CENIC AIR Engineer

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Technical La Mirada, CA, US

2 days ago Requisition

Salary Range: $35.00 To $45.67 Hourly

Join the team that connects California to the world — advancing education and research statewide by providing the world-class computing network essential for innovation, collaboration, and economic growth. Our organization operates the California Research and Education Network (CalREN), a high-capacity computer network with more than 8,000 miles of optical fiber. The network serves over 20 million users across California, including the vast majority of K-20 students, together with educators, researchers, and individuals at other vital public-serving institutions.

The CENIC AIR Engineer supports the development, deployment, and operation of CENIC AIR infrastructure and services, including distributed computing and storage environments, Science DMZ-connected resources, field data collection systems, and precision-agriculture research workflows. This role combines hands-on engineering, systems support, automation, documentation, and field deployment work to help CENIC AIR serve researchers, educators, and participating campuses.

Working with CENIC AIR leadership, internal technical teams, and external research partners, the CENIC AIR Engineer helps install, configure, monitor, document, and improve technical systems that support AI-enabled research and education. Responsibilities may include supporting Nautilus nodes and related distributed computing tools, collecting and managing imagery and sensor data, assisting with drones and advanced camera systems, developing lightweight software or automation workflows, and helping translate field and campus needs into practical technical improvements.

This role is intended for an engineer with a broad, applied technical foundation and a willingness to work across systems, software, networking, data, and field environments. It requires curiosity, sound judgment, strong documentation habits, and the ability to learn quickly while contributing to a new and evolving CENIC initiative.

None. This position may provide day-to-day guidance, technical support, and task coordination for CENIC AIR interns or student participants as assigned.

• Broad applied technical curiosity across distributed systems, software, data, networking, and field research environments
• Hands-on problem-solving ability, with comfort troubleshooting unfamiliar systems, equipment, and workflows
• Strong documentation habits and attention to detail, especially when working with research data, field deployments, and evolving technical procedures
• Ability to work collaboratively with CENIC staff, researchers, students, and external technical partners
• Willingness to learn quickly and contribute in a new, evolving initiative where tools, processes, and requirements may continue to mature
• Clear communication skills, including the ability to explain technical work to both technical and non-technical collaborators

Support the deployment, configuration, and ongoing improvement of CENIC AIR infrastructure, including distributed computing and storage resources, Science DMZ-connected environments, and related networked systems.

Assist with the installation, configuration, and maintenance of Nautilus nodes, IoT devices, LoRaWAN antennas, and related field or campus-based equipment.

Work with CENIC AIR leadership, UCSD National Research Platform engineers, and CENIC technical teams to support project plans, implementation tasks, and practical improvements to CENIC AIR services.

Help assess system performance, capacity, and reliability needs for CENIC AIR-connected campuses and research environments.

Stay informed about relevant developments in distributed computing, AI infrastructure, precision agriculture, and research and education networking.

Support field data collection activities for CENIC AIR…