Software Engineer - System Operations- Platform & Infrastructure

Overview

GEA is one of the world’s largest systems suppliers for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical sectors. Our portfolio includes machinery and plants as well as advanced process technology, components and comprehensive services. Guided by a strong sense of purpose, our more than 18,000 dedicated employees work to enhance the sustainability and efficiency of production processes globally.

We are seeking a skilled and motivated Software Engineer (Platform & Infrastructure Focus) to join our System Operations team. In this hybrid role, you will contribute to the development of the System Operations application suite while taking ownership of the platform infrastructure that underpins our OT/IT landscape.

Your primary focus will include Identity & Access Management (IAM) integration, device credential management, MQTT communication optimization, and containerized deployment workflows. Alongside infrastructure ownership, you will contribute to backend and frontend development, helping evolve and harden the overall product stack.

This role requires strong engineering fundamentals, hands-on experience with modern Node.js backend frameworks (e.g., NestJS), secure development practices, and a solid understanding of industrial/OT communication patterns.

• Design and integrate an on-premise IAM solution to enable secure authentication and authorization across services, devices, and machine endpoints.
• Establish and manage secure credential and secret workflows for OT devices, including provisioning, rotation strategies, and lifecycle management.
• Optimize MQTT broker configurations (QoS behavior, message flow, retention strategies, and industrial load performance).
• Own Docker-based deployment workflows, ensuring reliability, reproducibility, and CI/CD alignment.
• Contribute to platform hardening efforts and ensure compliance with IEC-62443-3-3 and IEC-62443-4-1 requirements.

• Develop and maintain backend services using NestJS.
• Extend the application suite to support new devices and industrial endpoints.
• Implement Graph
  
  QL APIs, SQL schemas, and event-driven processing pipelines.
• Work with lower-level networking technologies (e.g., DHCP, mDNS) to support device discovery and communication.
• Contribute to Angular-based frontend components where required.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to design and deliver new features.
• Diagnose and resolve performance, stability, and connectivity issues across the platform.

Essential

• Proven professional experience as a Software Engineer with exposure to platform or infrastructure engineering.
• Practical experience with IAM concepts (authentication services, token-based authorization, RBAC/ABAC, certificate-based authentication).
• Experience with secret and credential management, ideally within industrial or OT environments.
• Strong understanding of MQTT and event-driven communication patterns.
• Proficiency with Docker and CI/CD-driven deployment practices.
• Solid backend development experience using modern Node.js frameworks (e.g., NestJS).
• Knowledge of Graph
  
  QL and SQL databases.
• Familiarity with networking protocols such as DHCP and mDNS.
• Working knowledge of Angular or willingness to contribute to frontend components.
• Understanding of secure development principles and IEC-62443-3-3 / IEC-62443-4-1 standards.
• Strong problem-solving ability, ownership mindset, and capacity to work independently

Nice to Have

• Experience with certificate authorities (CA), PKI, or device provisioning frameworks.
• Background in OT/industrial communication protocols or edge device integration.
• Experience running containerized workloads in on-prem environments (e.g., Docker Compose, Portainer, K3s).
• Exposure to Machine Learning, Generative AI, RAG, or related frameworks.

This position is based in Belfast and operates under a hybrid working model, requiring regular on-site collaboration.

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK at the time of application. Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Did we spark your interest? Then please click apply above to access our guided application process.