Digital Engineer (HPC Engineer 2)

Los Alamos National Security LLC; Los Alamos (NM); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Medical insurance

Dental & vision insurance

401(k) plan

Tuition assistance

Flexible schedules

Job summary

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) seeks a Digital Engineer to join the HPC division, balancing traditional Linux/container administration with designing secure, agent-ready data access for AI workflows.

You will maintain RHEL/OpenShift environments, support GitLab for ~1,000 users, and mentor staff while shaping backend infrastructure for safe AI agent access. Hybrid work with on-site reporting is expected.

Qualifications

• Experience building, configuring, and administering production Linux systems with strong CLI
• Scripting/automation skills in Bash, Python, Perl, or similar
• Experience with a centralized configuration management system (Ansible)
• Experience using Git for version control
• Strong understanding of containers and orchestration (Kubernetes/OpenShift)
• Experience with relational/non-relational databases and access control models
• Familiarity with API design principles and secure authentication (OAuth2, API keys, mTLS)
• Exposure to MCP servers, agentic frameworks, or related AI tooling, or ability to ramp quickly

Responsibilities

• Deploy, maintain, and improve RHEL and container-based systems
• Administer and scale OpenShift cluster and CI/CD workflows
• Support GitLab and internal services for ~1,000 users
• Participate in on-call rotations for RHEL/OpenShift
• Develop and maintain configuration management via Ansible
• Mentor staff and produce technical docs and reports
• Redesign backend to support agentic AI access patterns
• Define RBAC across databases and storage exposed via APIs or MCP interfaces
• Deploy MCP servers and guardrails for agentic access to internal data
• Collaborate on data governance, authentication, and authorization policies

Skills

Production Linux systems

Scripting and automation

Ansible configuration management

OpenShift/Kubernetes

RBAC design for data systems

Git version control

Performance/diagnostics tooling

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Engineering

Tools

GitLab

OpenShift

Ansible

Job description

What You Will Do

This position is open for external candidates only to apply.

The High Performance Computing (HPC) Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory provides scientific computing resources consisting of some of the largest HPC systems in the world, as well as numerous large commodity cluster systems. Our Support Services Team within the HPC Systems Group (HPC-SYS) provides resources for both our internal HPC admin teams and our external users by building and maintaining RHEL systems, managing our admin- and user-facing OpenShift cluster, and supporting around 1,000 users with services such as GitLab.

We are expanding this team's charter to include the modernization of our backend infrastructure to support AI-driven and agentic workflows. The Support Services Team is seeking a Digital Engineer who can operate across two closely related domains: traditional Linux/container systems administration, and the design of secure, agent-ready data access architecture across our databases and datastores.

This is a hybrid role - roughly half of the position will continue our current systems administration mission (RHEL, OpenShift, GitLab, Ansible), and half will be dedicated to redesigning and hardening our backend so that databases, storage systems, and internal tools can be safely and reliably accessed by AI agents and automated tooling.

Core Responsibilities

Systems Administration (≈50%)

• Deploy, maintain, and improve RHEL and container-based systems supporting the HPC Division
• Administer and grow our OpenShift cluster, including build, test, and troubleshooting of new hardware and workflows
• Support GitLab and other internal services for approximately 1,000 users
• Participate in periodic on‑call rotation for RHEL servers and OpenShift systems
• Develop and maintain configuration management via Ansible
• Mentor students, junior staff, and peers; produce technical documentation, presentations, and reports

AI-Ready Backend & Agentic Infrastructure (≈50%)

• Assess and redesign backend infrastructure - databases, object storage, and other datastores - to support secure, structured access by AI agents and automated systems
• Design and implement role-based access control (RBAC) across multiple heterogeneous databases and storage systems, exposed via APIs or Model Context Protocol (MCP) interfaces
• Build, deploy, and manage MCP servers that expose internal data and tools to agentic AI systems in a controlled, auditable manner
• Establish patterns and guardrails for how agentic tools discover, query, and act upon internal data, ensuring least‑privilege access and traceability
• Evaluate and integrate API gateways, service meshes, or proxy layers as needed to mediate agent‑to‑datastore communication
• Collaborate with data owners, security, and application teams to define access policies, authentication/authorization models, and data governance appropriate for AI/agent consumption
• Stay current on the evolving agentic AI tooling landscape (e.g., MCP, function‑calling frameworks, agent orchestration platforms) and translate that knowledge into practical backend design decisions

This position will be filled at the HPC Engineer 2 level.

