Senior Research Systems Analyst

Overview

This is a full-time, hybrid position. During your 6-month probationary period, you will be required to work on-site for at least 3 days per week at Merit's office location in Ann Arbor, MI. Following, working on-site will be required for a minimum of 2 days per week.

The Senior Research Systems Analyst will play a critical role in Merit's Research and Development team, leading projects in communication networks, network security, and advanced data analytics. You will be the primary bridge between the research and IT teams supporting experiments with researchers, then working with IT to operationalize them within production infrastructure. A key focus will sustain and scale Merit's national-scale network telescope infrastructure, ensuring it remains a world-class research asset that can produce high-value, grant-attracting data.

You will blend technical operations, research collaboration, and administrative oversight to support both ORION Network Telescope - Merit and National Distributed Network Telescope (NDNT) and long-term strategic growth. You will work hands-on with complex systems, perform data collection and analysis, and coordinate efforts to position Merit as a host for a national research asset that creates sustained funding.

• Sustain and scale the Network Telescope infrastructure to ensure reliability, security, and research readiness.
• Increase the volume, quality, and accessibility of grant-attracting datasets.
• Contribute to planning for future Merit research projects.

Essential functions for this position are followed by an (E).

• Support internal and external researchers by provisioning and managing user environments, virtual machines, and access credentials. (E)
• Lead the administration, monitoring, and lifecycle management of telescope and research systems in collaboration with IT, ensuring system uptime, data accuracy, and timely response to technical issues. (E)
• Curate and manage large-scale research datasets, ensuring data fidelity, accessibility, documentation quality, and analytical value. (E)
• Support grant-funded research projects and contribute to new funding proposals by identifying opportunities and providing data insights. (E)
• Analyze telescope data to extract research findings and collaborate with research staff to interpret results, develop analytical tools, and contribute to technical reports, presentations, proposals, and peer-reviewed publications. (E)

• Collaborate with researchers to design and refine network measurement experiments, system architectures, and data collection processes. (E)
• Plan and coordinate the application of complex information systems and data engineering techniques to support all research projects.
• Perform advanced analysis and forecasting of research computing and data processing requirements; prepare feasibility studies and system design specifications to meet evolving user needs.
• Design and document architectures for research data platforms, specifying system goals and requirements to enable scalable, multi-institutional collaborations. (E)
• Collaborate with other Merit departments to investigate, recommend, and facilitate the acquisition of hardware, software, and virtualization platforms to support program goals. (E)
• Be the primary liaison translating research goals into enterprise-ready information system designs, ensuring compliance, scalability, and operational viability.
• Oversee configuration and optimization of network devices, configuration interfaces, routing, and monitoring system health, working collaboratively with IT. (E)
• Implement and maintain monitoring tools for early anomaly detection in infrastructure or data streams, and develop comprehensive operational documentation to support maintenance, compliance, and knowledge transfer. (E)
• Perform on-call support for production systems including problem investigations, escalation, resolution, and communication with IT and external researchers. (E)
• Coordinate development, configuration, and refinement of complex data applications for the Network Telescope program, including…