Research Support & System Software Engineer

Department

Provost Research Computing Center

About the Department

The University of Chicago Research Computing Center (RCC), a unit in the Office of Research, provides high-end research computing resources to researchers at the University of Chicago. It is dedicated to enabling research by providing access to centrally managed High-Performance Computing (HPC), storage, and visualization resources. These resources include hardware, software, high-level scientific and technical user support, and the education and training required to help researchers make full use of modern HPC technology and local and national supercomputing resources. The Office of Research oversees the conduct of sponsored research, research program development, and contract management functions.

Job Summary

The University of Chicago Research Computing Center (RCC) is seeking a highly motivated Research Support and System Software Engineer to provide technical support and contribute to the development and deployment of advanced research infrastructure and tools. The RCC enables cutting edge science and scholarship at the UChicago by offering high-performance computing (HPC), data services, and technical expertise across disciplines. In this role you will work closely with faculty, postdocs, and graduate students to enable and accelerate their research. The responsibilities of the person in this role will include user support, software development and optimization, automation of system services, and deployment or research computing tools and platforms. The ideal candidate will bring a strong technical background, an analytical mindset, and the ability to collaborate effectively with researchers and technical teams.

This role performs a variety of activities relating to software support and/or development. Provides analysis, design, development, debugging, and modification of computer code for end user applications, beta general releases, web pages, and production support. Troubleshoots problems using existing procedures to find a possible solution.

Responsibilities

• Provides high-quality technical support to RCC users, including prompt responses to help desk requests, software installations, pilot implementations, and infrastructure deployments.
• Optimizes resource usage and troubleshoots software and performance issues on RCC systems and research platforms.
• Contributes to the development, deployment, and maintenance of software and infrastructure tools, including OpenStack, containers, and Kubernetes, in support of RCC ongoing efforts to develop and implement automation tools to streamline RCC operations and improve research support capabilities.
• Installs, configures, and manages community software tools, such as XDMod, ColdFront, Open OnDemand, and contributes to other special projects as needed.
• Proactively identifies research projects that could benefit from RCC’s expertise, and provide tailored support.
• Contributes to RCC’s internal knowledge base for service delivery and document procedures, configurations, and support activities.
• Mentors and works closely with RCC student workers or interns.
• Independently identifies and resolves emerging technical challenges in service delivery.
• Supports scientific software development, installation, testing, and maintenance in line with RCC standards and best practices.
• Investigates, analyzes and resolves day-to-day technical problems using standard procedures.
• Performs code testing on components and works to ensure that appropriate implementation standards are met. Evaluates design alternatives for development cost and solutions using various methods.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Technical Skills and Knowledge:

• Proficiency in a scripting language, such as Python.
• Proficiency with Unix/Linux environment.
• Documenting procedures, configurations, and support activities.
• Familiarity with Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Deployment (CI/CD).
• Proficiency with version control and documentation tools (Git).
• Proficiency with infrastructure automation tools (Ansible, docker).
• Installing, configuring, and maintaining scientific software.
• Knowledge of community research computing tools, including XDMod, ColdFront, and Open OnDemand, is a plus.
• Proficiency in one or more programm