Site Reliability Engineer in Berkeley

Energy Jobline ZR; Berkeley (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

NERSC is seeking a Site Reliability Engineer to join the Operations Technology Group. The role focuses on monitoring the HPC facility, triaging alerts, and building automation to keep systems reliable and secure for scientific users.

You will work in a 24/7 onsite team, with shifts for overnight monitoring. The ideal candidate has strong Linux, scripting, and debugging skills, plus experience with Kubernetes, Prometheus, and ITSM practices.

Qualifications

• Experience working in or willingness to work within a 24/7 onsite team environment.
• Experience with Linux shell and command-line environments (SSH).
• Experience with programming languages or scripting (C, C++, Python, Perl, Java).
• Motivated self-starter who can learn Kubernetes, Prometheus/VictoriaMetrics, Alertmanager and automation tools.
• Familiarity with ServiceNow implementation and ITIL/ITSM practices.

Responsibilities

• Works an onsite 5-day weekly schedule for overnight monitoring of the HPC facility.
• Review and respond to alerts from systems, storage, network, and data center facilities.
• Create solutions to improve processes and automate routine responses.
• Identify issues and propose improvements for monitoring and triage.
• Develop and implement customized service management in ServiceNow.
• Respond to alerts to ensure 24/7 data collection and diagnosis readiness.
• Develop and maintain monitoring tools in collaboration with the Operations Team.
• Create software to provide alerts from HPC APIs into the monitoring pipeline.
• Build and maintain application/tool configurations for reliability.
• Collaborate with other groups to clarify communications and workflows.
• Coordinate center-wide maintenance and manage diagnostic software during maintenance.
• Perform physical/logical walkthroughs of the data center for health and cooling.
• Provide accurate information in trouble-ticketing systems for outages and maintenance.
• Handle problems of diverse scope requiring data analysis and judgment.
• Demonstrate good judgment in selecting methods for solutions.
• Resolve complex issues with in-depth evaluation of factors.

Skills

Linux shell

SSH

C/C++

Python

Perl

Java

Kubernetes

Prometheus/VictoriaMetrics

Alertmanager

Automation tooling

Tools

ServiceNow

ITSM

Job description

Job DescriptionJob Description

The Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) is inviting applications for the position of Site Reliability Engineer. NERSC’s mission is to accelerate scientific discovery through high performance computing and data analysis for the DOE Office of Science programs. NERSC provides critical HPC and data systems and support for NERSC’s 11,000 plus users researching energy, physics, materials science, and chemistry and other DOE mission areas. As a Site Reliability Engineer in the Operations Technology Group, you will be a member of a 24x7 team that helps ensure NERSC is accessible, reliable, and secure for our scientific users. This position leverages advanced data collection and monitoring systems to proactively manage the health of our environment. Ultimately, your work ensures that NERSC’s computational power remains an uninterrupted catalyst supporting fundamental scientific research related to energy.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Describe the duties/functions essential to performing the job.

• Works an onsite 5-day weekly schedule consisting of Owl (midnight–8 am) shifts to monitor the NERSC HPC Facility.
• Review and respond to alerts from computer systems, storage, network, and other data center/facility-related systems by triaging or calling the appropriate on-call staff.
• Create appropriate solutions to improve processes, prevent issue recurrence, and automate responses to all routine service conditions.
• Identify issues and propose solutions that will improve monitoring capabilities or provide better automation for triage.
• Possess expertise in ServiceNow and its usage to develop and implement customized service management solutions.
• Respond to alerts from multiple systems to ensure that data collection continues 24/7, providing real-time information for diagnoses.
• Develop and maintain tools within the monitoring pipeline in collaboration with the Operations Team.
• Create new software to provide alerts and notifications from HPC system APIs into the monitoring pipeline.
• Builds and maintains application/tool configurations to ensure software runs reliably as data and user demands grow.
• Collaborate with other groups at NERSC to ensure that communication and workflows are clearly understood.
• Work closely with other NERSC groups to coordinate center-wide maintenance activities and manage diagnostic and notification software during maintenance periods.
• Perform regular physical and logical walkthroughs of the data center floor to monitor environmental health, power distribution units, and cooling infrastructure to ensure peak operational efficiency.
• Provide accurate information in the trouble ticketing system for outages, maintenance updates, and other incidents so that workflows and protocols can be appropriately tracked by others.
• Work on and resolve problems of diverse scope where data analysis requires the evaluation of identifiable factors.
• Demonstrate good judgment in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions.
• Work on and resolve complex issues where the analysis of situations or data requires an in-depth evaluation of variable factors.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

• Experience in or willingness to work within a 24/7 onsite team environment to support large-scale data centers or critical installations.
• Experience on Linux shell and working in a command-line (e.g. SSH) environment.
• Experience with developing tools using various programming such as C, C++, Perl, Java, or Python or a scripting with knowledge of standard software development practices.
• Motivated, self-starter who can learn technologies that improve data center management in areas like Kubernetes, Prometheus/VictoriaMetrics, Alertmanager, building management software, evaporative

cooling, and power utilization.

• Experience with network security: configuring/maintaining ACLs, knowledge of firewalls
• Experience collaborating across technical teams to resolve operational bottlenecks and ensure system reliability and alignment with service-level objectives.
• Good to Have : Practical experience in developing and deploying Agentic AI or autonomous automation tools to streamline technical tasks.
• Experience with ServiceNow implementation is a plus
• Familiarity with ITSM best practices and an understanding of how to align service lifecycles with business goals is .

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Strong hands-on knowledge of the Linux shell and working in a command-line (e.g. SSH) environment.
• Strong hands-on knowledge on various programming such as C, C++, Perl, Java, or Python or a scripting with knowledge of standard software development practices.
• Knowledge of and ability to work on large data communications networks/ Network Protocols and IT infrastructure supporting highly available systems and applications.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work effectively across multiple technical teams.
• Good to Have : Ability to build, and deploy Agentic AI solutions that utilize autonomous agents to automate decision-making, optimize complex workflows, and enhance proactive system monitoring.