Department
Provost Research Computing Center
About the Department
The University of Chicago Research Computing Center (RCC), a unit in the Office of Research, provides high-end research computing resources to researchers at the University of Chicago. It is dedicated to enabling research by providing access to centrally managed High-Performance Computing (HPC), storage, and visualization resources. These resources include hardware, software, high-level scientific and technical user support, and the education and training required to help researchers make full use of modern HPC technology and local and national supercomputing resources.
Job Summary
The University of Chicago Research Computing Center (RCC) is seeking a highly qualified System Programmer to join its system and operation team that manages and supports an ecosystem of HPC systems and services. The individual in this position will contribute to the ongoing efforts to streamline RCC processes, develop automation tools, and improve the ways in which RCC enables transformational computational research at the University of Chicago. The job duties will primarily include development and maintenance of software and deployment on systems in the RCC environment. The System Programmer will also work with the application development team in integrating continuous integration and continuous deployment approaches (CI/CD) and supporting faculty projects. The ideal candidate will possess a strong technical background, an analytical mind, and be comfortable working as part of a team. This is a hybrid position requiring 3 days per week onsite.
Responsibilities
- Install, design, configure and maintain scripts that are used for systems provisioning and configuration management.
- Develop and maintain system software to automate operations of user accounts and resources allocations (i.e., computing cycles and storage quotas).
- Develop a database and software for monitoring hardware inventories (specifications, locations, warranty status and renewals, health status, etc.).
- Design and develop software to automate tasks.
- Monitoring of hardware inventories (including servers, storages and network devices).
- Monitoring of the HPC job scheduler and queuing system (SLURM).
- Monitoring and daily backup of research data and critical files from RCC servers.
- Monitoring and detection of improper user behaviors and security risks.
- Running the suite of applications benchmarks to monitor the performance of RCC HPC systems.
- Design and develop tools to assist RCC leadership with analyzing and reporting RCC usages information and other system statistics.
- Ensures integrity by implementing appropriate routine software and hardware solutions. Customize and maintain system software tools, such as XDmoD, Open OnDemand, Coldfront, etc.
- Proactively troubleshoot issues.
- Document system administration procedures for routine and complex tasks.
- Contribute to developing software, tools and/or platform for the reproducibility of scientific research.
- Maintains complex system and network administration functions. Works with moderate guidance to administer simple systems and assists in the administration of larger systems.
- Installs, configures, and maintains operating system workstations and servers. Performs software installations and upgrades to operating systems and layered software packages. Monitors and tunes the system to achieve optimum performance levels, acquiring high-level skills in the process.
- Performs other related work as needed.
Minimum Qualifications
Education: Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
Work Experience: Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Preferred Qualifications
- A minimum of two years using Linux systems, including basic system configurations, use of command line interface, software installation, packages and network managements, etc.
- Experience with Python programming, including various packages for data processing (i.e., Numpy, Scipy, Pandas, Matplotlib).
- Experience with bash shell scripting.
- Experience with MySQL database techniques.
- Experience with Linux build automation tools such as Ansible, GIT, Docker.
- Experience implementing automation and monitoring using scripting language and other related tools.
- Experience reading and modifying Perl script.
- Experience configuring, installing, tuning and maintaining scientific application software.
- Experience documenting implementations and system related tasks.
Preferred Competencies
- Excellent interpersonal, verbal, written, and presentation skills.
- Ability to understand and translate researchers’ scientific goals into technical requirements.
- Ability to identify and gain expertise in appropriate new technologies and/or software tools.
- Ability to function as part of an interactive team while demonstrating self-initiative to achieve project’s goals and Research Computing Center’s mission.
- Strong analytical skills, problem-solving ability, attention to detail.
- Ability to work well with faculty and researchers.
- Versatile, enthusiastic, and eager to learn new skills.
- Possess a willingness and ability to support a diverse and inclusive environment.
Application Documents
- Resume (required)
- Cover Letter (preferred)
When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.
Job Family
Information Technology
Role Impact
Individual Contributor
FLSA Status
Exempt
Pay Frequency
Monthly
Scheduled Weekly Hours
37.5
Benefits Eligible
Yes
Drug Test Required
No
Health Screen Required
No
Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
No
Posting Statement
The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law.