NCC Job Opening - Network Engineer

[Carol Orange <]

            RIPE: Coordinating the Internet in Europe.



Due to the continuing explosive growth of the European Internet 
there is an immediate opening at the RIPE NCC for a full time


               N e t w o r k    E n g i n e e r 


Every host directly connected to the Internet needs an address.  
The RIPE NCC plays a key role in the distribution of the Internet 
address space throughout Europe and surrounding areas.  To deal 
with the explosive growth in the Internet, to improve the 
reliability of our services, and to reduce the amount of tedious 
work involved in the distribution of Internet address space, we 
aim to (continue to) automate our processes where suitable. The 
Network Engineer will play a fundamental role in automating our
processes.


Duties

The general duties of the Network Engineer are:

   - to develop and document software tools for use in house 
   - to develop and document software tools for customer use
   - to maintain and improve existing software
   - to report to the manager of the Systems and Software department


The specific duties of the Network Engineer are:

   - to maintain and further develop work-flow software
   - to develop tools for submission of IP address space requests
   - to design and implement interactive tools for the RIPE database
   - to develop tools for billing and other administrative functions
   - to backup basic systems management functions


Almost all communications with customers and other organisations involved 
in Internet address space assignment is via the Internet itself.  The 
position provides an excellent opportunity to work at the very heart of 
the European Internet industry.


Qualifications

Software development is performed on a network of UNIX systems.
The majority of our software tools are written in PERL and make
use of common UNIX tools such as the shell, MH, RCS, make, sed, 
awk, etc..  Much of the network software to be developed will allow 
our customers to submit and retrieve data from our database via the
World Wide Web.

   Essential Qualifications

   - programming experience in the UNIX environment
   - knowledge of written and spoken English
   - good communication skills
   - desire to work in an international environment
   - ability to work both independently and in a team 
   - user friendly 

   Desirable Qualifications

   - Bachelors/Masters degree preferably in Computer Science
   - experience with UNIX systems administration
   - background in computer networks (preferably Internet) 


We hope to find an experienced programmer to fill this position,
however recent graduates are also welcome to apply. Moreover
female applicants and applicants from all European countries are 
explicitly encouraged to apply.  Depending on their ambitions 
and abilities, network engineers can eventually be promoted 
to senior positions at the NCC.


R I P E

RIPE (Reseaux IP Europeens) is a collaborative organisation
open to all European Internet service providers.  The
objective of RIPE is to ensure the necessary administrative
and technical coordination to allow the operation of a pan-
European IP network.  RIPE does not operate a network of its
own.

RIPE has been functioning since 1989.  Currently more than
350 organisations participate in the work.  The result of the
RIPE coordination effort is that the individual end-user is
presented with a uniform IP service irrespective of the 
particular network his or her workstation is attached to.  
In December 1995, there were 2206360 hosts registered 
on the networks coordinated by RIPE.  


R I P E   N C C

The RIPE Network Coordination Centre supports all those RIPE
activities which cannot be effectively performed by
volunteers from the participating organisations.  In addition
to supporting RIPE activities in general the NCC provides the
following services to network operators:


        o NETWORK MANAGEMENT DATABASE
          containing information about address space, routing,
          DNS domains and contact persons

        o REGIONAL INTERNET REGISTRY
          a clearing house distributing IP address space

        o RIPE INTERNET ROUTING REGISTRY

        o RIPE DOCUMENT STORE

        o RIPE INTERACTIVE INFORMATION SERVICE


A detailed description of these activities can be found in
the RIPE NCC Activity Plan (document ripe-133).  This
document can be obtained from the RIPE document store.

The RIPE NCC is currently staffed as follows:

 one NCC manager
 one business manager
 one registration services manager
 five junior hostmasters (some part time)
 two network engineers
 two administrative staff

The NCC is funded by all Internet service providers in
Europe who operate local Internet registries. 
NCC staff are formally employed by TERENA.


TERENA

TERENA is the European Association of research networking
organisations and their users.  TERENA has been created by a
merger of the RARE and EARN associations. TERENA carries out
technical activities and provides a platform for discussion
and education to encourage the development of a high-quality
computer networking infrastructure for the European research
community.


Conditions

RIPE NCC personnel is employed by the TERENA association
under their standard employment conditions.  
The salary will depend on qualifications and experience.  
Costs of relocation to the Netherlands will be met.  
The appointment will be for one year with possible extension.


Location

The RIPE NCC is located at the Scientific Center
Watergraafsmeer (WCW) in Amsterdam.  The offices are
situated at NIKHEF, the Dutch National Institute for Nuclear
Physics and High Energy Physics.


Further Information

For further information about the RIPE NCC, please see the
RIPE document store at

                    http://www.ripe.net/
                    ftp://ftp.ripe.net/
                 gopher://gopher.ripe.net/
                  telnet://info.ripe.net/


For further information about this position please contact:

Daniel Karrenberg
RIPE NCC Manager
Kruislaan 409
NL-1098 SJ  Amsterdam
Netherlands

Tel.: +31 20 592 5065

<Daniel.Karrenberg@localhost


How to Apply

Applications, including a CV and references should be
submitted in confidence to the address above and should be
received no later than Tuesday, April 17, 1996.