Temporary Platform Engineer

Department BSD CTD - Platform Engineering - PlanX About the Department The Center for Translational Data Science (CTDS) at the University of Chicago is a research center whose mission is to develop the discipline of translational data science to impactful problems in biology, medicine, healthcare, and the environment. We envision a world in which researchers have ready access to the data needed and the tools required to make data driven discoveries that increase our scientific knowledge and improve the quality of life. We architect ecosystems of large-scale commons of research data, computing resources, applications, tools, and services for the broader research community to use data at scale to pursue scientific inquiry and accelerate discovery. We build and operate open‑source platforms (like Gen3.org) that allow researchers to analyze massive biomedical, healthcare, and environmental datasets. Job Summary The Center for Translation Data Science is seeking a highly skilled Temporary Platform Engineer with strong Full‑Stack Development experience (or vice versa) for a focused, ~6‑month engagement. The ideal candidate lives at the intersection of infrastructure and code. You will actively support, optimize, and scale our hybrid and public cloud infrastructure while writing and debugging application‑level code. Your core focus will be driving efficiency within our AWS EKS and ArgoCD pipelines, while seamlessly jumping into our backend and frontend codebases when need. Responsibilities Infrastructure & GitOps: Manage, optimize, and troubleshoot Kubernetes clusters using AWS EKS and drive continuous delivery via ArgoCD. Full‑Stack Development: Write, review, and debug application code across our ecosystem—supporting both backend services and frontend user interfaces. CI/CD & Automation: Design, maintain, and improve robust CI/CD pipelines across commercial cloud environments (primarily AWS). Production Support: Triage, research, and mitigate complex production incidents, utilizing monitoring tools to proactively ensure platform stability. Technical Problem Solving: Identify opportunities for performance optimization, security automation, and technical improvements within the production ecosystem. Competencies Ability to hit the ground running with minimal hand‑holding in a fast‑paced research data environment. Strong collaborative skills to work alongside data scientists, researchers, and core engineering teams. Familiarity with open‑source software development and maintenance. Ability to collaborate with team members and help define guidelines and best practices and ensuring accountability for deliverables and outcomes. Ability to take and provide constructive and helpful input and feedback on technical issues. Ability to negotiate complex decisions, present options and persuasively advocate for optimal technical solutions, internally and externally. Ability to take multiple complex tasks and break them into smaller ones, estimating the effort needed to complete them, prioritizing them appropriately, and ensuring the completion of each task, meeting the required level of quality. Ability to work in a collaborative team and ensure accountability for deliverables and outcomes. Ability to prioritize and manage workload to meet project milestones and deadlines. Education Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field required. Experience Containerization & Orchestration: Deep, hands‑on production experience with AWS EKS and ArgoCD is required. Backend Development: Strong proficiency in Python and/or Go preferred. Frontend Development: Solid experience with modern Javascript frameworks, specifically Next.js is required. Cloud Architecture: Strong technical knowledge of AWS services (including Lambda), serverless architectures, and secure networking is required. Required Documents Resume Cover Letter Job Family Temporary Staff Scheduled Weekly Hours 40 Pay Range $100,000.00 - $140,000.00 Benefits Eligible This position is not eligible for benefits. Posting Statement The University of Chicago is an equal employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, 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. Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call View phone number on click.appcast.io or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form. 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