Research HPC & AI Scientist

University of Chicago; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 103,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Chicago Research Computing Center seeks a highly motivated Computational Scientist to advance data-driven research through HPC, AI, and scalable software development. You will work with faculty and researchers to design, implement, and optimize computational solutions across CPU, GPU, memory, and storage resources.

Ideal candidates have strong programming skills in C/C++ and Python, experience with Linux-based HPC, and a track record of applying AI/ML frameworks to scientific

Qualifications

• Education: college/university degree in related field.
• 2–5 years of work experience in a related discipline.
• PhD in a relevant field is preferred.
• Proficiency in one or more compiled languages (C++, C, Julia, Fortran).
• Proficiency in Python.
• Experience with Linux/UNIX and HPC systems.
• Experience with Slurm or other HPC schedulers.
• Experience installing, profiling, and supporting scientific software on HPC.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Familiarity with NumPy, SciPy, pandas, xarray, and scikit-learn.
• Experience with containers and tools: Docker, Apptainer/Singularity, Git.
• Experience with AI/ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Experience with LLM APIs and tooling (Anthropic, OpenAI, Hugging Face).
• Experience serving or benchmarking models on GPU clusters.

Responsibilities

• Partner with faculty and research groups as a domain expert to develop computational solutions.
• Advise on RCC resources, HPC systems, AI technologies, and cloud platforms.
• Support researchers’ use of AI and ML tools, including AI coding assistants and APIs.
• Develop, maintain, optimize, and support scientific software and workflows on RCC systems.
• Troubleshoot, profile, optimize, and port scientific applications for performance across CPU/GPU/memory/storage.
• Contribute to RCC Consultant Partnership Program and collaborative initiatives.
• Contribute computational expertise to grant proposals, scoping AI/HPC resources.
• Develop and maintain technical documentation and knowledge base resources.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of RCC systems, services, and user support processes.
• Solve user problems promptly and professionally.
• Proactively recommend RCC technologies and services.
• Stay current with AI, HPC, GPU, and cloud tech; evaluate emerging tools.
• Develop and present technical training materials and web-based documentation.
• Ensure timely systems support and updates.
• Assist in information security assessments and risk analysis of computing environment.
• Evaluate past/present technologies to develop new tools.
• Ensure new tools pass quality control reviews.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Skills

C/C++

Python

Linux/UNIX

HPC

Slurm

Docker/Singularity

AI/ML frameworks

LLM tooling

Education

PhD preferred or related field

Bachelor/Master in related field

Tools

Docker

Apptainer/Singularity

Git

OpenAI/Anthropic tooling

Hugging Face

Job description

The University of Chicago Research Computing Center seeks a highly motivated Computational Scientist to advance data-driven research through HPC, AI, and scalable software development. You will work with faculty and researchers to design, implement, and optimize computational solutions across CPU, GPU, memory, and storage resources.

Ideal candidates have strong programming skills in C/C++ and Python, experience with Linux-based HPC, and a track record of applying AI/ML frameworks to scientific