Senior HPC Systems Administrator

Oxford Source: WhatJobs

£49,119 to £55,031 per annum. Grade 8

Location: Central Oxford

We are seeking a full-time Senior HPC Systems Administrator to join the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, working within the newly established The British Open-ended Learning and Discovery (BOLD) Lab, a major new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded initiative that will establish a world-leading AI research laboratory at the University of Oxford.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced systems professional to lead the development, administration, and strategic evolution of the labs high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure supporting cutting-edge fundamental AI research, with three initial research pillars: Beyond backpropagation, human centric AI learning and discovery, and embodied learning.

The successful candidate will take a leading role in the design, deployment, maintenance, and optimisation of large-scale HPC systems, including CPU and GPU clusters, high-performance storage, and advanced networking technologies. The postholder will work closely with academic researchers, software engineers, industry partners, and departmental IT teams to ensure robust, scalable, and secure computational infrastructure capable of supporting world-leading research in machine learning and visual computing.

You will possess extensive experience in Linux systems administration and HPC environments, together with strong technical expertise in cluster management, storage systems, networking, scripting, and infrastructure automation. Experience with GPU computing environments, containerisation technologies, cloud platforms, and scientific software environments will be highly desirable. The role also requires excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

The role includes responsibility for:

Designing, building, and maintaining HPC clusters and associated infrastructure
Managing Linux compute and storage environments
Supporting GPU-enabled research computing systems
Maintaining high-performance storage and backup solutions
Monitoring system performance, security, and availability
Supporting and mentoring researchers, software engineers, and postgraduate students
Developing documentation, training materials, and operational best practices
Collaborating with departmental and university-wide research IT teams
Evaluating and deploying new technologies to support evolving research requirements

The successful candidate will work under the direction of the departmental HPC Infrastructure Architect, with approximately 20% of their time allocated to broader departmental infrastructure activities.

Essential Skills and Experience

Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline
Extensive experience managing HPC infrastructure in research or technical environments
Strong Linux systems administration expertise
Experience with GPU servers and high-performance networking technologies
Experience with scripting and automation (e.g. Bash, Python)
Knowledge of storage systems and backup/archive procedures
Strong troubleshooting and systems integration skills
Excellent written and verbal communication abilities
Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a research environment

Desirable Skills

Experience with SLURM or other job scheduling systems
Experience with containerisation and virtualisation technologies
Knowledge of cloud computing platforms
Familiarity with scientific computing tools and AI/ML research workflows
Experience supporting research software or academic computing environments
Knowledge of high-performance file systems such as BeeGFS or Lustre

The Department holds an Athena Swan Bronze Award, recognising its commitment to advancing gender equality and supporting an inclusive working environment.