Does supporting national soil institutes in Africa and elsewhere with setting up their soil information systems sound like an exciting task? Do you want to contribute to the development of international standards for soil data exchange and support provisioning of global soil data through modern web-based solutions? Then this could be the ideal job for you!

To strengthen our team, we are hiring a DevOps specialist, with a focus on data, who has affinity with the soil or environmental domain. In this role, you will contribute to the development of soil information systems in various countries across Africa, in particular to the establishment of (soil) databases and data processing workflows. You will also contribute to the expansion of ISRIC’s World Soil Information Service (WoSIS) together with the existing team of data engineers and soil scientists. Furthermore, you will support the development of soil data exchange standards within an international community. Finally you will work on a modern Kubernetes container platform and high-performance computing environment, and thus this job offers an exciting mix of technical challenges and at the same time capacity strengthening in Africa.

Your most important tasks will be:

• SQL programming for soil databases.
• API development for the soil-related services using REST, GraphQL and OGC services.
• Work with national soil information institutes to setup soil information systems.
• Development of workflows for data processing, quality assessment and publication.
• Maintain and further develop the digital collection of the World Soil Museum.

You will work together with colleagues at ISRIC and its external collaborators in various project teams. To be successful and grow in this job we expect you will recognize yourself in the following profile.

• MSc degree in IT or computer science and affinity with the environmental domain, or in environmental science with a strong interest and demonstrable experience in IT.
• At least 2 years of relevant work experience.
• Strong skills in SQL and Python coding.
• Experience with Git.
• Demonstrable experience with at least three of the following:
• • • PostgreSQL / PostGIS
    • UML / Enterprise architect
    • RDF / Sparql
    • OGC webservices
    • GraphQL
    • OpenAPI
    • Containerization
• Knowledge of soil science and/or soil classification (e.g., the World Reference Base for Soil Resources) is preferred.
• Excellent communication skills and a pro-active attitude to support your colleagues and ISRIC clients to deliver the necessary products or results.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English (C1 level), French and other additional languages are a bonus.

ISRIC staff are employed by Wageningen University. Based on the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities, Wageningen University offers excellent terms of employment, such as:

• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

We offer a challenging role in an international working environment with a diverse, experienced, and motivated team at a renowned institute based on the campus of Wageningen University & Research (WUR). You will be embedded in a larger team of software developers connected to the Environmental Science Group of WUR, strongly focusing on IT innovations for addressing pressing environmental challenges.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a gross monthly salary of between €3,226 and €5.929 based on a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 10-11). Additionally, a contract for 0.8 FTE can be discussed.

There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

ISRIC is located at the campus of WUR, the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands.

Coming from abroad
ISRIC and WUR have a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for a special tax relief. Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. WUR's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about housing, schooling, and other issues. Furthermore, WUR offers a dual career program for groups of partners and besides that a specialized organization that will assist you one on one to find a job or start a business in the Netherlands.

Wageningen University & Research

The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below to get an idea of our green campus!

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.

For further information about this position please contact Luis Calisto, Database development expert, via e-mail: luis.calisto@isric.org, or phone +31 317 480588.

For more information about the procedure, please contact Edgar Tijhuis, corporate recruiter, edgar.tijhuis@wur.nl

Do you want to apply?
You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval.

This vacancy will be listed up to and including May 27th 2024. We will schedule the interviews soon afterwards.

Equal opportunities
You will be employed by WUR, which employs a large number of people with very different backgrounds and qualities, who inspire and motivate each other. We want every talent to feel at home in our organisation and be offered the same career opportunities. We therefore especially welcome applications from people who are underrepresented at WUR. For more information, please go to our inclusivity page. A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment.