Jobs UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER

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Research Computing Systems Administrator

Requisition Number:

60078

Location:

Boulder, Colorado

City

Boulder

State

Colorado

Employment Type:

University Staff

Schedule:

Full-Time

Posting Close Date:

03-Nov-2024

Date Posted:

23-Oct-2024
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Job Summary

The Office of Information Technology encourages applications for a Research Computing System Administrator! The System Administrator contributes technical assistance, software and hardware management, day-to-day operations, and problem-solving for computing infrastructure and hybrid cloud services as a member of the University of Colorado Research Computing team.

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:
  • OIT 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:
  • OIT 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: 
  • OIT 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, OIT 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

Systems Administration: 
  • Diagnosing, solving, and implementing solutions for the RC infrastructure, including cluster, storage, hybrid cloud, and core systems. May include hardware repairs, operating system configuration, system software updates, and procedure automation. Assist with network hardware and network service maintenance and configuration. Respond to end-user queries.
Systems Monitoring: 
  • Proactive daily monitoring and health checks of the research computing infrastructure. Use and extend existing monitoring infrastructure, and develop additional monitoring scripts.
  • Documentation 
  • Maintaining and/or providing documentation in support of the RC infrastructure and hybrid cloud platform.
Evaluate Potential Technologies:
  • This role will investigate new technologies that support tactical and strategic objectives. The Administrator will also build, test, and evaluate new technologies to recommend their applicability to key organizational and program objectives.
  • Changes to infrastructure, advances in technology, and changes in regulatory expectations may identify performance constraints or opportunities to particular system infrastructure objectives. This position will evaluate potential products or techniques to provide insight into new program projects and services before they are vital that will help the organization remain relevant and to evaluate opportunities in a timely manner.
Contribute to open and community source projects:
  • This position is expected to make use of open and community source projects in support of the cloud broker service and will be expected to interact positively with these projects and supply back bug reports/fixes and enhancements as needed by CU Boulder. 
Professional Development: 
  • This position will maintain professional expertise in the field by reviewing trade publications lists, studying the latest vendor trends, reviewing pertinent mailing lists and attending seminars, training sessions and conferences. This position will identify and elect relevant training opportunities that would be most beneficial to the organization.

What You Should Know

  • This position is working primarily remotely, however will work on campus on Tuesdays. 
  • Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. 
  • This position carries a general expectation to respond to critical issues and incidents that arise outside of normal business hours within a reasonable time frame, as established by the position’s supervisor. This expectation is in support of commitments Research Computing has made that many of its services will have “best effort” coverage outside of regular business hours.

What We Can Offer

  • Salary: $56,000 - $64,400.

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 authentic. Be excited. Be Boulder.

What We Require

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field. 
    • A combination of education and relevant experience as described below may be substituted for a degree on a year-for-year basis.

What You Will Need

  • Ability to work independently and be proactive to ensure proper availability of systems/services.
  • Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to diagnose and solve technical issues.
  • Strong collaborative skills and ability to work with colleagues to tackle complex problems.
  • Strong customer service and relationship skills.

What We Would Like You to Have

  • Knowledge of and 1 year of production experience in a combination of the following:
    • Compiling and installing scientific or engineering software in a Linux environment.
    • Building, configuring and administering Linux or Unix computer systems.
    • Diagnosing system and application software problems.
    • Scripting in Bash and/or Python.
    • Demonstrable experience in system and related network administration of complex computer systems,
    • Specifically Linux systems and preferably Linux clusters.
  • Proven experience with an on-premises clustered virtualization environment. For example:
    • OpenStack
    • OpenNebula
    • Ovirt
    • Proxmox
  • Demonstrated experience in end-user support.
  • Familiarity with version control systems (preferably Git).
  • Familiarity with configuration management tools (preferably Puppet and/or Ansible).
  • Familiarity with container technologies (Apptainer and its ecosystem preferred).
  • Experience with Linux network file systems.
  • Knowledge of or experience in networking systems and software including DNS, DHCP, LDAP, and TCP/IP.
  • Proven ability to follow through with commitments in a timely and professional. manner.
  • Familiarity with and ability to read programs written in C, C++, or Fortran.

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 November 3, 2024 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