Associate Director Research Computing

Overview:
Tufts Technology Services (TTS) is a university-wide service organization committed to delivering adaptable, results driven technology solutions in support of Tufts’ mission of teaching, learning, research, innovation, and sustainability. With staff working remotely, hybrid and on campus across Tufts University, as well as a 24x7 IT Service Desk, we collaborate with schools and divisions to meet the demands of a global, mobile, and diverse community. We promote a collaborative, forward-thinking, flexible work environment, embrace diversity and inclusion, and encourage personal and professional development.  
 
Fostering a culture of organizational citizenship and making others successful, demonstrating integrity, ethical conduct and optimism, active contribution and continuous learning enables staff to serve the goals and values of the University and creates a fulfilling and positive work experience for all.        

 

Work designation for this position is remote; however, candidate may need to travel to Tufts University 6-8 times per year as needed. Candidates can flex and/or have a compressed schedule per arrangement with manager following successful completion of the trial period.

What You'll Do:
Reporting to the Director of Research Technology, the Associate Director of Research Computing plays a critical role in advancing the research mission of the University by providing leadership and strategic direction in the development, implementation, and support of research computing infrastructure and services. Their portfolio includes High Performance Computing (HPC), research storage, secure research computing, and instrumentation data capture. This position collaborates closely with faculty, researchers, and other stakeholders to understand their computing needs and ensure that the University's computing resources effectively support cutting-edge research initiatives across various disciplines.

 

Leadership and Strategic Planning: 

Provide leadership in the development and execution of strategic plans for research computing infrastructure and services.

Collaborate with university stakeholders to identify emerging trends and technologies in research computing and develop strategies to leverage these for enhancing research capabilities.

Develop and manage budgets for support research computing operations, including sponsored projects.

Assists with grant proposals for sponsored opportunities that will promote or enhance research computing systems.

Represent the university in regional and national research computing consortia and collaborate with peer institutions to share resources and best practices.

Infrastructure Development, Management, and Support:

Oversee the design, implementation, maintenance, and support of high-performance computing (HPC) clusters, research storage systems, etc. to support diverse research needs.

Ensure the security, reliability, and scalability of research computing infrastructure to meet the demands of current and future research projects.

Provide project management oversight and coordination support for research computing projects.

Develop and implement policies and procedures governing the use of research computing resources, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and standards.

Establish and maintain user support mechanisms to assist researchers in effectively utilizing computing resources.

Team Management and Development: 

Provide leadership, ongoing coaching, and mentorship to a team of research computing professionals, fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, and innovation.

Conduct performance evaluations, set goals, evaluate and address staff performance, and provide professional development opportunities for staff members.

Establish and manage priorities, goals, and objectives, for short- and long-term initiatives.  

What We're Looking For:
Basic Requirements:

Skills and knowledge typically acquired through a bachelor’s degree in related technical field and 8+ years of progressive management experience.

7+ years’ experience in research computing, system administration, service development and high-performance computing (HPC).

2+ years' experience managing and mentoring a team in support of high-performance computing.

Strong understanding of research computing ecosystem including instrumentation, data management, security compliance practices and standards, and software deployment in a high-performance computing environment.

Broad knowledge of deployment and management of HPC systems, including CPU, GPU, storage, file systems, networking, virtualization, job schedulers (Slurm) and scientific applications. 

Experience scripting for system management, monitoring, and task automation in support of high-performance computing and cyberinfrastructure.

Strong knowledge of specialized computing like GPU and parallelization.

Experience with InfiniBand and ethernet networks

Familiarity with tiered research storage ecosystems, including disaster recovery and business continuity plans.

Understanding of data security and compliance standards and regulations such as NIST 800-171 / 53.

Experience managing budgets.

Ability to manage liaison relationships with business partners.

Strong organizational skills.

Excellent technical writing, interpersonal, and communication skills.

Experience assisting with grant writing.

Strong consulting and customer service skills. Candidates should feel comfortable directly interacting and facilitating research with university faculty, students and staff across the spectrum of academic disciplines.

Preferred Qualifications:

Advanced degree in computer science, engineering, or other computationally intensive fields.

4+ years’ Unix/Linux administration, Redhat Linux preferred. 

Experience in higher education.

Experience providing HPC support for graduate and undergraduate courses.

Extensive experience managing and mentoring staff.

Experience with HPC cloud solutions (AWS, Microsoft, IBM, etc.).

Experience managing and protecting restricted data.

Experience in developing and implementing strategic plans, policies, and procedures related to research computing.

Experience identifying, recommending, and changing business processes and implementing CI/CD.

Familiarity with Virtualization technologies (KVM) and container containerization and container orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker, Singularity/Apptainer, etc.).

Familiarity with science DMZs and data transfer appliances.

Experience with machine learning and Deep learning technologies such as TensorFlow and PyTorch

Proficiency with Nvidia GPU.

Experience developing dashboards, reports, and summaries of service health for storage, compute, GPU to key stakeholders.

Experience working across multiple business units and IT departments with the ability to foster a sense of teamwork and create a collaborative environment.

Actively involved in the HPC community, and serve as committee members of HPC conferences such as PEARC and SC. 

Work designation for this position is remote; however, candidate may need to travel to Tufts University 6-8 times per year as needed. Candidates can flex and/or have a compressed schedule per arrangement with manager following successful completion of the trial period.

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