Storage Systems Engineer

UCSF Health; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

UCSF is seeking a Storage Systems Engineer to design, deploy, and operate large-scale storage for FAC and related platforms, ensuring seamless integration with the CoreHPC compute cluster. This role supports AI, data science, and computational research workloads across on-premises and hybrid environments.

The position emphasizes data movement tooling, performance tuning, and collaboration with DevOps, networking, and security teams. Experience with ZFS, VAST, and HPC schedulers is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or engineering with 6+ years of storage infra experience, or 10+ years in large-scale storage systems.
• 5+ years deploying, managing, and troubleshooting ZFS or similar InfiniBand-based clusters.
• Strong knowledge of ZFS, high-performance parallel filesystems, and storage such as GPFS, Lustre, Vast, DDN.
• Advanced knowledge of computer security practices and policies, including NIST 800-171/800-223, HIPAA, IS-3.
• Knowledge of HPC job scheduler systems such as SLURM or PBS.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, and operate large-scale storage systems, including ZFS, VAST, and parallel filesystems.
• Define standards for performance, redundancy, and scalability on ZFS filesystems.
• Lead evolution of institutional storage platforms (FAC storage), primarily ZFS.
• Manage Active Directory integration with storage and compute systems.
• Architect and execute large-scale data migrations.
• Develop data movement workflows using rsync, rclone, Globus.

Skills

Storage architecture design

HPC integration

Data movement tooling

Performance tuning

Collaboration with DevOps/Networking/S

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or engineering

Tools

ZFS

VAST

Lustre

GPFS

DDN

InfiniBand

SLURM/PBS

Active Directory integration

VMware

Job description

Job Description

This is a two-year contract of employment, inclusive of benefits. The Academic Research Services team at UCSF is seeking a Storage Systems Engineer (SYS ADM 4) to serve as a technical resource in the design, deployment, and operation of large-scale research storage and data infrastructure. This role will work in close partnership with the Senior Research DevOps Engineer to support UCSF’s evolving research ecosystem, including CoreHPC, the Research Analysis Environment (RAE), and large institutional storage initiatives.

This position is primarily responsible for architecture, implementation, and lifecycle management for the Facility for Advanced Computing (FAC), storage and systems, including support for large storage environments, NSF-funded infrastructure, and OS Nexus–aligned data platforms. The role ensures seamless integration between storage systems and the CoreHPC compute cluster, enabling performant, reliable, and scalable data access for AI, data science, and computational research workloads.

The Storage Systems Engineer Will

• Work with the lead to continue supporting the design and evolution of storage architecture across on-prem and hybrid environments, including VAST, parallel filesystems, and enterprise storage platforms.
• Develop and maintain data movement strategies and tooling (e.g., rsync, rclone, Globus, SMB workflows) to support large-scale data ingestion, migration, and lifecycle management.
• Ensure tight integration between storage and HPC compute systems, optimizing throughput, latency, and reliability for distributed workloads.
• Support and scale storage systems backing major institutional initiatives (FAC storage, OS Nexus integration).
• Collaborate closely with DevOps, networking, and security teams to deliver cohesive research infrastructure solutions.
• Design and implement monitoring, performance tuning, and capacity planning strategies for storage and data systems.
• Troubleshoot complex issues across storage, networking, and compute boundaries.
• Participate in system upgrades, migrations, and expansion efforts with minimal disruption to researchers.
• Provide guidance to researchers on data organization, transfer strategies, and performance optimization.
• Evaluate and recommend emerging storage technologies and architectures.

Department Overview

Academic Research Systems (ARS) serves the needs of the UCSF research community by providing an integrated repository of HIPAA compliant clinical and life sciences data and a centralized, secure, professionally managed infrastructure for the storage and management of research data. ARS empowers medical scientific investigations by offering secure computing environments, data capture, management and analysis tools, and support services which meet researchers’ needs. The Research Infrastructure team of the Academic Research Service focuses on large scale research platform support, high performance computational and storage services for UCSF researchers so they can address complex computational, AI, and data science problems.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, and operate large-scale storage systems, including ZFS, VAST and parallel filesystems.
• Define standards for performance, redundancy, and scalability on ZFS filesystems.
• Lead the evolution of institutional storage platforms, including FAC storage environments. Primarily ZFS.
• Manage Active Directory integration with storage and compute systems.
• Architect and execute large-scale data migrations.
• Develop and maintain data movement workflows using tools such as rsync, rclone, and Globus.
• Optimize data transfer processes across storage and compute environments.
• Integrate storage systems with the CoreHPC compute cluster.
• Optimize I/O performance for AI, machine learning, and HPC workloads.
• Support efficient data access patterns for distributed and scheduled workloads.
• Manage and configure VMWare, Bare Metal Servers.
• Implement monitoring, alerting, and capacity planning for storage systems & operating systems like Linux/Windows.
• Troubleshoot issues across storage, network, and compute infrastructure.
• Perform system maintenance, patching, and lifecycle management.
• Advise researchers on data workflows and storage best practices.
• Support onboarding of projects with large-scale data requirements.
• Collaborate with DevOps, networking, and security teams.
• Evaluate and recommend new storage technologies and architectures.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related area, such as computer science or engineering, and 6+ years of experience with storage infrastructure support and management, or 10+ years of related experience with large-scale storage systems.
• Demonstrated skill (5 years+) deploying, managing, and troubleshooting ZFS (or similar) InfiniBand-based clusters.
• Strong knowledge of ZFS, high-performance parallel filesystems, and storage such as GPFS, Lustre, Vast, DDN, etc.
• Advanced knowledge of computer security best practices and policies, including demonstrated experience securing research cyberinfrastructure systems to meet NIST 800-171 / 800-223, HIPAA, or IS-3 requirements.
• Knowledge of HPC job scheduler system design and operation, such as SLURM or PBS.
• Ability to elicit and communicate technical and non-technical information in a clear and concise manner.
• Self-motivated and works independently and as part of a team. Demonstrates problem‑solving skills. Able to learn effectively and meet deadlines.
• Understanding of system performance monitoring and actions that can be taken to improve or correct performance.
• Demonstrated advanced knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with system problem identification and resolution. Experience with design, configuration, operation, repair, and tuning of technology systems.
• Advanced experience writing and editing the most complex scripts used to perform system maintenance and administration.
• Demonstrated testing and test planning skills. Demonstrated ability to create automated testing.
• Ability to write technical documentation in a clear and concise manner. Ability to develop runbooks defining complex technical processes in a clear and concise manner.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expert knowledge of Virtual Machines, Bare Metal Servers & HPC systems infrastructure design.
• Knowledge of the design, development and application of technology and systems to meet business needs.
• General knowledge of other areas of IT. E.g., Active Directory, Domain Controllers, Network Infrastructure.
• Demonstrated skills associated with adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs. Demonstrated comprehensive understanding of how system management actions affect other systems, system users and dependent/related functions.
• Professional certification in enterprise storage technologies (e.g., NetApp, Dell EMC PowerScale, IBM Storage Scale, VAST, Pure Storage).

Equal Employment Opportunity

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

Salary Information

The final salary and offer components are subject to additional approvals based on UC policy. Your placement within the salary range is dependent on a number of factors including your work experience and internal equity within this position classification at UCSF. For positions that are represented by a labor union, placement within the salary range will be guided by the rules in the collective bargaining agreement. To learn more about the benefits of working at UCSF, including total compensation, please visit: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/compensation-and-benefits/index.html