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Applications support engineer


Applications support engineer (INT/EXT/5444)

The European Patent Office in The Hague is seeking an Applications support engineer *

in Directorate Infrastructure and Software Engineering
PD Service Operations

Deadline for applications: 15.3.2013

The Information Management (IM) department of the European Patent Office (EPO) has 450 staff working on IT and information processing, professionally focused on supporting the EPO's different business processes.

Its Infrastructure and Software Engineering directorate comprises various teams taking care of the EPO's technical infrastructure in the following fields: databases, office automation, mainframe, network, Unix and Windows.

Within Infrastructure and Software Engineering, the Unix Applications team is responsible for the middle-tier application & middleware infrastructure hosted on a large number of Unix middle-tier servers. The applications are mostly Java-based web applications running on JBoss and WebSphere application servers and WebSphere portal servers. There are also some services running on an SOA JINI infrastructure, and a number of stand-alone Java applications. The team designs, plans, implements, maintains and supports the application infrastructure. It gives support to new application projects, and level-3 support to applications in production. Other tasks relate to supporting the HTTP server infrastructure, CMS, SSO, security & certificates, monitoring, and performance testing. This team is now looking for an
applications support engineer.

Main duties

  1. Investigation, definition and resolution of complex problems during the implementation and deployment of middle-ware applications/services.
  2. Investigation, definition and resolution of complex problems including single sign-on Kerberos authentication.
  3. Investigation, definition and resolution of complex problems and security incidents in the middle-tier application infrastructure.
  4. Responsibility for verification and sign-off of new applications/services compliant with EPO standards.
  5. Planning and execution of maintenance of middle-ware infrastructure on a Linux/Intel platform.
  6. Investigation, definition and resolution of complex problems during operational systems acceptance, especially performance testing.

Candidates must be prepared to take part in the team's 24/7 on-call rota, and occasionally to work during "off-line" hours, i.e. weekdays after 19.00 hrs or at weekends. They will do so in accordance with the ITIL framework principles in force at the EPO. 

The ideal candidate will have excellent knowledge of

  • J2EE applications (WebSphere and JBoss) and Java (at least 5 years' experience) portal technologies (WebSphere and JBoss)
  • Java security and Kerberos/SPNEGO as well as certificate administration
  • Apache web server technology
  • JINI network architecture.

It will also be an advantage to have
  • good knowledge of scripting in a Unix environment
  • proven experience with monitoring tools and application-performance testing
  • experience in change-management processes in a large organisation
  • experience in the IBM LWCM Content Management System
  • knowledge of Wiki systems (Confluence)
  • knowledge of issue-tracking systems (JIRA)
  • LDAP administration know-how.

Additionally, candidates should have
  • the capability, within the ITIL "plan-build-run" framework, to develop from the "run" profile now sought into planning and building activities
  • good communication skills (oral and written)
  • the ability to work independently and co operatively within a team.

Minimum qualifications

Diploma of completed studies at university level or – in exceptional cases – equivalent professional experience. Excellent knowledge of one official language** and ability to understand the other two.

The successful candidate will be selected on the basis of qualifications, supplemented as appropriate by interviews and/or tests.

Application until: 15.3.2013

Please apply by sending us your online application.

Instructions for online job applications to the European Patent Office.

How to get theredirections for the European Patent Office in The Hague.

* Grade A4/A1
** English, French and German