AI Infrastructure Associate Engineer (3 x FTE)

University of Bristol; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

The Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS) at the University of Bristol is seeking an Infrastructure Associate Engineer to build and operate the compute and storage platforms used by researchers. You don't need to be AI domain expert, but you will quickly gain deep technical understanding.

You will work with Python, Rust, Terraform/OpenTofu, Kubernetes, Git and Bash to design and operate massively scalable, software-defined systems.

Qualifications

• Domain knowledge in SysOps, NetOps, DevOps, SecOps, MLOps or Research Software Engineering.
• Degree (or equivalent practical experience) in computer science, computational or ML/AI research or in a natural science with a high degree of competence in computer science or computational research.
• Ability to contribute as a member of diverse, technical teams and to follow operational procedures.

Responsibilities

• Use tools such as Python, Rust, Terraform / OpenTofu, Kubernetes, Git and Bash.
• Design and operate large, highly available supercomputing services managed as software-defined infrastructures, and integrated as complete computational experiments.
• You will experience designing and operating massive-scale GPU and combined CPU/GPU workloads across these services.
• You will design and debug platforms, and will work closely with researchers as you co-design solutions that will enable the development and operation of new algorithms and software to solve leading-edge research problems.

Skills

SysOps

NetOps

DevOps

SecOps

MLOps

Research Software Engineering

Education

Degree in Computer Science or equivalent

Tools

Kubernetes

Terraform/OpenTofu

Python

Rust

Git

Bash

Job description

The Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS) runs the Isambard-AI National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource, recently announced AI Data facility and the Isambard 3 Tier-2 Supercomputer. Isambard-AI is the most powerful supercomputer in the UK and amongst the most powerful in Europe.

The BriCS team owns the entire process of developing and operating the centre’s compute and software infrastructure, which includes:

• The sourcing of hardware and system design.
• The deployment of huge software-defined infrastructure using tools such as Kubernetes and Terraform / OpenTofu.
• Building and operating platforms to enable researchers to conduct leading-edge research using the systems.
• Optimising and refining software to ensure environmental and economic efficient use.

As one of the largest Open AI Research Resources internationally, we are committed to catalysing an AI transformation in the research and development community.

In this role, you will work as part of the BriCS team to build and operate primarily the infrastructure and compute platforms that researchers use for their work. You do not need to be an AI or computational research domain expert to deliver world-class infrastructure, but you do need to quickly obtain a deep technical understanding of new domains. You should enjoy being self-directed and identifying the most important problems to solve as the team matures with standardized tools and processes around stability, robust service delivery and scaling.

The Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS) runs the Isambard-AI National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource, recently announced AI Data facility and the Isambard 3 Tier-2 Supercomputer. Isambard-AI is the most powerful supercomputer in the UK and amongst the most powerful in Europe.

The BriCS team owns the entire process of developing and operating the centre’s compute and software infrastructure, which includes:

• The sourcing of hardware and system design.
• The deployment of huge software-defined infrastructure using tools such as Kubernetes and Terraform / OpenTofu.
• Building and operating platforms to enable researchers to conduct leading-edge research using the systems.
• Optimising and refining software to ensure environmental and economic efficient use.

As one of the largest Open AI Research Resources internationally, we are committed to catalysing an AI transformation in the research and development community.

What will you be doing?

• Use tools such as Python, Rust, Terraform / OpenTofu, Kubernetes, Git and Bash.
• Design and operate large, highly available supercomputing services managed as software-defined infrastructures, and integrated as complete computational experiments.
• You will experience designing and operating massive-scale GPU and combined CPU/GPU
  workloads across these services.
• You will design and debug platforms, and will work closely with researchers as you co-design solutions that will enable the development and operation of new algorithms and software to solve leading-edge research problems.

You should apply if

• Want to help build, maintain and secure some of the largest, modern software-defined supercomputing systems.
• Would enjoy working with world class domain and AI researchers as your primary workload.
• Have supported development or operation of a small to large clusters or dabbled in building your own physical or software-defined systems.
• Love operating large distributed, highly available systems, and want to see them used for truly open national-scale researchin a cybersecurity compliant manner.

For our AI Supercomputing Infrastructure Associate Engineer role focusing on storage and networking, you’ll need:

• Domain knowledge in 1 or more areas from SysOps, NetOps, DevOps, SecOps, MLOps or Research Software Engineering.
• Degree (or equivalent practical experience) in computer science, computational or ML/AI
  research or in a natural science with a high degree of competence in computer science or
  computational research.
• Ability to contribute as a member of diverse, technical teams and to follow operational procedures.

• Domain knowledge in 1 or more areas from SysOps, NetOps, DevOps, SecOps, MLOps or Research Software Engineering.
• Degree (or equivalent practical experience) in computer science, computational or ML/AI
  research or in a natural science with a high degree of competence in computer science or
  computational research.
• Ability to contribute as a member of diverse, technical teams and to follow operational procedures.

The available job descriptionprovidesa full view of thepersonspecification.

Additional information

To find out more about what it's like to work in the Faculty of Engineering, and how the Faculty supports people to achieve their potential, please see our staff blog:

For any informal enquiries, please contact Emma Rose, Centre Manager - [e-mail].

Contract type: Open ended with fixed funding until August 2030.

Work pattern: Monday - Friday, 35 hours per week.

Grade: J

School/Unit: Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS)

This advert will close at 23:59 UK time on Sunday 11th October 2026

The interview date will be confirmed shortly.

Our strategy and mission

We recently launched our strategy to 2030 tying together our mission, vision and values.

The University of Bristol aims to be a place where everyone feels able to be themselves and do their best in an inclusive working environment where all colleagues can thrive and reach their full potential. We want to attract, develop, and retain individuals with different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives – particularly people of colour, LGBT+ and disabled people - because diversity of people and ideas remains integral to our excellence as a global civic institution.