Senior Systems Engineer

Auto req ID

61694BR

Job Code

I1058P IT RC Systems Professional IV

Department Office Location

USA - MA - Cambridge

Business Title

Senior Systems Engineer

Sub-Unit

Sciences

Salary Grade

058

Time Status

Full-time

Union

00 - Non Union, Exempt or Temporary

Additional Qualifications and Skills

• Broad knowledge of the deployment and management of physical and virtual systems (e.g., storage, cluster computing, network, database, and applications).
• Experience automating infrastructure with tools like Puppet, Chef, Ansible, or Terraform.
• Experience with git and version control in general.
• Demonstrated team performance skills, the ability to communicate clearly, a service mindset approach, and the ability to act as a trusted advisor.
• Experience with monitoring systems such as writing service checks and creating actionable alerting.
• Experience with metrics collection to gain insight into production systems.
• Experience with log aggregation.
• Experience with high-performance filesystems and distributed storage systems.
• Experience with Linux system administration.
• Experience with GPU computing platforms.

Additional Information

Kempner Institute

Over the next five years, the Kempner Institute (www. harvard.edu/kempner-institute) is building one of the largest academic machine learning clusters in the world to enable research in machine learning and neuroscience, with 1,000 -1,500 latest design GPUs and upgrades every five years. The cluster will be housed at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC), a modern data center in western Massachusetts shared by Boston-area universities and managed by FASRC. The Senior Systems Engineer will be a critical team member within FASRC, partnering with Kempner Institute's leadership to ensure optimal performance and management of the cluster and help to inform future decisions related to compute, IO, and networking needs to support the Institute's research mission.

FASRC

FASRC services include managing a Top 100 academic high-performance computing cluster, cloud computing, storage, databases, and other developmental platforms. The team directly engages with researchers through help requests, monitoring, office hours, training, and in-depth consultations. FASRC is committed to cultivating a diverse and inclusive culture that is vibrant, engaging, and encouraging of innovation as well as intellectual debate. We believe creating and maintaining an inclusive workplace allows employees from all backgrounds to achieve their fullest potential. We also believe an inclusive culture is one that accepts, values, and views the differences we all bring to the workplace.

Department

FAS Research Computing

Pre-Employment Screening

Criminal, Identity

Schedule

35 hours per week

Job Function

Information Technology

School/Unit

Faculty of Arts and Sciences

EEO Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum of seven years’ post-secondary education or relevant work experience

Certificates and Licenses

• Completion of Harvard IT Academy specified foundational courses (or external equivalent) preferred

Working Conditions

• Occasionally required to work outside of normal business hours, and may be contacted during off hours.
• Work is performed in an office setting on the Cambridge Campus and Allston. May also be required to occasionally work in the FASRC data centers in Boston, MA, and Holyoke, MA.
• This is a full-time position with flexible hours and a hybrid in-person/remote work schedule option to be agreed upon at hire. The selected candidate will periodically need to be on campus as business needs require. All remote work must be performed from a commutable state where Harvard is registered to do business (CT, MA, MD, ME, NH, RI, and VT).
• The health of our workforce is a priority for Harvard University. With that in mind, we strongly encourage all employees to be up-to-date on CDC-recommended vaccines.
  

Position Description

Harvard seeks a Sr. Systems Engineer to work on cutting-edge infrastructure to support the Kempner Institute for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. This position will work within a team of RC Systems Engineers in FAS Research Computing (FASRC) to design, implement, deploy, and maintain advanced monitoring, logging, and alerting systems for mission-critical services. The Systems Engineering group maintains core production infrastructure for high performance computing, storage, and networking. These services will be key to the success of Kempner Institute researchers. This is an individual contributor position that will report to the Associate Director of Systems & Operations in FASRC.

This position will coordinate the planning of and conduct advanced research computing engineering duties. Implement current and develop new RC solutions to keep up with the pace of complex research problems. Work independently to build, monitor, and maintain the integrity of RC systems. Provide technical expertise to teams and projects alongside research programs. Be a key contributor to multiple projects simultaneously.

Commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Harvard University views equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging as the pathway to achieving inclusive excellence and fostering a campus culture where everyone can thrive. We strive to create a community that draws upon the widest possible pool of talent to unify excellence and diversity while fully embracing individuals from varied backgrounds, cultures, races, identities, life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, and values.

Benefits

We invite you to visit Harvard’s Total Rewards website to learn more about our outstanding benefits package, which may include:

• Paid Time Off: 3-4 weeks of accrued vacation time per year (3 weeks for support staff and 4 weeks for administrative/professional staff), 12 accrued sick days per year, 12.5 holidays plus a Winter Recess in December/January, 3 personal days per year (prorated based on date of hire), and up to 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents who are primary care givers.
• Health and Welfare: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits, disability and life insurance programs, along with voluntary benefits. Most coverage begins as of your start date.
• Work/Life and Wellness: Child and elder/adult care resources including on campus childcare centers, Employee Assistance Program, and wellness programs related to stress management, nutrition, meditation, and more.
• Retirement: University-funded retirement plan with contributions from 5% to 15% of eligible compensation, based on age and earnings with full vesting after 3 years of service.
• Tuition Assistance Program: Competitive program including $40 per class at the Harvard Extension School and reduced tuition through other participating Harvard graduate schools.
• Tuition Reimbursement: Program that provides 75% to 90% reimbursement up to $5,250 per calendar year for eligible courses taken at other accredited institutions.
• Professional Development: Programs and classes at little or no cost, including through the Harvard Center for Workplace Development and LinkedIn Learning.
• Commuting and Transportation: Various commuter options handled through the Parking Office, including discounted parking, half-priced public transportation passes and pre-tax transit passes, biking benefits, and more.
• Harvard Facilities Access, Discounts and Perks: Access to Harvard athletic and fitness facilities, libraries, campus events, credit union, and more, as well as discounts to various types of services (legal, financial, etc.) and cultural and leisure activities throughout metro-Boston.

Work Format

Hybrid (partially on-site, partially remote)