HPC & Research Data Systems Engineer

Hpc & Research Data Systems Engineer

Salary for this role: From £47,000 with benefits, subject to skills and experience

Job Title: HPC & Research Data Systems Engineer

Reports to: John OLoughlin

Closing Date: 12/Oct/2025 23.59 GMT

Job Description: The Francis Crick Institute is Europe's largest biomedical research institute under one roof. Our world-class scientists and staff collaborate on vital research to help prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, infectious diseases and neurodegenerative conditions.

The Crick is a place for collaboration, innovation and exploration across many disciplines. A space where the brightest minds can pursue big and bold ideas and discover answers to crucial scientific questions. We support them in a dynamic environment which fosters excellence with state-of-the-art infrastructure, cutting-edge facilities, and a creative and curious culture. We've removed traditional boundaries of departments, divisions and disciplines and instead have an open approach that supports every researcher. This gives us the freedom to take risks and carry out high-quality, pioneering research. Creating a space for discovery without boundaries helps us to turn our science into benefits for human health and the economy.

About the role: We are looking for a HPC Systems Engineer to join our ITO Research Computing Platforms Team at the Crick. In this role, you will provide user support and assist in the design, implementation, development, and service delivery of the institute's HPC, Cloud, and Research Data Storage and Management hardware and software through a mix of on-premises systems and cloud services.

Collaboration is key to the Crick and in this role, you will support the research community and work across various departments at the Crick, working closely with Research labs, Science Technology Platforms and other operations teams. The Crick has powerful CPU and GPU HPC clusters and a 16 Petabyte Spectrum Scale high performance storage system. This is a fantastic opportunity to apply your skills and experience in a stimulating environment to make a real difference!

What you will be doing: As a HPC & Research Data Systems Engineer some of your key responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Help researchers make effective use of HPC and data storage systems by responding to support queries, providing advice, training and documentation.
• Deploy Linux and Windows scientific applications on HPC platforms.
• HPC training for non-computing research scientists

Systems Administration:

• Monitor health, security and performance of systems software/hardware and scientific applications, working actively with vendors and members of the enterprise IT team to troubleshoot and quickly restore services when required.
• Assist in the management of scheduler policies, access permissions, quotas, directory structures, and distribution of data across storage systems and tiers. (Accessed from Windows, Mac and Linux clients)
• Automate operational tasks and perform changes to systems software/hardware required to improve management and service delivery.

Systems Engineering:

• Assist in the deployment of proof-of-concept systems and services to meet evolving scientific requirements.
• Assist in the specification, selection and implementation of new research storage and HPC systems.

About you: You should have:

• A degree in a computing/science/engineering subject with a significant computational component, or equivalent skills and experience.
• Excellent Unix/Linux systems administration skills.
• Experience in using/managing HPC systems and scheduler policies – e.g. SLURM, SGE, etc.
• Experience in using/operating IBM Spectrum Scale storage system – e.g., GPFS.

Desirable (one or more will be advantageous):

• Experience in using OS deployment, configuration management and continuous integration tools - e.g. xCAT, Ansible, Terraform, Git, Github, Jenkins, etc.
• Experience in development and/or deployment of scientific research software - Conda, Easybuild, Spack, Singularity, Shifter, etc.
• Experience in management of Infiniband networks - e.g. Mellanox, etc.

At the Francis Crick Institute, we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential to driving innovation and scientific discovery. We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to succeed, regardless of their background, identity, or personal circumstances. We actively encourage applications from individuals of all genders, ethnicities, abilities, and experiences.

We are a Disability Confident: Committed employer and want to ensure that everyone can apply and be part of our recruitment processes and so we'll make reasonable adjustments if you need them - just let us know when you apply. If you need assistance with applying (i.e., would like to apply by phone or post) please email: weronika.kucala@crick.ac.uk

What will you receive? At the Francis Crick Institute, we value our team members and are proud to offer an extensive range of benefits to support their well-being and development:

• Generous Leave: 28 days of annual leave, plus three additional days over Christmas and bank holidays.
• Pension Scheme: Defined contribution pension with employer contributions of up to 16%.
• Health & Well-being: 24/7 GP consultation services. Occupational health services and mental health support programs. Eye care vouchers and discounted healthcare plans.
• Work-Life Balance: Back-up care for dependents. Childcare support allowance. Annual leave purchase options. Crick Networks offering diverse groups' support, community and inclusive social events.
• Perks: Discounted gym memberships, bike-to-work scheme, and shopping discounts. Subsidised on-site restaurant and social spaces for team interaction.

Please note you must meet the essential criteria listed within the Role Profile, to have your application reviewed. We reserve the right to withdraw this advert at any given time due to the number of applications received.