HPC Systems Engineer

UCAR - The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research; Boulder (CO); Hybrid; USD 68,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Disability insurance

Retirement plan with 10% employer base

Annual PTO and holidays

Parental leave

Job summary

UCAR - The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO, seeks an HPC Systems Engineer to support CISL's high-performance infrastructure, including compute, storage, networks, and data services. Occasional travel to NWSC and on-call rotation required.

The role requires a Bachelor's degree or equivalent, strong Linux skills, HPC software expertise, and experience with job scheduling (PBS/SLURM). This is a regular, on-site position with hybrid work opportunities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer-related or engineering field or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Experience with Linux, scripting, and at least one higher level programming language.
• Experience with job scheduling systems (PBS, SLURM) and HPC storage technologies.

Responsibilities

• Install, integrate, maintain, and troubleshoot HPC and storage systems.
• Operate and monitor systems daily, and respond to anomalies.
• Provide 7x24 on-call support and remedial actions.
• Coordinate with CISL Operations and vendors as needed.
• Prepare regular activity reports for management.
• Assist in design and deployment of HPC networking and storage.

Skills

Linux

Scripting

Programming languages

HPC software

HPC networking

System installation

RFP specs

On-call rotation

Job scheduling

Lustre

Spectrum Scale

Version control

Disaster recovery

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer-related or engineering field

Associate’s degree + four years experience

Tools

PBS

SLURM

Spectrum Scale

Lustre

Job description

Final salary and rates are based on education, experience, and skills relevant to the role.

Position Type: Regular

Visa Sponsored Job: No

Relocation Assistance Eligible: No

Hiring Range: 68,040.00 USD - 85,050.00 USD

Application Closes at 12:00am MST on: 2026-11-07

Final salary and rates are based on education, experience, and skills relevant to the role.

About The Role

As part of the High-Performance Computing Systems Group (HSG) at NCAR, the High-Performance Computing (HPC) Systems Engineer performs systems engineering and technical support for the CISL high-performance computational systems, high-performance storage systems, archival systems, high-performance networks, and data transfer services. The environment is composed of multi-vendor resources with numerous specialized hardware components and requires coordination and communication with other groups and stakeholders.

Production systems supported are located at the NCAR Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) located in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Will be required to work at the NWSC during periods of system installation, system upgrade, or system troubleshooting.

The salary range for this position will be $68,040 - $85,050.

Job Description

Bachelor’s degree in computer-related or engineering field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience (e.g. Associate’s degree and four years of work experience) is required.

• Skill with multiple Operating Systems (Linux), scripting, and programming languages
• HPC and HPS-related software analysis, design, and development skills
• Skill/familiarity with HPC and HPS networking, high-performance interconnects, and security
• Skill/familiarity in installation and integration of HPC and/or HPS hardware and software
• Skill/familiarity in development of technical specifications for RFPs/RFIs/RFQs
• Skill/familiarity with upgrading the hardware and software stack on HPC and HPS systems
• Ability to travel occasionally to the NCAR Wyoming Supercomputer Center, which is approximately 90 miles north of Boulder.
• Ability to serve in a periodic 24x7 on-call rotation with other staff.
• Experience with the Linux operating system environment with an emphasis on networking, storage, and performance and with the installation and management in a Linux based supercomputer environment. Experience in Linux scripting. languages and at least one higher level programming language.
• Experience with job scheduling system (e.g., PBS, SLURM)
• Experience with clustered file systems (e.g., Spectrum Scale, Lustre) and with clustered system management tools and techniques
• Experience with at least one form of HPC storage (e.g., block, object, cloud, or tape), experience with version control and configuration management systems, and experience with disaster recovery of single image systems and clusters

Preferred Qualifications

• Systems Engineering

The HPC Systems Engineer performs installation, hardware and software integration and engineering, maintenance, administration, troubleshooting, and operation of both software and hardware systems, including petascale computational systems, scheduling environments, high-speed networks, and storage systems.

System Management

Uses tools for system management, system deployment, system monitoring, system resource control, system statistical data gathering, data transfer services, data management services, data archiving services, Cloud services, network services, performance tuning, and system benchmarking.

Operational Monitoring and Troubleshooting

Operates and monitors the behavior of the group’s systems and related hardware on a routine, daily basis to ensure proper and efficient operations. Alerts other HPC Systems Group staff, vendor representatives and/or CISL Operations staff of anomalistic conditions or behaviors, as appropriate, and takes remedial actions as necessary. Diagnoses and may repair failed hardware components. Provides advanced service on a 7x24 on-call basis to troubleshoot and resolve system related problems presented by users, other sections in CISL, and vendor-employed engineers and analysts. Consults with other staff as appropriate to solve issues.

Organizational Representation and Reporting

Provides regular HPC Systems Group activities reports to management and may contribute to the NCAR Annual Scientific Report and development plans. Attends group, divisional, and lab meetings and may represent the HPC Systems Group and its activities at such meetings. May represent the group at larger organizational meetings as necessary. This may include presenting to both internal and external user groups, at supercomputing focus conferences, and organizational planning meetings.

Application Requirements

Cover Letter, Questionnaire, Resume/CV

For full consideration, all application materials must be submitted by 12am (MST) at the start of the application deadline. These should highlight how your skills and experiences align with the responsibilities of this position. We recognize that no candidate will meet 100% of the listed qualifications.

Supplemental questionnaires are often requested in lieu of a cover letter, where you address critical skills needed for the position. Your answers will be read and weighed equally to your resume and should provide specific, detailed, and informative responses based on your direct and previous work experiences.

Background checks and/or federal screenings are conducted for candidates selected for hire.

Benefits Overview

• Medical, Dental, Vision, and Short & Long Term Disability Insurance
• Generous retirement plan - UCAR contributes of 10% of base salary
• Time Off Plans
  • Minimum 20 days of annual PTO
  • 10 paid holidays
  • 12 weeks of paid parental leave
  • FAMLI Leave
• Tuition Assistance Program
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligible employer

UCAR is an Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes applications from all individuals. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Applicants are not required to provide age-related information (like date of birth or graduation dates) in initial submissions.

For sponsored positions: UCAR can sponsor individuals for H-1B status only if they are already in the U.S. in H-1B status or another visa status that allows them to change to H-1B status within the U.S. UCAR is unable to sponsor new H-1B visas for individuals who are outside the U.S. and need to obtain H-1B status through Consular Processing.

While UCAR does not prohibit the use of AI tools in job applications, we strongly recommend that applicants submit primarily original work.

All roles require compliance with U.S. export control regulations and work location requirements. All hybrid staff are expected to work on-site approximately 3 days per week.