Chef-fe de projet ou expert-e en infrastructure

The Paris Institute of Earth Physics

A world-renowned geosciences research institute founded in 1921, associated with the CNRS, a component of Université Paris Cité and employing more than 500 people, the IPGP covers all the disciplines of earth and planetary sciences through observation, experimentation and modelling, on all scales of time and space.

The research themes are structured around 4 major unifying themes: the interior of the Earth and planets, natural hazards, the Earth system and origins.

The IPGP is also responsible for accredited services in volcanology, seismology, magnetism, gravimetry and erosion. In particular, the IPGP’s permanent observatories monitor the 4 active French overseas volcanoes in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and Mayotte (REVOSIMA).

The IPGP houses powerful computing resources and state-of-the-art experimental and analytical facilities, and benefits from first-rate technical support.

The IPGP’s training and doctoral studies department offers its students training in geosciences that combines observation, quantitative analysis and modelling and reflects the quality, richness and thematic diversity of the research carried out by the IPGP’s teams.

The team and/or department

This request has been formulated in the context of the development of the two UMR IPGP teams, the Planetology and Space Sciences (PSS) team and the Geodesy team, which occupy shared premises on the Université Paris Cité campus (PRG site), and the need for IT support.

The PSS team has 14 permanent members (researchers, teacher-researchers and engineers) and an average of more than twenty non-permanent members (contract staff, PhD students and post-docs). It develops research themes and instrumental developments in the fields of planetary seismology and geodynamics, terrestrial ionospheric dynamics and remote sensing of terrestrial and planetary surfaces and atmospheres. Each of these fields is based on physical modelling and the analysis of large volumes of data from terrestrial (Sentinel, Pléiades, SPOT, etc.) or planetary (Cassini, InSight, Dawn, MRO, LRO, Mars Express, JWST, etc.) space missions, or from data sets acquired in the field by drone or on the ground. The team is also involved in a number of future space missions (Bepi-Colombo, Lunar Vertex, Psyche, FSS, JUICE, Envision and Dragonfly for the solar system, Trishna and Biodiversity for Earth observation). The PSS team also hosts the FSS National Observation Service, which is a seismological station on the Moon and operated the InSight seismological station on Mars. Finally, it is responsible for running a platform for integrating space experiments (2 clean rooms and vacuum and thermal cycling test facilities) and developing new payloads for future lunar missions.

In January 2019, the Geodesy team expanded after IGN joined the UMR IPGP. It now has 14 permanent researchers and 6 contract staff. This arrival has enabled the development of new research themes in global geodesy, in particular the fine determination of deformations of the Earth’s surface on short and long time scales in connection with the estimation of the Earth’s global reference system (ITRF) and their analysis in conjunction with spatio-temporal variations in the gravity field in terms of rheology and mass transport. This work is based on the simulation and physical modelling of space geodesy and gravimetry observations, on the analysis of large volumes of heterogeneous satellite data (different space geodesy systems and different gravimetric missions) and on models of fluid loads on the surface (hydrosphere) and in the atmosphere, involving long computing times.

Missions

For 40% of his/her working time, the research engineer recruited will be responsible for managing, installing, maintaining and administering all the IT equipment and networks of the PSS (35-40 people) and Geodesy (20 people) teams. He/she will interface with the DSI of Université Paris Cité, with the help of the IPGP IS, for network management and for installation and maintenance operations in the related technical premises for the two teams. This activity will be divided between the two teams according to the needs of each team.

For the remaining 60%, the person recruited will be required to maintain and develop the IT resources and man-machine interfaces of a space instrument development platform and to lead the architecture, deployment and maintenance of a terrestrial and planetary space observation platform, integrating reduction codes, modelling and archiving of large volumes of data in connection with the scientific projects of the PSS team.

Activities

The engineer will devote his/her activities to the two teams (PSS and Geodesy) in order to :

– Manage the purchase, installation and maintenance of PCs, calculation servers, storage bays and other high-performance computers.

– Ensure the integration and network operation of this equipment in coordination with the DSI of the Université Paris Cité and the IPGP.

– Providing training and technical support and assisting researchers with their specific requirements for using and updating software in different environments.

– Raise users’ awareness of IT security and compliance with best practice.

– Manage security incidents in coordination with the UPC IT Department and the IPGP.

– Ensuring that the necessary changes are made to guarantee the logical and physical security of the IT infrastructure.

– Raising awareness and training users in information system security issues.

– Managing back-ups of internal applications and servers.

For activities linked to the PSS team’s scientific projects:

• IT management of space test equipment and clean room equipment, including adapting and upgrading existing interface software and analysing equipment test data.
• Participating in the development of the tools needed to process space observation data.
• Managing the entire life cycle, from creation to maintenance and adaptation to the needs expressed by researchers for the space observation platform.
• Analysing requirements and helping to draw up functional specifications, conducting tendering procedures and managing any outsourced activities.
• Supporting the development of the platform in the design of the solution and its software and hardware architecture, and ensuring its maintenance and evolution.
• Integrating ‘in-house’ code into the platform to analyse data and/or meet the needs of research projects.

In the PSS team’s thematic areas, including the development of ground segments, the engineer may take part in the training and supervision of work placement or thesis students, or apprentices.

Expected skills

– Good knowledge of computer system hardware concepts and architectures.

– Good knowledge of the securitý of information and communication systems.

– Good knowledge of computer pilot management of test equipment and other real-time data acquisition sensors.

– Good knowledge of computer networks to detect and diagnose problems.

– Knowledge of large database management, geomatics/image processing/scientific computing support.

– Proficiency in the usual operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, Unix and the usual office software (Windows suite, Open Office, Adobe, Matlab, IDL, Python, Fortran, C environments, etc.), for installation, configuration and maintenance.

– Scientific programming in various languages (IDL, Matlab, Python, Fortran, C, R, etc.) greatly appreciated.

Constraints and risks

No major constraints or risks have been identified. There are only a few shifts during space equipment testing.

Training and experience required

> At least 2 years’ experience, including scientific computing and/or management/maintenance of a network of computers.

> Level or diploma: Engineering degree and doctorate

How to apply

This post is open to contract staff. 1-year fixed-term contract with a 2-month trial period.

Your application, comprising a CV and covering letter in PDF format, should be sent by email to :

• Rodriguez Sébastien, PSS team,
• Philippe Lognonné, SNO FSS,
• Bock Olivier, Geodesy team,

An initial selection will be made on the basis of applications. Selected candidates will be interviewed.