Health + Life Science Alliance Data Space

About the Health + Life Science Alliance Data Space: Expanding beyond the existing scientific collaborations, The Health + Life Science Alliance is building an inter-institutional data space to facilitate data sharing, joint data analyses, and seamless integration with existing projects and data ecosystems with the ultimate aim to enable research in medicine and in life sciences. Our platform will empower researchers to collaborate across institutions, utilizing cloud and on-premise computing and storage resources to drive scientific innovation.

The University Computing Centre (URZ) is the central IT service provider for Heidelberg University. URZ employees provide Germany′s oldest university with modern IT equipment. We support our customers — the employees and students of Heidelberg University — with IT-related services. In the Future IT – Research & Education Service Unit, the following full-time position is available as soon as possible, initially for a fixed term of two years:

Cloud Operations Engineer (f/m/d)

Key responsibilities:

• Provisioning, configuration and management of a scalable cloud infrastructure on AWS to support project management, research data sharing and computing
• Further develop and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solutions using tools like Terraform or AWS CloudFormation
• Implement and maintain containerized compute environments using Kubernetes (EKS) or Docker-based orchestration
• Enable hybrid cloud solutions, integrating AWS with on-premise compute and storage resources
• Design and optimize data storage solutions using AWS S3 and integrate on-premise S3-compatible storage options
• Monitor and maintain the infrastructure, troubleshoot issues, and implement optimizations for reliability and cost efficiency
• Ensure compliance with security, privacy and regulatory requirements for handling sensitive research data
• Collaborate with web developers and other engineers to integrate cloud services with the data space management system
• Maintain high-quality code with proper documentation, testing, and version control (Git)
• Develop and maintain documentation, CI/CD pipelines, and automation scripts

Required qualifications:

• Bachelor′s or Master′s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Strong experience with AWS services, including, but not limited to, EC2, S3, Lambda, IAM, VPC and RDS
• Hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, or similar)
• Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, AWS EKS, or similar)
• Knowledge of cloud networking, security best practices and identity management
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, automation tools (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins), and monitoring solutions
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary environment
• A strong background in industry standard DevOps tasks and processes

• Experience with hybrid cloud environments and integrating on-premise resources with cloud services
• Understanding of data governance, compliance and security frameworks (GDPR, HIPAA, etc.)
• Proficiency in Python, Go or Bash scripting for automation
• Previous experience in academic research environments or health/life sciences data infrastructure

What we offer:

• Become a crucial member of our team and enable cutting-edge science
• An opportunity to work on a pioneering project that will advance research collaboration and innovation
• A dynamic, interdisciplinary team environment with a strong mission
• Flexible, family-friendly work arrangements (remote/hybrid options available)
• Competitive salary and benefits package
• Professional development opportunities and access to cutting-edge cloud technologies
• a wide range of university benefits (subsidized Deutschlandticket, university sports, continuing education, etc.)

• The position is available immediately
• The initial contract is limited to two years
• Extension may be possible depending on performance and available funding, but cannot be guaranteed

Opportunities for part-time employment are available. Remuneration is based on TV-L (a collective agreement for public service).

We look forward to receiving your application, which you should send with the usual documents (resume, certificates, etc.) in a single PDF file by email, quoting the reference "Operations Engineer FIRE”, to Dr. Martin Baumann, bewerbung@urz.uni-heidelberg.de by October 19, 2025.

About the Health + Life Science Alliance Heidelberg Mannheim: The Health + Life Science Alliance Heidelberg Mannheim strives to promote research and innovation through synergy – by bridging world-leading life science and biomedical research institutions and by bringing together a highly diverse range of disciplines and a cluster of top researchers. Heidelberg University with its faculties of Medicine, Biosciences, and Engineering Sciences, the University Hospital Heidelberg (UKHD) and the University Hospital Mannheim (UMM), the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research (MPImR), and the Central Institute for Mental Health (ZI Mannheim) have the common goal to develop the Rhine-Neckar region into a world-leading innovation cluster by supporting cutting-edge research and promoting transfer of knowledge into new diagnostics and therapeutics. The participating research institutions are located at the heart of a highly dynamic urban economic and industrial area embedded in a beautiful region with high quality of life.

Heidelberg University stands for equal opportunities and diversity. Qualified female candidates are especially invited to apply. Persons with severe disabilities will be given preference if they are equally qualified. Information on job advertisements and the collection of personal data is available at a href="https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/job-market" target="_blank">www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/job-market.