DevOps Engineer Infrastructure

TU Delft operates its own data centres and its own campus network. Deliberately. As a scientific institution, we believe that maintaining control over our digital infrastructure is not a matter of cost, but an essential prerequisite. You make sure that this infrastructure is not managed manually, but controlled through code.

Job description 

You will work on one of the largest and most distinctive IT environments in the Netherlands. More than 40,000 researchers, students and staff rely on it every day. Behind this environment is not a standard catalogue of services, but a campus network that simultaneously supports lecture halls, laboratories, quantum research and high-performance computing — all from data centres that we own and operate ourselves.

We are transforming this environment from manual operations to code. Not as a project with an end date, but as a way of working. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the standard, not the ambition. Everything goes through Git, everything is peer-reviewed, and what we build moves into production quickly so that we can learn from real feedback rather than assumptions.

Your work is at the heart of this transformation. You automate the deployment, configuration and registration of our data centre, network and platform services using tools such as Ansible, Terraform, NetBox, GitLab CI and Python. You help build the internal platform that enables other teams within the ICT Directorate to securely consume standardised infrastructure services themselves, rather than submitting a ticket and waiting.

What you will work on

Depending on your interests and strengths, your work will focus on areas including:

I. Establishing a reliable source of truth
NetBox is becoming our technical Configuration Management Database (CMDB). Network and infrastructure configurations should originate from it, rather than the other way around. That may sound less exciting than some of the other challenges, but it is the foundation for everything we automate next.

II. Connecting to our shared automation landscape
We are building an event-driven orchestration layer in which a request from a self-service portal automatically results in a deployed, registered and monitored service. From a portal request, to the desired state, to working infrastructure — with the resulting status fed back to the requester.

III. Compartmentalised research environments
For sensitive research, we build isolated environments driven by knowledge security requirements and the forthcoming Dutch Knowledge Security Screening Act (Wet screening kennisveiligheid). Segmentation, access control and demonstrable compliance are not secondary considerations here; they are part of the product itself.

IV. Rethinking the virtualisation layer
We are exploring Proxmox as an alternative to our current VMware stack. What this means for networking, storage and physical infrastructure remains an open technical question — one that you will help us explore, design and build.

V. Moving from monitoring to measurable reliability
Knowing that something is broken is not the same as knowing how reliable it is. Observability is one of the major areas we still need to develop further.

You will help shape our technical direction. You will have the freedom to make choices, initiate improvements and introduce new tooling — and we expect you to be able to explain and defend those choices to colleagues and stakeholders who may see things differently.

How we work

We work in multidisciplinary teams using an agile way of working. Everything is peer-reviewed, including infrastructure code. Documentation where necessary, code wherever possible. We use AI agents to work faster and more accurately, and we expect you to be curious about their potential.

You will join the Campus Connectivity team. The working language within the team is Dutch or English.

Requirements

What we are looking for

We are looking for an automation engineer. Networking knowledge is an advantage, not a requirement.

We expect you to bring:

• You have automated production infrastructure using code, for example with Ansible, Terraform or Pulumi — and you can tell us what went wrong along the way and what you learned from it.


• You programme in Python or a comparable language at a level where you can build your own tooling rather than simply copy scripts.


• You are comfortable working with Linux.


• Git and CI/CD (Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery) are part of the way you work, rather than tools you use on the side.


• You incorporate security into your designs from the outset, rather than treating it as a final check.


• You enjoy collaborating with other teams and can explain a technical decision to someone who is not an engineer.

The following would be an advantage — but these are also things you can learn here:

• Networking: routing, switching, firewalls, segmentation and Software Defined Networking (SDN).


• NetBox or another source-of-truth platform.


• Virtualisation: Proxmox, VMware and OpenShift.


• Event-driven architecture, workflow orchestration and container platforms.


• Working in an environment with formal security and compliance requirements, such as those arising from the Dutch Cybersecurity Act (Cyberbeveiligingswet).

We have experienced network and infrastructure specialists who can teach you the networking side. What we are looking for is someone who can help them take automation to the next level.

So, apply even if you still have a lot to learn from the second list. We would rather hire someone who is very good at three things and eager to learn the rest than someone who knows a little about everything.

This role is probably not for you if

• You primarily want to continue working in a hyperscaler-driven environment. We use cloud services where they make sense, but we deliberately place the emphasis on our own infrastructure in our own data centres.


• You expect the environment to already be completely streamlined. It is not. A lot of manual processes have developed over time, and cleaning those up and automating them is part of the job.


• You only want to build and do not want to persuade. Automation affects other teams here, and bringing those teams along is part of making it work.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Working at TU Delft means contributing to solutions that really make a difference.

For over 180 years, we have been training engineers who make an impact worldwide in companies, government bodies, or as entrepreneurs. Our alumni turn knowledge into concrete solutions for the challenges of today and tomorrow. These challenges are changing rapidly. That is why we focus on themes such as energy, climate, digitalisation, artificial intelligence (AI), and smart mobility every day. Our education and research are directly aligned with what society needs now and in the future.

At TU Delft, our people make the difference. With their knowledge and curiosity, our staff provide a high-quality education and conduct pioneering research that extends beyond the campus. You will have the opportunity to take the initiative, work with others, and grow as a professional. Working at TU Delft means join an international community of professionals and students. Together, we create knowledge, innovations, and solutions that help move the world forward.

University Corporate Office – ICT 

At the ICT Directorate, we work with approximately 200 colleagues divided into several teams: Shared Service Centre, Project Management Services, Information Management, Security, Privacy & Architecture and Innovation. 

We, as the ICT Directorate, work on a variety of projects, together with the faculties and other directorates of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). The complexity and size of the organisation often cause our work to be challenging yet rewarding. The biggest task we face in the coming years as TU Delft is to accelerate digitalisation to strengthen our position as a world-class university. 

We often work together with the specialists in our own ICT department and with our colleagues spread across the university. The campus is a vibrant environment that buzzes with activity. The culture is informal and inclusive. There is room for a casual chat at the coffee machine and, if you like, you can participate in various activities organised on campus. Moreover, within the ICT directorate, you will be given the trust and freedom to manage your own work. There are many possibilities in terms of training and we consider your personal development to be very important. 

Would you like to know more about what it's like to work at ICT and see what other vacancies we have? Have a look at our work-in-ict page.