Stanford Research Computing is looking for a talented system administrator to join our team of collaborative and innovative professionals helping Stanford’s faculty and students use advanced computing and data tools to explore new frontiers in knowledge and solve some of humanity’s most urgent problems. Our staff work directly with some of the world’s top researchers in a broad range of disciplines, across all of Stanford’s seven schools — while also supporting and learning from each other in cross-project endeavors. We maintain and steadily improve an advanced research computing facility, and we support a variety of environments for Stanford research. In Stanford Research Computing, you’ll have a rare opportunity to contribute to discoveries and inventions that have global reach and positive impact, and to share in the curiosity and commitment of the scholars and scientists who lead these projects.
This position focuses on system administration, architecture and support for computing environments for secure data. This role is both systems-facing and researcher-facing. In it, you will put to use your in-depth knowledge of Linux, your system administration experience, your passion for supporting ground-breaking research, and your expertise in automation, containerization and cloud-native tools on a daily basis.
As a subject matter expert, you will plan, install, configure, optimize, secure, monitor and maintain research platforms for analyzing regulated or otherwise high-risk data. You will develop long-term strategic and capacity utilization plans and serve as a key advisory resource regarding such systems in the university’s information technology ecosystem. The scope of this role includes both local and cloud-hosted computing and storage environments, though the primary emphasis for your work will be the on-prem linux-based compute and storage environment.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Linux system administration
• Software installation and testing
• Job scheduler/workload management experience (i.e. Slurm)
• Networking experience (ex: switch/port configuration, VLAN tagging, bonding, firewall, VPN),
• Storage experience and expertise (i.e. distributed file systems, NFS, quotas, backups)
• Scripting automation (i.e. Ansible, Python, Bash)
• Container technologies (i.e. Docker, Singularity)
• Version control
• Server hardening, patching and vulnerability mitigation
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Problem solving and technical troubleshooting
• Stay current with applicable data protection regulations
• Incident response and resolution

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Routinely perform server installation, troubleshooting and repairs at data center
• Frequently perform desk-based computer tasks
• Occasionally lift/carry/push/pull objects weighing up to 50 pounds
• Ability to meet in-person with researchers and colleagues at Stanford research sites or on the Stanford campus

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s degree and ten years of relevant experience, or a combination of education and relevant experience.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field.
• Familiarity with current security trends, requirements and commonly adopted frameworks (i.e. HIPAA, NIST, CMMC).
• 5 years of experience as a Linux system administrator.
• Ability to self-motivate and learn new skills/technologies quickly.

At Stanford University, base pay represents only one aspect of the comprehensive rewards package. The Cardinal at Work website (https://cardinalatwork.stanford.edu/benefits-rewards) provides detailed information on Stanford’s extensive range of benefits and rewards offered to employees. Specifics about the rewards package for this position may be discussed during the hiring process.