Interim project - Senior DevOps Consultant (f/m/d)

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Senior DevOps Consultant to support a defined project at our Headquarters in Berlin. The assignment is focused on the set-up and further development of our data management and infrastructure platform. The initial consulting engagement is planned for six months, with the possibility of extending the assignment for a further period, potentially up to 12 months in total, subject to project requirements and mutual agreement. The consultant will provide specialist DevOps and data-platform expertise within the scope of the project. The assignment is structured as an independent consulting engagement, with responsibility for delivering agreed project outcomes and technical solutions. The project supports our Climate Policy Team, which is engaged in various projects on climate change mitigation, in particular on energy system transformation, evaluation of emissions scenarios, the 1.5°C global warming limit and evaluation of national climate action. This includes flagship projects such as the Climate Action Tracker and the National Pathways Explorer, for which data is processed and analysed in-house and then published on the respective project websites. As part of the assignment, the consultant will work on the shared data platform and infrastructure used across the organisation. Our platform is self-hosted on our own hardware and currently runs PostgreSQL, MinIO, GitLab CI/CD and containerised workloads on Linux. The consultant is expected to organise and perform the assignment independently, within the agreed project scope and in coordination with relevant project stakeholders.

Your responsibilities

• Build and operate the data platform for advanced analytics and climate modelling, spanning DevOps and data engineering work.
• Take the platform from single-server deployments to properly separated environments, with orchestration and infrastructure as code.
• Establish and improve the platform's operational practices, including monitoring, alerting, incident response, capacity planning and performance optimisation.
• Design and implement the access, identity and secrets model across platform and shared infrastructure.
• Contribute to the standardisation of production data workflows and platform standards across the organisation.
• Document what you build (runbooks, architecture notes and handover material) to ensure continuity.
• Provide technical guidance to data analysts and scientists and support the adoption of good practice in DataOps, security and governance.
• Evaluate new tools and technologies, run proof-of-concepts, and help define the technical roadmap for our infrastructure.

Your profile

Relevant Tech Skills

Required:

• Python and shell scripting.
• Linux servers in production.
• Container orchestration you have operated yourself, including cluster setup and upgrades (Kubernetes, Docker).
• Infrastructure as Code and configuration management (Ansible, or equivalent).
• Operational experience with PostgreSQL (backup and point-in-time recovery, tested restores, version upgrades and connection pooling).
• Monitoring tools (like Prometheus, Grafana) and alert design.
• A solid understanding of distributed systems in an on-premise context.

Nice to have

• S3-compatible object storage operations (MinIO, Ceph).
• Identity and directory services like LDAP, Keycloak, or SSO integration across self-hosted tools.
• Virtualisation platforms (Proxmox, KVM).
• Have actively applied data governance principles to manage data quality, security, and compliance, and understand how to implement controls that protect sensitive information.
• Some experience deploying AI projects.

Qualifications

• You have more than 5 years of experience operating Linux servers in production, including on-premise or bare-metal environments (not exclusively managed cloud).
• Proven ability to build automated pipelines that streamline development, testing and deployment for data-related projects.
• You are an excellent troubleshooter who excels at diagnosing and fixing data infrastructure and identifying performance bottlenecks.
• A strong communicator who can collaborate effectively with colleagues and stakeholders in a diverse, interdisciplinary and international environment.
• Passionate about working at the intersection of Climate Science and Data Engineering (tell us about relevant projects you’ve worked on!).
• Organised, detail-oriented, and motivated self-starter with strong analytical skills.
• Proven ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with project stakeholders.
• Good communication skills in English.

Our offer

Conditions

Application Deadline:The position remains open until filled

Expected start of assignment:As soon as possible, by mutual agreement.

Location:We would prefer the consultant to be based in Berlin to facilitate effective project coordination, technical collaboration and onboarding, particularly during the initial phase of the assignment

Terms:We are looking for a senior consultant for 6 months with the possibility of extension to up to 12 months in total, subject to project requirements, funding and mutual agreement.

We are a diverse and inclusive team and welcome your application regardless of your gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, disability status, citizenship, or any other aspect that makes you unique.