What You Need

Minimum Job Requirements

• Demonstrated experience building, configuring, and administering production Linux systems, including strong command‑line skills and working knowledge of hardware/software security practices
• Strong scripting/automation skills in Bash, Python, Perl, or similar
• Experience with a centralized configuration management system such as Ansible
• Experience using Git for version control
• Strong understanding of containers and one or more orchestration systems such as Kubernetes or OpenShift
• Practical experience with relational and/or non‑relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Elasticsearch, or similar), including access control and permissions models
• Experience designing or implementing role‑based access control (RBAC) for data systems, whether via native database roles, API gateways, or identity/authorization frameworks
• Familiarity with API design principles (REST, GraphQL, or gRPC) and secure API authentication (OAuth2, API keys, mTLS, etc.)
• Some hands‑on exposure to MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers, agentic frameworks, or AI tool‑calling architectures - or strong, demonstrable ability to quickly ramp up in this space
• Experience diagnosing system and application‑level issues using tools such as perf, strace, tcpdump, vmstat

Education/Experience: Position Requires a bachelor's in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field, and 3 years of relevant experience in high performance computing or scalable AI computing, or data center environments or equivalent combination of education and experience in related field.

Desired Qualifications

• Direct experience building or operating MCP servers, or integrating datastores with agentic AI systems
• Understanding of how autonomous/agentic AI tools reason about, select, and invoke external tools and data sources
• Experience running virtual machines and administering OpenShift clusters
• Knowledge of cloud technologies and cloud‑native identity/access management
• Experience integrating operational metrics into monitoring systems such as Splunk
• Familiarity with data governance, audit logging, and compliance considerations relevant to AI/automated data access
• Demonstrated effective communication skills and ability to work productively across technical and non‑technical teams
• High attention to detail, strong organizational and problem‑solving skills, and the ability to independently multi‑task in a fast‑paced environment
• An active DOE Q Clearance

Work Location

This position will be located in Los Alamos, NM, with the potential for a hybrid work arrangement (60% onsite/40% offsite) from a location within 2 hours ground commute of this location. Reporting onsite will be required. Hybrid is at the discretion of management and can change at any time with appropriate notice.

Position commitment

Regular appointment employees are required to serve a period of continuous service in their current position in order to be eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the time required, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. The position commitment for this position is 1 year.

Where You Will Work

Located in beautiful northern New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security. Our generous benefits package includes:

• PPO or High Deductible medical insurance with the same large nationwide network
• Dental and vision insurance
• Free basic life and disability insurance
• Paid childbirth and parental leave
• Award-winning 401(k) (6% matching plus 3.5% annually)
• Learning opportunities and tuition assistance
• Flexible schedules and time off (PTO and holidays)
• Onsite gyms and wellness programs
• Extensive relocation packages (outside a 50 mile radius)

Additional Details

Directive 206.2

Employment with Triad requires a favorable decision by NNSA indicating employee is suitable under NNSA Supplemental Directive 206.2. Please note that this requirement applies only to citizens of the United States. Foreign nationals are subject to a similar requirement under DOE Order 142.3A.

Clearance: Q

Position will be cleared to this level. Selected applicants will be subject to a background investigation conducted by or on behalf of the Federal Government, and must meet eligibility requirements* for access to classified matter. This position requires a Q clearance, and obtaining such clearance requires US Citizenship except in extremely rare circumstances. Dependent upon the position, additional authorization to access classified information may be required, which may or may not be available to dual citizens. Receipt of a Q clearance and additional access authorization ultimately is a decision of the Federal Government and not of Triad. *Eligibility requirements: To obtain a clearance, an individual must be at least 18 years of age; U.S. citizenship is required except in very limited circumstances. See DOE Order 472.2 for additional information.

New-Employment Drug Test

The Laboratory requires successful applicants to complete a new-employment drug test and maintains a substance abuse policy that includes random drug testing. Although New Mexico and other states have legalized the use of marijuana, use and possession of marijuana remain illegal under federal law. A positive drug test for marijuana will result in termination of employment, even if the use was pre-offer.

Regular position

Term status Laboratory employees applying for regular‑status positions are converted to regular status.

Internal Applicants

Regular appointment employees who have served the required period of continuous service in their current position are eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the required period of continuous service, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. Please refer to Policy P701 for applicant eligibility requirements.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is an equal opportunity employer. All employment practices are based on qualification and merit, without regard to protected categories such as race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status or spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability, medical conditions, pregnancy, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or citizenship within the limits imposed by federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The Laboratory is also committed to making our workplace accessible to individuals with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations, upon request, for individuals to participate in the application and hiring process. To request such an accommodation, please send an email to [e-mail] or call (505)-664-6947.