Main work location: Stanford main campus. Open to a hybrid work schedule: at least 2 days per week on-site.
No sponsorship will be provided for this position.
The Stanford Research Computing Center (SRCC) seeks a Research Computing Systems Administrator/Cloud Engineer (System Administrator 3) to support researchers in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability (SDSS) . You will be embedded within and report to the SRCC team to ensure SDSS's research computing environment serves as a competitive enabler for researchers working with data and computation. You will learn about researcher needs, identify system shortcomings, solve technical problems and design performant solutions for evolving research computing needs. This role requires expert knowledge of research computing systems and workflows, as well as a savvy approach to delivering results in a large organization.
About SDSS
The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability (SDSS) strives to create a future when humans and nature thrive in concert and in perpetuity. The school is made up of a three-part structure to drive global impact: Our academic departments and programs educate students and create new knowledge across areas of research that are crucial for advancing the long-term prosperity of the planet; Institutes bridge scholarship at Stanford and beyond, bringing multiple viewpoints to bear on urgent challenges; The Sustainability Accelerator drives new policy and technology solutions through a worldwide network of partners who work with our teams to develop solutions at a global scale. The school is dedicated to creating and supporting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, and to creating solutions that benefit all people, particularly those most affected by environmental damage and climate change.
About SRCC
The Stanford Research Computing Center (SRCC) is a joint effort of the Dean of Research and University IT to build and support a comprehensive program to advance research at Stanford. That includes offering and supporting traditional high-performance computing (HPC) systems, as well as systems for high throughput and data-intensive computing, platforms for working with high-risk data, and data storage at scale. But it's not just about the hardware. SRCC team members also help researchers transition their analyses and models from the desktop to more capable and plentiful resources, providing the opportunity to explore their data and answer research questions (on-premise or in the cloud) at a scale typically not possible on desktops or departmental servers. The SRCC offers training and learning opportunities around high-end computing tools and technologies. In addition, we provide consultation to help you find the best solution for the kinds of computing and analytics you want to do.
Your primary responsibilities include:
* Plan, deploy, tune and monitor cluster and storage usage and trends on the on-premise and cloud-based compute environments, attending to complex network topography, usage patterns and user experience. * Configure cloud-based computational resources to appropriately scale up (and down) in alignment with the needs of our researchers. * Coordinate with members of SDSS and SRCC to design systems and review system specifications. * Provide leadership and solutions for complex research computing problems, striking a balance between cloud solutions, semi-private on-premises systems and custom. * Evaluate emerging software services and solutions through the specific lens of the SDSS Research Community and Stanford's current offerings. * Develop and automate operational workflows for provisioning new users, data sets and machines. * Troubleshoot highly complex problems for which the analysis and resolution require extensive knowledge of diverse system components. * Develop long range technology plans in service of the research taking place at the SDSS. * Provide project management, coordination, and programming for systems and client facing research computing projects. * Identify applicable new technologies through research, collaboration with peers, and participation in standards organizations, industry groups, panels, etc. * Manage vendor relationships and cost effective hardware and software maintenance agreements with vendors. * Develop and maintain documentation including architecture, configuration etc. * Assist in the on-boarding of researchers onto cloud resources including account creation, account management, basic instruction. * Monitor and report on computing and data resource utilization; and dynamically alert when thresholds are met or exceeded * Configure and maintain appropriate security levels * Have a passion for learning and a desire to explore new technology and tools that become available * Keep up with the fast pace and frequently changing tools and resources made available by the cloud providers
Nice to have:
* Bachelor's degree and eight years of relevant experience or a combination of education and experience * Cloud management experience (e.g., GCP, AWS, Azure) * Expert knowledge of Linux systems and associated technology * Expertise in site reliability or dev-ops workflows, including configuration management (e.g., puppet, chef, ansible), automated testing, and performance monitoring * Fluency in Bash, Python, or similar for writing scripts in Linux * Demonstrated experience in managing research computing clusters, including planning, configuration, lifecycle management * Strong communication skills to effectively educate internal and external audiences. * Strong analytical skills to understand researcher requirements in data-intensive computational fields * Effective cross-functional skills to build professional networks, learn bespoke systems, integrate diverse tools and improve the user experience for SDSS researchers * A passion for learning and a desire to explore new technology and tools that become available * Desire to keep up with the fast pace and frequently changing tools and resources made available by the cloud providers
In addition, preferred requirements include:
* Extensive experience in one or more programming languages used in academic research, including R, Matlab or similar. * Experience with High Performance Computing (HPC) systems and tools, including the Slurm scheduler and Open On Demand, as well as their integrations with RStudio and JupyterHub * Development of cloud infrastructure using AWS or GCP, and integrating those tools with on-premises resources * Use of both virtual machines and containers to support complex workloads * Experience with data pipelines and tools for transferring, manipulating and querying data in the multi-terabyte scale * Experience with using code libraries written in C, C++ and Fortran
The expected pay range for this position is $119,000 to $150,000.
Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the university reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location, and external market pay for comparable jobs.
The job duties listed are typical examples of work performed by positions in this job classification and are not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Specific duties and responsibilities may vary depending on department or program needs without changing the general nature and scope of the job or level of responsibility. Employees may also perform other duties as assigned.
Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of his or her job.
Stanford is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Why work at Stanford?Stanford University has changed the world, over and over again.We are one of Silicon Valley's largest employers - and also one of the most unique. Our mission is to educate future leaders and promote interdisciplinary, world-class research and teaching. This passion makes Stanford an intensely creative, rewarding, and challenging place to work. At the same time, our traditions of respect and collaboration sustain a humane, supportive environment in which to pursue your life and your career.At Stanford you'll work with bright, diverse, dedicated people. You'll find encouragement to learn and grow. You'll enjoy excellent benefits and an outstanding environment. How will it change you?
