Research Computing & Systems Administrator

Job Description

Position Summary: The research Computing and Systems Administrator performs analysis and design on research computing clusters and assists researchers and students with programming support as needed to meet the specific needs of a given research grant. This position is responsible for designing and implementing domain architectures, determining which server-based services are needed to support the mission of the college, and is an integral part of delivering infrastructure services. This position will also assist in developing and maintaining web-based tools for use by Engineering faculty, staff and students.

Work Unit: Colorado State University is a land-grant institution committed to a 150-year-old mission of access to higher education for the citizens of Colorado and to excellence in teaching, research, and outreach. The campus is located in the city of Fort Collins, the county seat of Larimer County. Fort Collins is a progressive community of approximately 171,000 situated 65 miles north of Denver on Interstate 25. Located at an elevation of 5,000 feet, Fort Collins has a clear, dry climate and generally pleasant temperature throughout the year.

The Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering (WSCOE) at Colorado State University (CSU) consists of about 3,000 students enrolled in BS, MS, and PhD programs, 145 tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty, and over 400 support staff and research scientists. The College is home to more than $100 million in research funding and accounts for more than one-third of CSU’s patents. Its state-of-the-art facilities, including the Powerhouse Energy Campus and a world-class laser center scheduled to open in 2026, provide collaborative spaces for students, faculty, staff, and industry partnerships.

Engineering Technology Services (ETS) is responsible for the vision and oversight of all aspects of computing in the College of Engineering, with the exception of the physical network infrastructure. Pedagogical uses of technology, research computing, planning for and maintenance of instructional facilities, technical support for faculty and staff, network management, systems analysis, programming, web-coding, and technical training all fall under the purview of ETS. Networked services are provided to over 3500 engineering students, faculty, and staff.

Essential Job Duties:

• Help manage multiple existing High Performance Computing (HPC) research clusters operating in the Scott Data Center to include:
• Performing programming support as needed to meet the specific needs of a given research grant.
• Maintaining the systems for software/OS upgrades and security patching.
• Configuring the systems and performing software installation.
• Help develop webpages to assist with maintaining the cluster.
• Working with the ETS Financial Coordinator, Procurement, and vendors to secure the components.
• Assisting with architecture design by working with potential users such as students, faculty, research staff, and the ETS Systems Group while remaining within the funding allowance.
• Assist with coordinating vendor(s) during site installation.
• Assisting researchers with adding appropriate CPU and GPU nodes to the clusters.
• Provide similar research computing administration for clusters owned by specific research groups.
• Design and program custom software applications.
• Review, test and implement new technology services for the college.
• Troubleshoot hardware, software, and network for UNIX/LINUX servers and workstations.
• Develop and maintain web-based tools for use by the college.

Conditions of Employment:

• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States by the proposed start date. The Department will not sponsor a visa for this position.
• Pre-employment Criminal Background Check (required for all new hires).
• This position may occasionally require work outside normal business hours to support critical systems, respond to unexpected service interruptions, and perform scheduled server maintenance and upgrade activities. Such work is expected to be infrequent and will be communicated in advance whenever possible.

Supervision: None

Minimum Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field; will consider an Associate’s degree and at least 2 years of work experience in computer science or a related field in lieu of a Bachelor’s degree.

Minimum Experience:

• Working knowledge of LINUX system administration including system configuration, NFS filesystems, auto mount, Samba, ssh, and basic networking to include TCP/IP, DNS and DHCP.
• Experience with all of the following: HTML, CSS, Javascript, SQL, SQLite, and PHP, Python.
• Strong knowledge of HTML, web standards, design and implementation.
• Experience creating database structures for applications.
• Experience working with High Performance Computing systems using Slurm or similar.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with various flavors of Linux to include Debian, RockyLinux, and Ubuntu.
• Experience with remote desktop, VNC, and shell scripting.
• Experience with installing and troubleshooting engineering research applications, e.g., Matlab, Cadence, ANSYS Fluent, etc.
• Experience working with provisioning software such as Ansible or Puppet.
• Experience with parallel programming in research applications.
• Experience with AI-powered coding sofware agent.
• Experience with Web APIs, AJAX, JSON, and other javascript libraries.
• Strong understanding of UI.
• Familiarity with Web 2.0 technologies.
• Familiarity responsive design.
• Familiarity with using AI for coding.

Background Check Policy Statement Colorado State University strives to provide a safe study, work, and living environment for its faculty, staff, volunteers and students. To support this environment and comply with applicable laws and regulations, CSU conducts background checks for the finalist before a final offer. The type of background check conducted varies by position and can include, but is not limited to, criminal history, sex offender registry, motor vehicle history, financial history, and/or education verification. Background checks will also be conducted when required by law or contract and when, in the discretion of the University, it is reasonable and prudent to do so.

EEO Colorado State University (CSU) provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.