Distributed Systems Engineer - Exascale Data Services, Bonn

Your role

ECMWF is hiring a Distributed Systems Engineer (A2) to join the Data Infrastructure Services Team. The team builds and maintains high-performance data services that underpin ECMWF’s real-time weather forecasting and climate data operations. This role focuses on developing and scaling systems that provide efficient access to petabyte-scale datasets used by scientists, policymakers, and operational services worldwide.

Your core responsibility is the development and maintenance of software and service components that power the Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS). The CDS provides scalable access to ERA5 (12PiB), ERA6 (~25PiB) and many other climate datasets. It serves over 100 TiB of data, responds to around half a million user requests, and supports over 5,000 active users every day.

You will contribute to advancing our data infrastructure by developing reusable components that support fast, scalable, and consistent data access. This work will align technologies across ECMWF’s datastores, including those for our core mandate, external services, and Destination Earth. The focus is on harmonising data handling solutions and access interfaces to ensure performance and consistency across all of ECMWF's datastore platforms.

Beyond internal development, you will act as a technical catalyst and architectural authority for software contributions from external partners. By providing technical stewardship and rigorous oversight, you will ensure that the innovations align with ECMWF’s engineering vision and integrate seamlessly into our operational pipelines. This collaborative oversight allows you to multiply your technical impact.

In this role, you would occupy a pivotal position in the digital transformation of weather and climate science. The systems you create will be designed to meet the extreme demands of modern analysis, delivering high-fidelity access to the world’s most significant environmental datasets. You will directly influence how civilizational challenges are addressed by redefining the efficiency and intuitive nature of weather and climate data access.

Your responsibilities

Design technical architecture and define requirements for ECMWF datastore software that delivers climate data to a global user base, working closely with production and infrastructure teams.Develop and maintain robust and scalable software and services for distributed, high-volume datastores.Provide technical stewardship and oversight to the work of external contributors, ensuring technical alignment, code quality, and operational readinessDevelop integrations between the Climate Data Store and other technologies, including ECMWF and Destination Earth data systems.Collaborate with operational teams to deploy, monitor, and support production services that provide reliable data access.Present ECMWF data systems at international conferences and workshops, showcasing technical advancements and fostering collaboration.

About ECMWF

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is a world leader in Numerical Weather Predictions providing high-quality data for weather forecasts and environmental monitoring. As an intergovernmental organisation we collaborate internationally to serve our members and the wider community with global weather predictions, data and training activities that are critical to contribute to safe and thriving societies.

The success of our activities depends on the funding and partnerships of our 35 Member and Co-operating States who provide the support and direction of our work. Our talented staff together with the international scientific community, and our powerful supercomputing capabilities, are the core of a 24/7 research and operational centre with a focus on medium and long-range predictions. We also hold one of the largest meteorological data archives in the world.

Our mission: Deliver global numerical weather predictions focusing on the medium-range and monitoring of the Earth system to and with our Member States

Our vision: World-leading monitoring and predictions of the Earth System enabled by cutting-edge physical, computational and data science, resulting from a close collaboration between ECMWF and the members of the European Meteorological Infrastructure, will contribute to a safe and thriving society

In addition, ECMWF has established a strong partnership with the European Union and has been entrusted with the implementation and operation of the Destination Earth initiative and the Climate Change and Atmosphere Monitoring Services of the Copernicus Programme, as well as being a contributor to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service. Other areas of work include High Performance Computing and the development of digital tools that enable ECMWF to extend provision of data and products covering weather, climate, air quality, fire and flood prediction and monitoring.

ECMWF is a multi-site organisation, with its headquarters in Reading, UK, a data centre in Bologna, Italy, and a large presence in Bonn, Germany as a central location for our EU-related activities. ECMWF is internationally recognised as the voice of expertise in numerical weather predictions for forecasts and climate science.

See for more info about what we do.

About the Copernicus Programme

Copernicus is the earth observation component of the European Union (EU) space programme. Based on the exploitation of spaced based and in situ (earth-based) observations and scientific models, Copernicus provides information services for land, marine, atmospheric and climate monitoring, as well as emergency management and security. These services, and their free, open and quality assured data and tools, support a range of environmental and security applications across sectors and policy domains. For details, see The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) service provides authoritative information about the past, present and future climate, as well as tools to enable climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies by policy makers and businesses. For details, see

What we're looking for

Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with a proactive and constructive approach.Flexibility, with the ability to adapt to changing priorities and user needs.Excellent interpersonal and communication skills are vital, to communicate with a wide range of technically skilled colleagues, including remote teams, and to non-technical staff.Dedication and enthusiasm to work in a team and across teams.Highly organised with the capacity to work on a diverse range of tasks.

Your profile

An advanced university degree (EQ7 level or above) or equivalent experience in computer science or engineering, computational science, physics or natural sciences, mathematics, or a related discipline.Proven experience in Python or Rust for high-performance applications.Good understanding of distributed systems and system design (e.g., consistency models, asynchronous I/O, networked services).Experience in technical leadership or code review, ensuring high standards across internal and external contributions.Familiarity with container orchestration or microservice patterns in high-availability, operational settings is advantageous.Familiarity with full software lifecycle maintenance, including testing, deployment, and long-term support, is highly desirable.Candidates must be able to work effectively in English

We encourage candidates to apply even if they do not meet every listed requirement. ECMWF supports skill development and provides a collaborative environment where team members can grow into their roles.

Other information

Full details of salary scales and allowances are available on the ECMWF website at including the Centre’s Staff Regulations regarding the terms and conditions of employment. Successful applicants and members of their family forming part of their households will be exempt from immigration restrictions.

Starting date: As soon as possible. Interviews will take place shortly after the application deadline.

How to apply

Please apply by completing the online application form available at To contact the ECMWF Recruitment Team, please email [email protected]. For details of how we will handle your personal data for this purpose, see:

At ECMWF, we consider an inclusive environment as key for our success. We are dedicated to ensuring a workplace that embraces diversity and provides equal opportunities for all, without distinction as to race, gender, age, marital status, social status, disability, sexual orientation, religion, personality, ethnicity and culture. We value the benefits derived from a diverse workforce and are committed to having staff that reflect the diversity of the countries that are part of our community, in an environment that nurtures equality and inclusion.

Applications are invited from nationals from ECMWF Member States and Co-operating States, as well as from all EU Member States. ECMWF Member States and Co-operating States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. In these exceptional times, we also welcome applications from Ukrainian nationals for this vacancy. Applications from nationals from other countries may be considered in exceptional cases.