HPC Systems Administration Specialist

Argonne; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 70,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Argonne National Laboratory seeks an HPC Systems Integrator to join the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) team. You will work with world-class supercomputers and contribute to the design and development of new HPC systems, tools, and software stacks.

Responsibilities include building and optimizing Spack environments, compiling large-scale scientific applications, and profiling and tuning performance for heterogeneous architectures.

Qualifications

• Experience with Spack, CMake, Make and Linux HPC environments.
• Ability to compile large-scale scientific applications from source.
• Familiarity with MPI and heterogeneous architectures.

Responsibilities

• Assist with design and development of HPC systems and software stacks.
• Package and environment management across HPC systems.
• Performance profiling, debugging, and optimization with domain scientists.

Skills

Spack

CMake

Make

MPI

GCC

LLVM/Clang

Intel Compiler

Tools

GNU Make

Job description

Argonne is a multidisciplinary science and engineering research facility, where world-class researchers work alongside experts from industry, academia, and other government laboratories to address vital national challenges in technology and national security. As a member of the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) High Performance Computing (HPC) team, you will directly work with first-class supercomputers and emergent technologies alongside scientific staff and research colleagues within the division. In this role, you will be able to significantly contribute to the design and development of new HPC systems, tools, and software stacks.

In this role you can expect to:

• Assist with the design, development, and advancement of the HPC environment of the ALCF and focus on software integration with the larger software and operational ecosystem at the facility site.
• Package & Environment Management: Maintain, configure, and optimize Spack environments across ALCF systems to support a diverse and evolving portfolio of scientific applications.
• Compilation & Integration: Build, compile, and validate complex scientific software using modern build systems (e.g., CMake, GNU Make) tailored to heterogeneous exascale architectures (CPUs, GPUs, and accelerators).
• Performance Tuning & Collaboration: Work hand-in-hand with application-owners and domain experts after initial compilation to profile, debug, and performance-tune codes for maximum hardware efficiency.
• Upstream Engagement & Issue Reporting: Identify software defects or build failures, and effectively report and track issues back to external software developers and open-source communities.
• Documentation & Support: Document installation procedures, custom build flags, and optimization strategies, providing expert-level support to open-science researchers relying on your software stack.

Position Requirements

• HPC Build & Package Tools: Demonstrated experience with Spack, CMake, Make, and managing software dependencies in Linux-based high-performance computing environments.
• Compilation & Debugging: Strong proficiency in compiling large-scale scientific applications from source, utilizing various compilers (GNU, LLVM/Clang, Intel, etc.) and MPI libraries.
• Performance Tuning: Familiarity with profiling and tuning tools to optimize applications beyond default installations.
• Collaboration & Communication: Excellent interpersonal skills with a proven track record of working closely with domain scientists, researchers, and external developers to troubleshoot and refine software.
• Core Values: Ability to model Argonne's core values of impact, safety, respect, integrity and teamwork.
• US Citizenship: To perform the essential functions of this position successful applicants must provide proof of U.S. citizenship, which is required to comply with federal regulations and contract.

This position can be hired at one of two levels; the selected candidate will be placed at the appropriate level (PT2 or PT3) dependent upon the depth and breadth of relevant knowledge and skills. The minimum requirements for the two levels are as follows:

• PT2: Minimum of a Bachelors degree and 2+ years of experience, or equivalent and the expected hiring range for this level is $69,750 - $108,810.
• PT3: Minimum of a Bachelors degree and 4+ years of experience, or a Masters degree and 2+ years, or equivalent and the expected hiring range for this level is $86,299 - $134,626.

Job Family Professional Technical (PT) Job Profile Systems Integration Admin/Support 2 Worker Type Regular Time Type Full time The expected hiring range for this position is $69,750.00 - $108,810.00.

Please note that the pay range information is a general guideline only. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as, but not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, business considerations, internal equity, and external market pay for comparable jobs.

Additionally, comprehensive benefits are part of the total rewards package.

As an equal employment opportunity employer, and in accordance with our core values of impact, safety, respect, integrity and teamwork, Argonne National Laboratory is committed to a safe and welcoming workplace that fosters collaborative scientific discovery and innovation. Argonne encourages everyone to apply for employment. Argonne is committed to nondiscrimination and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by law.

Argonne employees, and certain guest researchers and contractors, are subject to particular restrictions related to participation in Foreign Government Sponsored or Affiliated Activities, as defined and detailed in United States Department of Energy Order 486.1A. You will be asked to disclose any such participation in the application phase for review by Argonne's Legal Department. All Argonne offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes an assessment of criminal conviction history conducted on an individualized and case-by-case basis. Please be advised that Argonne positions require upon hire (or may require in the future) for the individual be to obtain a government access authorization that involves additional background check requirements. Failure to obtain or maintain such government access authorization could result in the withdrawal of a job offer or future termination of employment.

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