Join SMITH (Science Management IT Hub) and help power the IT backbone behind ESA’s science cutting-edge science and engineering work.

As a DevOps Administrator with DBA focus, you will support and improve the platforms, databases, automation, and infrastructure that underpin critical services. You will help streamline deployments, optimise environments, maintain database availability and performance and ensure the reliability, security and efficiency of the systems that keep our team running.

Beyond traditional IT support, you will partner closely with the Science Laboratory team, helping design and deliver tailored IT solutions for engineers and scientists working on spacecraft instrument testing, electronics development, mechanical fabrication and cryogenic or cleanroom systems.

You will leverage ESA’s corporate IT solutions where possible, but also innovate and build custom setups when standard tools don’t fit the unique challenges of laboratory environments.

Be part of a team that enables discovery — supporting the technology that explores our universe.

This is a part-time position – 32h per week.

 

What you will bring:

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication and collaboration abilities
• Experience managing enterprise applications and backend infrastructure
• A proactive, solution-oriented mindset and curiosity for space, science and engineering

 

Responsibilities

• Administer and support SQL and other relational database platforms, including backup and recovery, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, tuning, and maintaining availability in production environments.
• Design, implement, and maintain CI/CD pipelines to automate build, test, deployment, and release processes across development and production environments.
• Automate infrastructure provisioning and configuration management using infrastructure-as-code and scripting tools to ensure consistency, scalability, and repeatability.
• Manage and optimize containerized workloads and supporting platforms, ensuring secure, reliable, and efficient application deployment.
• Monitor system health, application performance, database performance, and deployment reliability, and proactively resolve incidents, bottlenecks, and availability issues.
• Collaborate closely with development, security, and operations teams to improve release quality, operational resilience, and DevOps best practices.

 

Profile

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, information systems, or similar.
• At least 10 years of relevant work experience
• Database Administration: Strong practical experience administering SQL or other relational database platforms, including backup and recovery, performance monitoring and tuning, troubleshooting, and ensuring availability and operational support in production environments.
• CI/CD and Automation: Proven hands-on experience designing, implementing, and maintaining CI/CD pipelines to support automated build, test, deployment, and release workflows.
• Infrastructure as Code and Scripting: Strong experience automating infrastructure provisioning and system configuration using scripting and infrastructure-as-code approaches in Linux-based environments.
• Linux, Containers, and Platform Operations: Solid administration experience with Linux systems and containerized environments, including deployment, troubleshooting, and operational support of modern application platforms.
• Monitoring, Reliability, and Security: Experience with system monitoring, log analysis, performance tuning, incident response, and implementing secure operational practices across development and production environments.

We are open to people who are willing to grow in the role, so if you might miss some experience or knowledge but are an enthusiastic team player don’t be afraid to apply!

 

What we Offer: More than just a job
At Serco, we believe that a career should come with more than just a paycheck, it should provide support, security, and a sense of balance in your life.

We offer 20 holidays + 10 additional discretionary holidays per year. We support your daily life and commute in practical ways. If you travel to work, you can claim a travel allowance of €0.21 per kilometre for up to 150 km, or you can have your public transport fully reimbursed. For those working from home, there’s a small daily allowance of €2 to cover extra costs, and new employees can be reimbursed up to €500 for a desk or chair to make their home workspace comfortable.

When your work takes you on missions or travel, all business-related expenses are fully covered, and for peace of mind during tax season, our appointed advisor will assist you in completing your income tax forms. If you enjoy cycling, our bicycle scheme allows you to benefit from a tax-efficient allowance of up to €749, one year of full insurance with an additional €89 per year for accessories. Our company pension scheme is premium-free which means that the pension premium is fully covered by us.

To support your wellbeing and daily work, we offer up to €250 reimbursement for work glasses to reduce blue light strain and provide access to Benefits & Work, offering multiple discounts for online shopping. For lifelong learning, all employees receive a 35% discount on programs at Webster University.

At Serco, our benefits are designed to make your life easier, healthier, and more flexible, so you can focus on contributing to groundbreaking space missions while feeling supported every step of the way.

Relocation:
The Netherlands' central location in Europe makes it an ideal base for travel and business within the EU. Major cities are well-connected by road, rail, and air with Amsterdam Schiphol Airport one of Europe's busiest and most well-connected airports, facilitating easy international travel.
Serco offers relocation support for all EU passport holders that are planning to relocate to the Netherlands and work for Serco B.V.