John Hopkins University

IT@JH Research Computing is seeking a Sr. HPC Systems Engineer who will design, build, and maintain advanced high-performance computing environments supporting Johns Hopkins University’s research mission. This position focuses on the reliable operation, configuration, and optimization of HPC and AI systems, including multi-node CPU and GPU clusters, high-speed InfiniBand and Ethernet networks, and large-scale parallel and object storage. The engineer implements and automates secure, efficient, and reproducible computing platforms used by faculty, researchers, and students across diverse scientific disciplines. Assignments include both ticket-based support and project-based deployments. The role operates with moderate independence, collaborating closely with the IT Architect, Research Computing, and reporting to the IT Manager for Research Computing to ensure scalable, sustainable, and high-performance systems that enable cutting-edge scientific discovery.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities

• Support and administer production systems used by researchers and Research Centers.
• Provide technical leadership/project management for system configuration, implementation, management, and user support for both new and existing systems.
• Research and recommend new functionality for HPC management and administration tools by exploring system-wide impacts, working with functional users to define current and future processes.
• Expertise with architecting, operating, and debugging large scale HPC network and storage infrastructure, including MPI, NCCL, RDMA, Infiniband, and parallel file systems
• Works with scientific support specialists and assigns tasks and provides oversight as appropriate to HPC engineering team to support scientific researchers who use a broad spectrum of applications from diverse fields.
• Analyze results of server monitoring and implement changes to improve performance, processing, and utilization.
• Propose, maintain, and enforce policies, practices and security procedures.
• Provide break/fix support, setup/installation support, escalation support, and solutions support.
• Collaborate closely with a variety of stakeholders, both internal and external, on all aspects of projects.
• Other duties as assigned.

In Addition to the Duties Described Above

• Deploy, configure, and maintain large-scale Linux-based HPC clusters comprising CPU and GPU nodes, high-speed interconnects, and parallel file systems.
• Implement and optimize workload schedulers (Slurm) and job submission policies to maximize system throughput and fair-share usage.
• Administer and monitor distributed storage systems (GPFS, Lustre, WekaFS, Ceph, MinIO) to ensure reliability and performance across multi-petabyte environments.
• Maintain high-speed fabric and network infrastructure (Infiniband, Ethernet) to support low-latency data transfer and MPI workloads.
• Support research groups in deploying, testing, and optimizing scientific applications and AI/ML workflows on shared computing resources.
• Develop and maintain automation and monitoring frameworks for system provisioning, metrics collection, and alerting (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK).
• Participate in capacity planning, hardware lifecycle management, and evaluation of new technologies in collaboration with architects and management.
• Ensure security and compliance through configuration hardening, patch management, and integration with campus identity and access control systems.
• Document system designs, procedures, and troubleshooting guides to support knowledge transfer and team continuity.
• Contribute to a collaborative engineering culture that emphasizes service quality, innovation, and continuous improvement in research computing operations.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Six years of related experience.
• Additional education may substitute for required experience and additional related experience may substitute for required education beyond a high school diploma/graduation equivalent, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.

Preferred Qualifications

• Eight plus years of experience in high-performance computing systems administration or engineering, including experience with cluster management, workload scheduling (e.g., Slurm), and distributed or parallel storage.
• Deep proficiency in Linux systems administration, configuration management (Ansible, Puppet, or Salt), performance monitoring, and tuning for HPC workloads.
• Experience with high-speed interconnects (Infiniband, 100/400 Gb Ethernet) and parallel file systems (e.g., GPFS, Lustre, BeeGFS, or WekaFS).
• Working knowledge of containerization and orchestration (Singularity, Docker, Kubernetes for HPC).
• Ability to automate deployments and routine operations through scripting (Bash, Python).
• Familiarity with data-center operations, GPU acceleration, and research software environments (e.g., CUDA, MPI, AI/ML frameworks).
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, with proven ability to support complex research workloads in multi-user, multi-tenant environments.
• Experience collaborating with faculty and research groups to translate scientific requirements into practical and performant computing solutions.

Classified Title: Sr. HPC Systems Engineer

Role/Level/Range: ATP/04/PF

Starting Salary Range: $85,500 - $149,800 Annually (Commensurate w/exp.)

Employee group: Full Time

Schedule: Mon-Fri, 8:30am-5pm

FLSA Status: Exempt

Location: Johns Hopkins Bayview

Department name: IT@JH Research Computing

Personnel area: University Administration

Total Rewards

The referenced base salary range represents the low and high end of Johns Hopkins University’s salary range for this position. Not all candidates will be eligible for the upper end of the salary range. Exact salary will ultimately depend on multiple factors, which may include the successful candidate's geographic location, skills, work experience, market conditions, education/training and other qualifications. Johns Hopkins offers a total rewards package that supports our employees' health, life, career and retirement. More information can be found here: https://hr.jhu.edu/benefits-worklife/.

Education and Experience Equivalency

Please refer to the job description above to see which forms of equivalency are permitted for this position. If permitted, equivalencies will follow these guidelines: JHU Equivalency Formula: 30 undergraduate degree credits (semester hours) or 18 graduate degree credits may substitute for one year of experience. Additional related experience may substitute for required education on the same basis. For jobs where equivalency is permitted, up to two years of non-related college course work may be applied towards the total minimum education/experience required for the respective job.

Applicants Completing Studies

Applicants who do not meet the posted requirements but are completing their final academic semester/quarter will be considered eligible for employment and may be asked to provide additional information confirming their academic completion date.

Background Checks

The successful candidate(s) for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background check. Johns Hopkins is committed to hiring individuals with a justice-involved background, consistent with applicable policies and current practice. A prior criminal history does not automatically preclude candidates from employment at Johns Hopkins University. In accordance with applicable law, the university will review, on an individual basis, the date of a candidate's conviction, the nature of the conviction and how the conviction relates to an essential job-related qualification or function.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Johns Hopkins University values diversity, equity and inclusion and advances these through our key strategic framework, the JHU Roadmap on Diversity and Inclusion.

Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

EEO is the Law

https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12ScreenRdr.pdf

Accommodation Information

If you are interested in applying for employment with The Johns Hopkins University and require special assistance or accommodation during any part of the pre-employment process, please contact the Talent Acquisition Office at jhurecruitment@jhu.edu. For TTY users, call via Maryland Relay or dial 711. For more information about workplace accommodations or accessibility at Johns Hopkins University, please visit: https://accessibility.jhu.edu/.

Vaccine Requirements

Johns Hopkins University requires all faculty, staff, and students to receive the seasonal flu vaccine. Exceptions to the flu vaccine requirements may be provided to individuals for religious beliefs or medical reasons. Requests for an exception must be submitted to the JHU vaccination registry.

The following additional provisions may apply, depending upon campus. Your recruiter will advise accordingly.

The pre-employment physical for positions in clinical areas, laboratories, working with research subjects, or involving community contact requires documentation of immune status against Rubella (German measles), Rubeola (Measles), Mumps, Varicella (chickenpox), Hepatitis B and documentation of having received the Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccination. This may include documentation of having two (2) MMR vaccines; two (2) Varicella vaccines; or antibody status to these diseases from laboratory testing. Blood tests for immunities to these diseases are ordinarily included in the pre-employment physical exam except for those employees who provide results of blood tests or immunization documentation from their own health care providers. Any vaccinations required for these diseases will be given at no cost in our Occupational Health office.

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