University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Hiring for Professional Technician I or II/Research Computing Facilitator at North Dartmouth, MA Full Time

Job no: 521528
Work type: Staff Full Time
Categories: Other Staff Positions, Administrative & Office Support

OFFICIAL JOB TITLE: Professional Technician I or II

DIVISION: Academic Affairs

DEPARTMENT: Center for Scientific Computing and Data Science Research (CSCDR)

BARGAINING UNIT STATUS: AFT

EEO STATUS: 3.7

JOB CODE: 196

FLSA STATUS: Exempt

REPORTS TO: Center for Scientific Computing and Data Science Research (CSCDR) Director

SUPERVISES: May supervise teaching/research assistants and/or student workers

SUMMARY PURPOSE OF POSITION: The Center for Scientific Computing and Data Science Research (CSCDR) at UMass Dartmouth aims to promote and conduct high-level interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research in scientific computing, and to mentor students in a supportive, broad, and deep interdisciplinary research environment. Our affiliates develop and use computational algorithms to simulate complex problems. The CSCDR supports and promotes the activities of the scientific computing group, over two dozen researchers from a variety of departments including biology, chemistry, computer science, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering, fisheries, mathematics, and physics. This position works collaboratively with the CSCDR community in the evaluation, integration and deployment of new technologies and configuration of existing systems. As a member of the CSCDR, the position develops and maintains relationships with faculty researchers, CITS, and other departments engaged in the work related to scientific and high-performance computing technologies. This position serves as a key contact with vendors and other external organizations (eg. the Massachusetts Green HPC Center) to establish, and maintain strategic partnerships, and is responsible for establishing and monitoring internal priorities, standards, and procedures around research computing technologies. Acts as a first tier of incident and request response to users providing solutions to problems impeding their research/diagnostic work, conducts regular training and participates in outreach efforts, and coordinates communication and workflow between researchers and other departments in the university. The incumbent provides oversight of the core functions of research engagement to ensure service excellence, efficiency and operational effectiveness.

EXAMPLES OF PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Work with the CSCDR community in the evaluation, integration, and deployment of new technologies and configuration of existing systems (e.g., scientific software, cluster scheduler), with a focus on utility and ease of use for researchers.
2. Advise and partner with faculty researchers as necessary to assess scientific and computational needs and design solutions to address their current and potential future needs using current and emerging research computing technologies.
3. Collaborate with individual researchers on scientific codes and projects.
4. Represent UMassD’s HPC externally as a XSEDE campus champion, the primary liaison to the Massachusetts Green HPC Center, and by attending HPC conferences (SC, PEARC, CASC, GTC)
5. Proactively identify external funding opportunities for computational resources (hardware, software, XSEDE, etc.) that match faculty research needs/expertise as well as make significant contributions in corresponding proposal development.
6. Support faculty writing grant proposals by providing information on hardware and software and working closely with vendors to develop configurations and get quotes in a timely manner.
7. Research and pilot new and emerging High-Performance Computing (HPC) technologies.
8. Run software effectively and efficiently in the HPC environment.
9. Triage and respond to user questions and requests for storage and compute usage.
10. Troubleshoot problems with software and HPC resources.
11. Select and configure software packages.
12. Conduct training workshops and one-on-one training sessions to share knowledge of the use of research computing techniques or software, and occasionally develop or update the topics to match the research needs of faculty and students.
13. Facilitate communication and problem-solving between researchers and other parts of the university including CITS to address computational needs, including data storage, of the research community.
14. Support the collection and reporting of usage and outcomes metrics for Research Computing.
15. Perform other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, computer science, information technology, engineering, mathematics, physics or related field.

EXPERIENCE: Five years of experience in information technology, research computing, scientific computing and/or related field. At least two years experience in a Linux environment. Experience with resource managers and schedules (e.g. Slurm) and parallel computing systems. Proficiency with one or more applications: R, Python, Perl, and/or shell.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED:

1. Strong verbal and written communication skills
2. Excellent time management, organizational and planning skills.
3. Significant technical knowledge of compute-intensive research in at least one domain such as: life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, or mathematics.
4. Excellent teamwork skills; ability to work independently and exercise good judgment; committed to continuous learning and professional development.
5. Knowledge of health and safety practices and precautions applicable to an engineering laboratory.
6. Ability to establish cooperative working environment with faculty and students.
7. Ability to train others in maintenance of the HPC software environment.
8. Ability to work collaboratively and share projects with others.
9. Ability to learn new technologies and techniques quickly
10. Ability to manage multiple assigned tasks and projects with minimal supervision
11. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Advanced science or engineering degree
2. Experience with machine learning approaches (including neural nets, deep learning)
3. Experience with the following aspects of research computing:
   • Outreach
   • Training
   • Grant Proposal writing
   • Development of Instructional Materials
   • Software Development
4. Experience with GPU computing, OpenMP, MPI
5. Experience with HPC and cluster scheduling software a strong plus
6. Knowledge of additional languages, such as MATLAB, Java, C/C++ a plus.
7. Knowledge of version control protocols (e.g. Git).
8. Ability to implement solutions which take organizational goals, objectives, and policies into account.
9. Higher education management experience
10. Experience working with technicians, engineers and representatives of equipment vendors and manufacturers to obtain equipment, supplies, and support.

UMass Dartmouth offers exciting benefits such as:

75% Employer-Paid Health Insurance
Flexible Spending Accounts
Life Insurance
Long Term Disability
State Pension Retirement Plan
Optional Retirement Savings Plans
Tuition Credit (Employee, Spouse, & Dependents)
Twelve (12) paid holidays
Paid personal, vacation, and sick time
And more!

Benefits for Faculty Federation Union-Faculty Federation

Applicants must be authorized for employment in the U.S. on a full-time basis. Employment-based visa sponsorship not available.

To apply please submit a letter of interest, current resume and the contact information for three professional references.

The review of applications will begin immediately.

Advertised: 28 Nov 2023 Eastern Standard Time
Applications close: