Cloud Computing Solution Architect

The University of Southern California’s (USC’s) Information Technology Services is seeking a talented Cloud Computing Solution Architect with an exceptional commitment to service excellence to join its team. As the Cloud Computing Solution Architect, you will be an integral member of the Research Computing team, collaborating with diverse and talented team members to support the research enterprise of USC, provide highest level technical support for faculty and students, and generate value for our campus stakeholders across a broad base of departments and constituencies.

THE TEAM

ITS has embarked on a major digital transformation initiative to continually improve services for faculty, staff, and students in support of USC’s ascent as a leading institution of higher education. The ITS vision aligns strategy, business, and services; affirms ITS cultural values; empowers cross-functional teamwork; embraces world-class best practices; and promotes innovation, excellence, agility, and efficiency. To achieve this vision, ITS is committed to providing a modern technology infrastructure that is resilient and delivers the performance necessary to meet the demands of a growing customer base, training in the latest technologies for its highly productive and motivated workforce, outstanding customer experience, and technology services that are aligned with the university’s mission to provide exceptional learning opportunities for students. ITS is creating a workplace where employees can develop cutting-edge skills, take pride in the services they provide, and have access to the roles and career paths that align to their abilities and potential.

We are looking for top talent to join us on our journey.

ITS CULTURE

USC’s ITS organization represents a diverse and talented team, committed to supporting a collaborative culture and delivering secure and innovative IT services, core to the mission of USC. ITS values accountability, excellence, and commitment to exceptional customer experience. ITS strives for a supportive and inclusive culture that encourages employees to do their best work every day and where individuals are recognized and celebrated for their contributions.

ABOUT USC

USC is the leading private research university in Los Angeles—a global center for arts, technology, and international business. With more than 47,500 students, we are located primarily in Los Angeles but also in various US and global satellite locations. As the largest private employer in Los Angeles, responsible for $8 billion annually in economic activity in the region, we offer the opportunity to work in a dynamic and diverse environment, in careers that span a broad spectrum of talents and skills across a variety of academic and professional schools and administrative units. As a USC employee and member of the Trojan Family—the faculty, staff, students, and alumni who make USC a great place to work—you will enjoy excellent benefits, including a variety of well-being programs designed to help individuals achieve work-life balance.

Come join the ITS team and work as a trusted partner in shaping an environment of innovation and excellence for the university.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

The candidate for the position of Cloud Computing Solution Architect must meet the following qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as computer science, computer information systems, etc., or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
• Minimum of three years of experience in information technology, computer science and engineering, and cloud computing.
• In-depth knowledge and support experience in migrating server workloads to IaaS platforms like AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Knowledge and support experience with virtualization technologies like KVM, VMware.
• Expertise in software development and engineering and proficiency with one or more languages like Python, Java, or C++.
• Extensive knowledge of (RESTful) APIs and integration with cloud data providers.
• Experience with source control, testing, and continuous integration techniques for both cloud applications and infrastructure.
• Experience with DevOps solutions development and deployment paradigms.
• Experience with the build, test, and release of applications in the delivery pipeline.
• Demonstrated expertise with Linux, containerization, and orchestration tools such as Kubernetes.
• Experience with cloud-based automation tools and processes. Experience provisioning and maintaining cloud-based infrastructure.
• Ability to provide both detailed information as well as summaries to management-level individuals and groups.
• Ability to interpret, analyze, and apply pertinent service level agreements, policies, procedures, regulations, and other requirements, and turn them into actionable outcomes.
• Strong organizational skills with ability to set priorities and manage multiple projects.
• Strong communication skills with ability to interact with a diverse community of colleagues and stakeholders.
• Ability to develop positive working relationships and a strong rapport with team members.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate for the position of Cloud Computing Solution Architect has the following qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as computer science, computer information systems, computational sciences and engineering, etc.
• AWS Solution Architect Certification is a big plus
• Familiarity with high performance computing (HPC) environments, job schedulers (Slurm), and associated storage models.
• Exposure to research process, data- and computation-intensive research workflows.

THE WORK YOU WILL DO

The Cloud Computing Solution Architect supports the configuration and operation of USC Research Computing’s cloud services. The Cloud Engineer collaborates with researchers and key stakeholders in a broad range of disciplines at USC. to provide best-in-class cloud services. This role configures and supports workloads in the cloud, automates cloud infrastructure maintenance, and builds new operational monitoring capabilities. As a member of ITS, the Cloud Engineer demonstrates ITS values in action.

Job Accountabilities

The Cloud Computing Solution Architect:

• Engage with researchers to understand their requirements and work with HPC staff and other ITS teams to design and implement solutions for research projects.
• Supports the configuration and operation of Research IT cloud infrastructure to meet the needs of a broad range of campus customers by collaborating with developers, engineers, and business analysts.
• Standardizes, builds, and supports a portfolio of reusable cloud components, services, and interfaces to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of ITS cloud infrastructure.
• Provides troubleshooting support for issues escalated by researchers. Develops and maintains tutorials and training resources.
• Facilitates innovation and continuous improvement by leveraging the latest industry knowledge. Takes the initiative to experiment with new ideas.
• Keeps current with new cloud technologies. Continually develops skills, knowledge, and abilities in cloud technologies. Maintains awareness of emerging technologies and makes recommendations on adoption.
• Understands and utilizes best practices to effectively troubleshoot and solve problems. Analyzes highly complex, diverse, and at times conflicting data to identify root causes. Makes sound decisions to benefit the organization.
• Involves providing a variety of Research IT services. Assignments may include applications programming development and maintenance, systems administration, consulting and end-user support, research systems and workflow analysis, secure or sensitive data and computing systems analysis and engineering, solutions integration, web applications development and/or maintenance, or a combination of these and/or other IT functions.
• Contributes to an inclusive environment that values differences by building and maintaining collaborative relationships with team members, peers, and ITS leaders. Actively embodies ITS values and behaviors including accountability, ethics, and best-in-class customer service. Contributes to a culture of trust and transparency by sharing information broadly, openly, and deliberately.
• Performs other related duties as assigned or requested. The university reserves the right to add or change duties at any time.