Jobs UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER

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Associate Director of Research IT Infrastructure

Requisition Number:

62696

Location:

Boulder, Colorado

City

Boulder

State

Colorado

Employment Type:

University Staff

Schedule:

Full-Time

Posting Close Date:

25-Mar-2025

Date Posted:

12-Mar-2025
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Job Summary

The University of Colorado encourages applications for an Associate Director of Research IT Infrastructure! This position reports to the Assistant Vice Chancellor (AVC) for Research Computing and serves as a key strategic leader in research computing technology. The role is responsible for architecting, implementing, and managing the research computing infrastructure, including high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) clusters, high-throughput computing (HTC), large-scale storage systems, and research data transfer networks. Expertise in modern computational infrastructure, cloud integration, and emerging technologies to support the diverse research computing needs of an R1 university environment is needed.  This position will collaborate with other Research Computing Associate Directors, along with the AVC, to provide innovate technologies to our campus and regional researchers.

The University of Colorado Boulder is committed to building a culturally diverse community of faculty, staff, and students dedicated to contributing to an inclusive campus environment. We are an Equal Opportunity employer, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Who We Are

Vision:
  • Office Information Technology will be valued by campus as a strategic, inclusive and innovative partner in advancing learning and discovery in order to enable CU Boulder to be a premier public university.
Mission:
  • Office Information Technology enables campus priorities by providing high-value IT services and solutions. 
Values: 
  • Trust, as a foundation for how we engage with one another and with campus partners, along with 
  • Avid curiosity in how to better support the campus and our stakeholder’s while 
  • Fostering empowerment and authentic engagement among ourselves and 
  • Celebrating inclusivity that promotes a sense of belonging while acknowledging that each person is unique and valued. 
Strategy: 
  • Office Information Technology will advance learning and discovery by delivering high-value reliable IT services and solutions that:
    • Provide a fluid and adaptable academic and student experience 
    • Enable research competitiveness and 
    • Deliver core infrastructure and enterprise IT services for business effectiveness.
Based on our departmental goals and our commitment to diversity and inclusive excellence, CIO Information Technology particularly welcomes applications from candidates whose knowledge, skills, and abilities, and desire to contribute to an inclusive campus environment, will help us achieve our vision of a diverse and inclusive community.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

Research Computing Infrastructure Leadership: 
  • Architect and lead the implementation of next-generation research computing infrastructure, including on-premises HPC environments and AI/ML platforms.
  • Design and supervise deployment of high-performance storage solutions, including parallel file systems and hierarchical storage management.
  • Incorporate security and compliance frameworks in alignment with researcher needs to address regulated data.
  • Lead infrastructure automation initiatives using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and GitOps methodologies.
  • Ensure research computing infrastructure meets security compliance requirements while maintaining accessibility for researchers.
  • Establish performance metrics and monitoring systems for all research computing resources.
  • Serve as Service Owner for research computing platforms.
Operational Management: 
  • Lead a team of 7 FTE including systems engineers, storage specialists, and HPC administrators.
  • Develop and maintain service level agreements (SLAs) for research computing services.
  • Supervise system maintenance schedules and upgrade paths for all research computing infrastructure.
  • Operate the Research Technology systems in alignment with campus security requirements and policies.
  • Implement disaster recovery and business continuity plans for critical research systems.
  • Manage vendor relationships and negotiate contracts for hardware, software, and services.
  • Manage relationships with OIT teams who provide supporting services (Networking, Datacenter, Identity and Access Management, etc.).
  • Supervise and optimize resource utilization across HPC clusters and storage systems.
Developing, Managing, and Supporting Strategic Team Goals:
  • Develop strategies to support innovative technology delivery to CURC researchers in support of the Five-Year CURC strategic plan in conjunction with CURC leadership.
  • Maintain a regular cadence for managing and completing prioritized goals with the Research Infrastructure Team, including regular check-ins with the AVC for RC.
  • Form a strong partnership with the Associate Director of User Services to prioritize goals based on team and user needs.
  • Ensure delivered features meet researcher requirements and institutional goals.
Strategic Planning and Innovation: 
  • Understand innovative and emerging technologies important for research computing and work with the Associate Director of User Services to understand appropriate technologies for CURC based on researcher needs.
  • Evaluate new technologies and architectures for potential implementation.
  • Develop strategies for integration of cloud computing resources and hybrid infrastructure models.
  • Lead initiatives for sustainable and energy-efficient computing practices.
  • Represent the university in regional and national research computing organizations.
Architecture Review Board (ARB) Participation and Representation: 
  • Function as a member of the campus ARB as a research computing expert by participating in reviewing proposed technology solutions, making architectural recommendations, developing and documenting technical standards or patterns and leading specific design and/or architecture decision-making efforts. This includes being temporarily assigned to specific projects or teams to lead and facilitate an architectural or technical design decision, or transfer domain specific knowledge to the team. 
  • Professional Development and Community Engagement. 
  • Maintain current knowledge of emerging technologies in HPC and AI/ML.
  • Participate in professional organizations and conferences related to research computing.
  • Engage with peer institutions to share standard processes and establish collaborations.
  • Contribute to the research computing community through presentations and publications.
  • Mentor team members and promote professional growth opportunities.

What You Should Know

  • This position is in a hybrid work environment, primarily working in the office on Tuesdays.

What We Can Offer

  • Salary: $131,000 - $147,332

Benefits

The University of Colorado offers excellent benefits, including medical, dental, retirement, paid time off, tuition benefit and ECO Pass. The University of Colorado Boulder is one of the largest employers in Boulder County and offers an inspiring higher education environment. Learn more about the University of Colorado Boulder.

Be Statements

Be collaborative. Be excited. Be Boulder.

What We Require

  • A Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent experience) from an accredited institution in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a closely related field. 
    • A combination of education and/or job-related experience as described below may be substituted for the degree on a year for year basis.
  • 4+ years of experience managing research computing infrastructure. 
  • Demonstrated expertise in HPC system architecture and administration.
  • Proven track record of successful team and project leadership.

What You Will Need

  • Sophisticated knowledge of HPC schedulers (Slurm, PBS Pro).
  • Expertise in parallel file systems (Lustre, BeeGFS, GPFS).
  • Proficiency with container technologies (Docker, Singularity).
  • Experience with Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform, Ansible).
  • Understanding of research networking and data transfer protocols.
  • Experience with Agile project management tools (Jira, Azure DevOps, etc.).

What We Would Like You to Have

  • Strong leadership skills, including an ability to develop strategic goals.
  • Demonstrated collaborative skills and working well within a high-level leadership team.
  • Experience with AI/ML infrastructure and GPU computing environments.
  • Experience supporting a variety of research domains including engineering, bioinformatics, and aerospace research.
  • Expertise in automated infrastructure deployment and GitOps methodologies.
  • Familiarity with energy-efficient computing practices.
  • Background in computational research or scientific computing.
  • Experience with cloud integration and hybrid infrastructure models.
  • Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure).

Special Instructions

To apply, please submit the following materials: 
  1. A current resume. 
  2. A cover letter that specifically tells us how your background and experience align with the requirements, qualifications, and responsibilities of the position.
We may request references at a later time.

Please apply by March  25, 2025 for consideration.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, please apply through CU Boulder Jobs.

In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Posting Contact Information

Posting Contact Name: Boulder Campus Human Resources

Posting Contact Email: Recruiting@colorado.edu