Senior AI Systems Administrator

CommonAI CIC; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Collaborative work environment

High-impact role in growing org

Pension and benefits package

Professional development opportunities

Networking with tech and academia

Office near Cambridge train station

Job summary

CommonAI CIC in Cambridge, UK, is seeking a Senior AI Systems Administrator to join our engineering team. You will provision and maintain multi-rack GPU clusters for inference and training workloads, blending cutting-edge hardware with sophisticated software orchestration.

This hands-on role requires deep Linux expertise, virtualization, and IaC tooling. You will work with researchers and engineers to optimise systems, implement high-performance networking, and ensure reliable operations within

Qualifications

• Significant experience as a System Administrator, HPC Engineer, MLOps Engineer or equivalent
• Modern GPU server deployment, tuning and management
• Advanced networking technologies (Infiniband, RDMA, RoCE)
• Advanced Linux skills with servers running hypervisors/VMs across multiple distributions
• Experience with source control (Git) and infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform, OpenTofu)
• Understanding of network design and firewall configuration
• Ability to collaborate with users and stakeholders to iteratively optimise systems

Responsibilities

• Provision and maintain multi-rack GPU server clusters for inference and training workloads
• Collaborate across engineering teams to optimise systems and tooling
• Manage Linux servers with virtualization and multiple distributions
• Implement IaC and scripting to automate deployment and operations

Skills

System Administration

GPU Servers

Networking

Scripting

Collaboration

Tools

Terraform

OpenTofu

Git

Python

Job description

CommonAI CIC is a non-profit membership organisation, founded on a belief in collaborative engineering for the safe and responsible development of foundational AI technologies. A place where AI startups, enterprises large and small, public sector bodies and academia can share resources and knowledge, to codevelop and grow businesses, fast. We are led by experienced founders, investors and engineers who believe that collaborative engineering drives faster AI innovation and are backed by a mix of UK Government and private funding in order to design, build and deploy innovative AI systems.

The Opportunity

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior AI Systems Administrator to join our rapidly growing engineering team. You will provision and maintain multi-rack GPU server clusters designed for both inference and training workloads. This role is perfect for a hands-on engineer who thrives on the intersection of cutting-edge high-end hardware and complex software orchestration. You will be given access to cutting edge AI tooling and we encourage our employees to make full use of the latest technology to find innovative and new ways of working.

Requirements

You should be able to demonstrate:

• Significant experience working as a System Administrator, HPC Engineer, MLOps Engineer or equivalent technical role
• Modern GPU server deployment, tuning and management
• Advanced networking technologies (Infiniband, RDMA, RoCE)
• Advanced Linux skills and experience working with servers running hypervisors/VMs and multiple distributions (e.g. Ubuntu, RHEL)
• Expertise in source code management (e.g. Git) and infrastructure-as-code tools (e.g. Terraform, OpenTofu)
• A strong understanding of network design and switch/router/firewall configuration
• The desire to work collaboratively with users and other stakeholders to iteratively optimise systems

Experience with any or all of the following will also be highly valued:

• High-performance or high-availability storage servers/clusters (Lustre, Ceph, Weka, PEAK:AIO)
• HPC workload managers (Slurm, LSF)
• Proficiency in scripting (e.g. Python)

Our infrastructure is used for research and development. Support will generally only be required during UK business hours however major maintenance may occasionally be scheduled for weekends.

Benefits

• A collaborative and supportive work environment
• The opportunity to have a high impact in a growing organisation
• Competitive salary package, including pension and benefits
• Professional development opportunities
• Networking opportunities with influential figures from across the tech sector and academia
• A vibrant office environment located a few minutes' walk away from Cambridge train station

CommonAI CIC is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace.