Research Computing Systems Engineer

Position Overview

We are searching for a High-Performance Computing (HPC) system administrator to join the Structural Mechanics Division at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State. You will work with our team of scientists and engineers to develop and advance our nation's defense capabilities. This position offers broad opportunities for professional growth, including exposure to a range of existing HPC implementations—both in‑house and at leading institutions—and hands‑on involvement in all aspects of HPC administration, from system design to working directly with end‑users to resolve computational performance issues.

• Maintain existing HPC systems by ensuring compute node and storage availability to end‑users.
• Develop and deploy various scripts to monitor system health and assess system usage.
• Maintain system firmware and software revisions, including operating system upgrades, updates, and patches.
• Perform component and system diagnostics to resolve hardware failures.
• Work with users and hardware vendors to identify and procure components for both existing and new systems.
• Monitor system performance and usage levels and work with team members to resolve immediate and anticipated future issues.

• Extensive experience with Linux operating systems (especially RHEL), networking, parallel file systems, and security.
• Experience collaborating in multi‑disciplinary, team‑oriented cultures.
• A demonstrated track record of setting and meeting goals.
• Effective diagnostic and problem‑solving skills.
• Expertise with scripting languages (e.g., bash, python, perl), batch schedulers (e.g., Slurm, Torque, PBS), and configuration management tools (e.g., Puppet, Chef, Ansible, Salt).
• Current eligibility for access to classified information at the Secret/Top Secret level or higher and may be subject to a government background investigation to upgrade clearance eligibility, if required.

• Bachelor’s Degree and 3+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience accepted. No certifications are required.

Penn State is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If you are unable to use our online application process due to an impairment or disability, please contact 814‑865‑1473.