Junior Data Infrastructure Engineer

📋 Description

• • Are you a budding engineer with a passion for how complex systems operate at scale? Do you thrive on solving intricate problems and ensuring the smooth, reliable functioning of critical infrastructure? If so, Cision is looking for you to join our dynamic Data Infrastructure team as a Junior Data Infrastructure Engineer in Brighton, England.
• • At Cision, we believe in empowering every individual to make an impact. Your voice will be heard, your ideas valued, and your unique perspective will fuel our collective success. You'll be part of a global team that champions curiosity, collaboration, and innovation, contributing meaningfully to the brands we accelerate.
• • As a Junior Data Infrastructure Engineer, you will play a crucial role in supporting our mission-critical big data platforms. Your primary responsibility will be to ensure these platforms are fully performant, reliable, available, and secure. This role is at the intersection of data infrastructure engineering, DataOps, Database Administration, and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), offering a broad spectrum of learning and development opportunities.
• • The role is a unique blend of developing essential tooling and providing operational support for our platforms. These two aspects are intrinsically linked, requiring a deep dive into the inner workings of our systems. You'll develop a comprehensive skill set, ranging from low-level system tuning to general coding practices, all while maintaining a keen attention to detail and a curious mindset.
• • Our data infrastructure is built upon four primary storage platforms, each handling massive amounts of data:
• • Apache Solr, managing approximately 2.2 Petabytes (PB) of data.
• • Apache HBase, responsible for around 450 Terabytes (TB).
• • PostgreSQL, holding approximately 15 Terabytes (TB).
• • Kafka, storing around 60 Terabytes (TB).
• • These platforms are predominantly open-source, built using languages like Java, Scala, or C. We maintain our own in-house builds and patching processes, ensuring optimal performance and security. To manage these services, we utilize a diverse array of open-source and internally developed tooling, primarily written in Rust and Python. These systems operate across hundreds of servers, distributed across multiple data centers and cloud environments.
• • We foster a balanced approach to work within the team, ensuring that every member, regardless of seniority or experience level, engages in both project-based work and operational/ad-hoc tasks. Your day-to-day responsibilities will be a dynamic mix of these activities.
• • The specific project work you undertake will be tailored to your experience and interests. We collaborate collectively to define projects that are both achievable and deliver significant value. For recent graduates, typical projects have included:
• • Developing MapReduce jobs to efficiently validate data consistency between multi-Petabyte HBase clusters, reducing processing time from months to hours.
• • Constructing a Python code stack to facilitate transparent migration of production clients between clusters without data loss or downtime.
• • Building, testing, and deploying new HBase builds into live production environments, ensuring minimal disruption to services.
• • Creating a robust platform for rolling out our data management systems using Apache Airflow, thereby eliminating the need for custom job management solutions.
• • Implementing a Disaster Recovery (DR) solution for Hadoop on AWS, focusing on maintaining system performance and cost-effectiveness.
• • If you are joining as a graduate engineer, your initial focus will be on developing a deep understanding of our storage platforms, learning how to program against them effectively, and mastering the art of troubleshooting complex issues. Our goal is for you to be capable of assisting with staging support within 3-6 months and to join the production support team within 12 months. You will be expected to actively participate in the team's activities and, as your expertise grows, begin contributing to the design of our infrastructure.
• • This role is based in our Brighton, UK office. We offer the flexibility of remote work possibilities after an initial 6-12 month training and onboarding period.
• • We are seeking individuals with a strong interest in large-scale storage infrastructure. While comprehensive in-house training will be provided for our specific storage systems and tooling, a foundational curiosity and passion for learning are essential. You should possess a genuine interest in how computer infrastructure operates at a fundamental level and a drive to continuously expand your knowledge.
• • Ideally, you will have some experience, whether through personal projects, a home lab, or academic studies, in running storage systems or contributing to their management. Experience with Linux systems administration, including troubleshooting, is a key requirement. Fluency in at least one scripting language, preferably Bash or Python, is also necessary. Furthermore, a collaborative spirit and a history of helping your peers are highly valued, as is a strong sense of pride in the quality and integrity of your work.