OpenShift Administrator (HPC Engineer 2/3)
Los Alamos National Laboratory
A complete application in a minute
Tailored resume and cover letter, ready to send.
Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
Los Alamos National Laboratory seeks an HPC Engineer to deploy, maintain, and improve OpenShift-based container systems. You will participate in on-call duties, support OpenShift clusters, and help grow expertise across containers, Linux administration, and automation.
The role emphasizes mentoring junior staff, documenting projects, and collaborating with internal users. A strong background in container orchestration and secure system administration is essential.
Qualifications
- Experience administering production OpenShift or Kubernetes clusters.
- Strong understanding of containers and orchestration concepts (networking, storage, security).
- Experience building and administering production Linux systems with strong CLI skills.
Responsibilities
- Deploy, upgrade, and maintain OpenShift clusters; diagnose cluster/workload failures.
- Manage cluster networking, storage, and security configurations; improve workflows.
- Prepare technical documentation, presentations, and reports; share knowledge across teams.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
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 as well as our external users by building and maintaining RHEL systems, managing our admin and user-facing OpenShift cluster, as well as supporting around 1,000 users with services such as Gitlab.
The Support Services Team is seeking our next knowledgeable and motivated team member to help deploy, maintain, and improve our existing and future container-based systems, with a primary focus on administering our user-facing OpenShift cluster. This role requires deep expertise in containers and container orchestration, with a strong preference for hands‑on OpenShift administration experience. Mentoring of students, junior staff, and peers in technical and professional growth activities is highly valued, as is maintaining state‑of‑the‑art technical expertise and knowledge within areas such as cloud technologies, containers, and developing new skills in related disciplines.
The successful candidate will participate in periodic on‑call responsibilities managing OpenShift systems and RHEL servers while actively growing their skill base and expertise across container orchestration, Linux system administration, and Ansible. Specific tasks/scenarios in which the selected candidate will engage in include: deploying, upgrading, and maintaining OpenShift clusters; troubleshooting and diagnosing cluster and workload failures; managing cluster networking, storage, and security configurations; modifying existing systems and improving workflows and methods; and actively participating in knowledge sharing across teams. In addition, the selected candidate will have the opportunity to develop technical products such as technical documentation, presentations, technical papers, and reports, to communicate findings internally.
This position will be filled at the HPC Engineer 2/3 level.
Minimum Job Requirements:
- Demonstrated experience administering production OpenShift or Kubernetes clusters, including cluster deployment, upgrades, and day‑to‑day operations
- Strong understanding of containers and container orchestration concepts, including networking, storage, security, and workload scheduling
- Demonstrated experience building, configuring, and administering production Linux systems, including strong command line Linux operating system skills, working knowledge of hardware and software security practices
- Strong knowledge of scripting in Bash, Perl, Python, or similar languages and experience in automating tasks using programming and scripting
- Experience using a centralized configuration management system such as Ansible
- Experience using Git for version control
- Experience diagnosing system software problems and experience with low‑level system administration tools such as perf, strace, tcpdump, and vmstat
- Expertise administering production OpenShift or Kubernetes clusters, including leading cluster architecture, deployment, upgrades, and lifecycle management at scale
- Advanced expertise in containers and container orchestration concepts, including networking, storage, security, and workload scheduling, with demonstrated ability to design and implement solutions for complex, user‑facing environments
- General maintenance and management experience for long running services.
- Demonstrated ability to take a lead technical role in designing, architecting, and implementing solutions across multiple systems and teams
- Demonstrated experience representing the organization in external collaborations with vendors, other national laboratories, or the broader technical community
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.
Position Requires a bachelor's in Computer Science or Computer Engineering or a related field and 6 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.
- Direct experience administering OpenShift clusters in a production, user‑facing environment
- Experience running a Gitlab server for many users
- Experience running virtual machines
- Experience with multiple Linux distributions
- Knowledge of Cloud technologies
- Experience integrating operational metrics into a monitoring system such as Splunk
- Demonstrated effective communication skills, including demonstrated ability to work productively with customers and vendors
- High attention to detail including excellent organizational skills, analytical thinking, observational and problem‑solving skills. Proven ability to independently multi‑task and adjust to the workings of a dynamic and fast‑paced environment.
- An Active DOE Q Clearance
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.
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.
Due to federal restrictions contained in the current National Defense Authorization Act, citizens of the People's Republic of China‑including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau‑as well as citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the Russian Federation, who are not Lawful Permanent Residents (\"green card\" holders) are prohibited from accessing facilities that support the mission, functions, and operations of national security laboratories and nuclear weapons production facilities, which includes Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- 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)
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.
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.
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.
Term status Laboratory employees applying for regular‑status positions are converted to regular status.
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 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, colour, 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 applyhelp@lanl.gov or call (505)-664-6947.
'/%3e%3cpath%20d='M101.744%2012.4726L102.894%2016.1947L99.0021%2013.2201L101.744%2012.4726ZM105.3%208.40937H100.488L99.0026%203.59473L97.5116%208.41047L92.7%208.40385L96.5965%2011.3834L95.1055%2016.1942L99.0021%2013.2196L101.408%2011.3834L105.3%208.40992V8.40937Z'%20fill='white'/%3e%3cdefs%3e%3clinearGradient%20id='paint0_linear_5593_1381'%20x1='90'%20y1='9.44471'%20x2='99'%20y2='9.44471'%20gradientUnits='userSpaceOnUse'%3e%3cstop%20stop-color='%2300AD70'/%3e%3cstop%20offset='0.998594'%20stop-color='%2300B67A'/%3e%3cstop%20offset='1'%20stop-color='%23DCDCE6'/%3e%3c/linearGradient%3e%3c/defs%3e%3c/svg%3e){kind=small}
