leads these integration and quality control efforts, developing dedicated test setups to verify mechanical, electrical, and thermal performance, validate workflows, and ensure that the detector is fully prepared for installation.

In this role, you will contribute to several key activities in tracker integration.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Performing system tests and supporting full-scale test campaigns to ensure reliable sub-detector performance under realistic operating conditions.
• Developing and executing quality control tests and analysing results in close collaboration with the subdetector teams at the integration centres.
• Developing workflows and establishing testing protocols, for reception tests and integration at the Inner Tracker Integration Facility.
• Contributing to calibration and monitoring tools, and assisting in the design and optimisation of integration hardware and software.
• Supervising students and training visiting collaborators and new team members.

This position offers a unique opportunity to play a central role in the final integration and validation of a state-of-the-art pixel detector, featuring a range of innovative design and technical solutions.

Your profile

Skills:

• Solid background in silicon detectors for high energy physics;
• Detector performance analysis and optimisation;
• Detector assembly and integration;
• Knowledge of Python and C++;
• Spoken and written English, with a commitment to learn French.

Eligibility criteria:

• You are a national of a CERN Member or Associate Member State.
• You have a professional background in Physics/Engineering (or a related field) and have either:
• a Master's degree with 2 to 6 years of post-graduation professional experience;
• or a PhD with no more than 3 years of post-graduation professional experience.
• You have never had a CERN fellow or graduate contract before.

Additional Information

Job closing date: 23.10.2025 at 23:59 CEST.

Contract duration: 24 months, with a possible extension up to 36 months maximum.

Target start date: 01-January-2026

This position involves:

• Work in Radiation Areas.
• Interventions in underground installations.
• A valid driving licence.

Job reference: EP-CMX-ID-2025-158-GRAP

Field of work: Applied Physics

What we offer

• A monthly stipend ranging between 6287 and 6911 Swiss Francs per month (net of tax).
• Coverage by CERN's comprehensive health scheme (for yourself, your spouse and children), and membership of the CERN Pension Fund.
• Depending on your individual circumstances: installation grant; family, child and infant allowances; payment of travel expenses at the beginning and end of contract.
• 30 days of paid leave per year.
• On-the-job and formal training at CERN as well as in-house language courses for English and/or French.

About us

At CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, physicists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe. Using the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments, they study the basic constituents of matter - fundamental particles that are made to collide together at close to the speed of light. The process gives physicists clues about how particles interact, and provides insights into the fundamental laws of nature. Find out more on http://home.cern.

We are on a Quest. A Journey into discovery like no other. Bring your expertise to our unique work and develop your knowledge and skills at pace. Join world-class subject matter experts on unique projects, in a Quest for greater knowledge and deeper understanding.

Begin your CERN Quest. Take Part!

Diversity has been an integral part of CERN's mission since its foundation and is an established value of the Organization. Employing a diverse workforce is central to our success.