diff --git a/lib/microwaveprop/propagation/score_cache_reconciler.ex b/lib/microwaveprop/propagation/score_cache_reconciler.ex
index 31bdf787..39798be9 100644
--- a/lib/microwaveprop/propagation/score_cache_reconciler.ex
+++ b/lib/microwaveprop/propagation/score_cache_reconciler.ex
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ defmodule Microwaveprop.Propagation.ScoreCacheReconciler do
   require Logger
 
   @default_interval_ms 60_000
+  @default_jitter_max_ms 20_000
 
   @spec start_link(keyword()) :: GenServer.on_start() | :ignore
   def start_link(opts) do
@@ -52,16 +53,34 @@ defmodule Microwaveprop.Propagation.ScoreCacheReconciler do
     end)
   end
 
+  @doc """
+  Returns the next sweep delay in milliseconds: the configured base
+  interval plus a uniformly random jitter in `[1, jitter_max_ms]`.
+
+  Scheduling each pod's next tick with a randomized offset prevents the
+  cluster-wide "every replica sweeps at :00" thundering herd against the
+  shared NFS scores mount and Postgres.
+  """
+  @spec next_sweep_interval() :: non_neg_integer()
+  def next_sweep_interval(base_ms \\ @default_interval_ms, jitter_max_ms \\ @default_jitter_max_ms)
+
+  def next_sweep_interval(base_ms, jitter_max_ms) when jitter_max_ms > 0 do
+    base_ms + :rand.uniform(jitter_max_ms)
+  end
+
+  def next_sweep_interval(base_ms, _jitter_max_ms), do: base_ms
+
   @impl true
   def init(opts) do
     interval = Keyword.get(opts, :interval_ms, @default_interval_ms)
+    jitter_max = Keyword.get(opts, :jitter_max_ms, @default_jitter_max_ms)
 
     _ =
       if Keyword.get(opts, :run_on_start, true) do
         _ = Process.send_after(self(), :sweep, 500)
       end
 
-    {:ok, %{interval_ms: interval}}
+    {:ok, %{interval_ms: interval, jitter_max_ms: jitter_max}}
   end
 
   @impl true
@@ -72,7 +91,8 @@ defmodule Microwaveprop.Propagation.ScoreCacheReconciler do
       Logger.info("ScoreCacheReconciler: warmed #{warmed} {band, valid_time} pairs from disk")
     end
 
-    Process.send_after(self(), :sweep, state.interval_ms)
+    delay = next_sweep_interval(state.interval_ms, state.jitter_max_ms)
+    Process.send_after(self(), :sweep, delay)
     {:noreply, state}
   end
 
diff --git a/test/microwaveprop/propagation/score_cache_reconciler_test.exs b/test/microwaveprop/propagation/score_cache_reconciler_test.exs
index 5cc82fae..8f31233e 100644
--- a/test/microwaveprop/propagation/score_cache_reconciler_test.exs
+++ b/test/microwaveprop/propagation/score_cache_reconciler_test.exs
@@ -47,6 +47,31 @@ defmodule Microwaveprop.Propagation.ScoreCacheReconcilerTest do
     ]
   end
 
+  describe "next_sweep_interval/0" do
+    test "returns a value in [base + 1, base + jitter_max] with defaults" do
+      # Exercise the randomized default many times; each draw must land
+      # inside the advertised (60_000, 80_000] window. `:rand.uniform/1`
+      # returns >= 1 so the minimum is base + 1, not base.
+      for _ <- 1..500 do
+        delay = ScoreCacheReconciler.next_sweep_interval()
+        assert delay >= 60_001
+        assert delay <= 80_000
+      end
+    end
+
+    test "honours explicit base and jitter arguments" do
+      for _ <- 1..200 do
+        delay = ScoreCacheReconciler.next_sweep_interval(1_000, 250)
+        assert delay >= 1_001
+        assert delay <= 1_250
+      end
+    end
+
+    test "returns the base interval unchanged when jitter_max is 0" do
+      assert ScoreCacheReconciler.next_sweep_interval(5_000, 0) == 5_000
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "sweep_once/0" do
     test "warms ScoreCache for every {band, valid_time} on disk and missing from cache",
          %{band_mhz: band_mhz} do
@@ -146,7 +171,9 @@ defmodule Microwaveprop.Propagation.ScoreCacheReconcilerTest do
 
       ScoresFile.write!(band_mhz, first, sample_scores())
 
-      start_supervised!({ScoreCacheReconciler, run_on_start: true, interval_ms: 150})
+      # jitter_max_ms: 0 keeps the reschedule deterministic for the
+      # 2s wait_for_cache window; the jitter default is 20s.
+      start_supervised!({ScoreCacheReconciler, run_on_start: true, interval_ms: 150, jitter_max_ms: 0})
 
       # First sweep warms `first` but knows nothing about `second`.
       assert {:ok, _} = wait_for_cache(band_mhz, first, 2_000)