{"id":2905054,"url":"https://alion.io/job/kaust-discovery-senior-hpc-systems-administrator","title":"Senior HPC Systems Administrator","company":{"id":36398,"name":"KAUST","domain":"kaust.edu.sa","url":"https://alion.io/company/kaust-discovery","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"SuccessFactors","truth_index":null},"role":"DevOps","role_family":"DevOps","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Saudi Arabia"],"countries":["SA"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":28000,"max_usd":78000,"period":"year","method":"global_role_cell_scaled_by_country","sample_n":3508},"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Ansible","optional":false},{"name":"Bash","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"CentOS Stream","optional":false},{"name":"Configuration Management","optional":false},{"name":"CUDA","optional":false},{"name":"Docker","optional":false},{"name":"Fortran","optional":false},{"name":"HPC","optional":false},{"name":"InfiniBand","optional":false},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":false},{"name":"Linux","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false},{"name":"MPI","optional":false},{"name":"OpenMP","optional":false},{"name":"Puppet","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"SLURM","optional":false},{"name":"C","optional":true}],"status":"closed","first_seen_at":"2026-09-30T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-30","last_verified_at":"2026-10-28T22:55:14Z","board_verified":false,"closed_at":"2026-10-28T22:55:14Z","days_open":28,"trust":{"level":"not_scored","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":28},"description":"Position Summary\nWe are seeking a highly motivated and skilled Senior HPC Systems Administrator to join the KAUST Supercomputing Laboratory (KSL). The successful candidate will be responsible for managing an HPC cluster of approximately 600 CPU and GPU nodes, HPC storage systems, InfiniBand and Ethernet networks, and day-to-day operational issues. The role provides broad support to researchers and end-users across computational science, engineering, big data analysis, and artificial intelligence/machine learning workloads.\nMajor Responsibilities - include but are not limited to -\nProvide timely and effective user support via telephone, walk-in, email, and ticketing system for all inquiry types while maintain high customer service standards.\nInstall, configure, and manage HPC subsystems including compute nodes, high-performance storage systems, InfiniBand, Ethernet, and configuration management tools (e.g., Ansible, Puppet).\nDeploy and manage cluster management software, monitoring tools, and supporting services for operating HPC clusters.\nInstall and administer the Slurm workload manager, manage QOS policies, accounts, accounting, and related automation scripts (Python and C++).\nDevelop and maintain automation scripts in Bash and Python to streamline system administration tasks.\nDeploy and manage container environments (Singularity/Apptainer, Docker) for HPC workloads.\nBenchmark HPC system components like CPU, memory, InfiniBand, and storage periodically to ensure optimal performance and identify tuning opportunities across hardware, driver, and application layers.\nEnforce security best practices including node hardening, kernel patching, and compliance across all systems.\nManage parallel file systems such as Lustre, GPFS, Weka, or Vast, including performance tuning and capacity planning.\nDirectly support research activities in computational science, engineering, data analysis, and AI/ML by working closely with faculty, researchers, collaboration partners, and industrial partners in collaboration with application support teams.\nDevelop software tools and utilities as needed to support research projects on cluster systems and subsystems.\nDrive proof-of-concept projects and technology evaluations end-to-end and research industry best practices and advocate system enhancements.\nCoordinate with vendors and third-party service providers to report and resolve issues in a timely manner.\nDevelop and maintain user documentation, standard operating procedures, and training materials in the internal wiki.\nStay at the forefront of HPC advancements through continuous learning, industry conferences, and professional collaboration, while driving benchmarking initiatives to inform future hardware procurement.\nCompetencies\nExpertise in supporting users of computational science and engineering, data analysis, and artificial intelligence applications and libraries in different HPC environments.\nStrong expertise in Linux system administration (RHEL, Rocky Linux, or CentOS) in large-scale HPC environments.\nProficiency with HPC applications and programming models (Fortran, C/C++, Python, MPI, OpenMP, CUDA, OpenACC).\nDemonstrated track record of managing complex HPC systems, including parallel file systems, job schedulers, InfiniBand/Ethernet networks, and monitoring systems.\nExperience with configuration management tools (Ansible, Puppet, or equivalent).\nFamiliarity with computational science, data analysis, and AI/ML applications and libraries used in HPC environments.\nKnowledge of project management principles and practices.\nDemonstrated ability to support research activities in a highly collaborative HPC environment.\nStrong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.\nProactively identifies and implements system improvements; takes initiative and sees tasks through to closure.\nAbility to manage multiple concurrent projects and deliver high-quality results within deadlines.\nProven ability to collaborate cross-functionally with researchers, application teams, and vendors.\nEffective in multi-cultural, international work environments.\nExcellent verbal and written communication skills in English, including the ability to prepare and deliver technical reports and presentations.\nQualifications\nEducation requirement, minimum:\nBachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science/engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent\nExperience\nExperience requirement, minimum:\nFive years of experience supporting large scale computing platforms and related subsystems.\nExperience troubleshooting complex hardware issues and documenting root cause analysis.\nExperience managing parallel storage systems (Lustre, GPFS, Weka, Vast, or similar).\nExperience benchmarking HPC system components (CPU, memory, InfiniBand, storage).\nExperience administering workload managers/schedulers (Slurm, LSF, or PBS).\nStrong Linux system administration experience (RHEL, Rocky Linux, or CentOS).\nExperience with configuration management tools such as Ansible or Puppet.\nAbility to coordinate with researchers, application support teams, and vendors to resolve complex issues and drive them to closure.\nProven ability to collaborate cross-functionally and drive initiatives to completion.\nFamiliarity with Kubernetes and container orchestration platforms would be 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