Job Description
Your responsibilities
In this position, you will become a part of:
1. The Beams Department (BE), responsible for beam generation, diagnostics, and optimisation for the LHC and its injector chain.
2. The Industrial Control Systems Group (ICS), which provides technology frameworks for CERN-wide support of control systems across various domains.
3. CERN's industrial control systems have unparalleled requirements in terms of size, managing up to 3 million hardware I/O points, and complexity. These systems are vital for the smooth operation of CERN's experiments, including the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
4. The CERN UNICOS Framework is a robust software platform designed for building control systems using industrial standards and commercial technologies. Specialising in PLC based control systems, the framework is employed across approximately 250 mission?critical applications at CERN. As a UNICOS Framework Developer, you will work on enhancing and maintaining this framework, ensuring its effectiveness in CERN's complex environment.
Your key responsibilities will include:
5. Work on the migration of the UNICOS framework to the newly supported versions of WinCC OA to be deployed during LS3 and RUN4;
6. Contribute to the maintenance and evolution of the UNICOS Framework, notably its core tools such as the device tree, window tree and trend tree;
7. Design and implement new features based on user agreements and evolving requirements such as event replay of the UNICOS HMI;
8. Provide technical support to users, troubleshoot issues, and deliver bug fixes as necessary;
9. Develop and maintain unit tests, as well as define and perform integration tests to ensure high software quality.
Your profile
Skills:
10. Good programming skills in C/C++ and Python;
11. Experience with containerisation technologies (e.g., Docker, Podman, Kubernetes);
12. Experience with version control systems, preferably Git;
13. Ability to produce well?documented, well?tested, and maintainable code;
14. Ability to analyse client requirements and translate them into clear software specifications.
Additional advantages:
15. Knowledge of industrial control systems and related technologies such as SCADA, communication protocols.
Language skills:
16. Spoken and written English or French, with a commitment to learn the basics of the other language.
Eligibility criteria:
17. You are a national of a .
18. By the application deadline, you have a maximum of two years of professional experience since graduation in Software Engineering and IT (or a related field) and your highest educational qualification is either a Bachelor's or Master's degree.
19. You have never had a CERN fellow or graduate contract before.
20. Applicants without University degree are not eligible.
21. Applicants with a PhD are not eligible.
Additional Information
Job closing date: 10.11.2025 at 23:59 CET.
Contract duration: 24 months, with a possible extension up to 36 months maximum.
Working hours: 40 hours per week
Target start date: 01-December-2025
Job reference: BE-ICS-STF-2025-186-GRAE
Field of work: Software Engineering and IT
What we offer
22. A monthly stipend ranging between 5196 and 5716 Swiss Francs (net of tax).
23. Coverage by CERN's comprehensive health scheme (for yourself, your spouse and children), and membership of the CERN Pension Fund.
24. Depending on your individual circumstances: installation grant; family, child and infant allowances; payment of travel expenses at the beginning and end of contract.
25. 30 days of paid leave per year.
26. On-the-job and formal training at CERN as well as in-house language courses for English and/or French.
About us
At CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, physicists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe. Using the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments, they study the basic constituents of matter - fundamental particles that are made to collide together at close to the speed of light. The process gives physicists clues about how particles interact, and provides insights into the fundamental laws of nature. Find out more on
Diversity has been an integral part of CERN's mission since its foundation and is an established value of the Organization. Employing a diverse workforce is central to our success.