What are the responsibilities and job description for the HPC Systems Engineer position at DSA?
All hired employees are expected to have experience with Microsoft Copilot and / or an approved equivalent AI solution.
Description
Data Systems Analysts, Inc. (DSA) is seeking a TS/SCI cleared HPC Systems Engineer to build and support advanced computing environments in a secure research and development setting. The HPC Systems Engineer will assist with the installation, configuration, and sustainment of high performance computing (HPC) clusters used for distributed simulation workloads, scientific computing, and GPU enabled processing.
The Engineer will work with infrastructure teams to configure, integrate, and sustain HPC cluster platforms including job schedulers, cluster provisioning systems, high speed interconnects, and distributed compute nodes. This role focuses on platform level troubleshooting, automation, and performance optimization to ensure HPC systems operate reliably and efficiently for mission users.
The position requires strong Linux systems engineering and administration skills, scripting experience, and familiarity with HPC technologies such as cluster schedulers, distributed computing frameworks, high performance networking, and GPU compute environments.
This position is onsite in Charlottesville, VA.
Responsibilities
Many of DSA's positions require the ability to obtain a security clearance. Security clearances may only be granted to U.S. citizens. In addition, applicants who accept a conditional offer of employment may be subject to government security investigation(s) and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. DSA is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. DSA is committed to treating all employees and applicants for employment with respect and dignity and maintaining a workplace that is free from unlawful discrimination. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other legally protected status. DSA requires background checks , where permitted , by law. DSA is an E-Verify Employer.
Description
Data Systems Analysts, Inc. (DSA) is seeking a TS/SCI cleared HPC Systems Engineer to build and support advanced computing environments in a secure research and development setting. The HPC Systems Engineer will assist with the installation, configuration, and sustainment of high performance computing (HPC) clusters used for distributed simulation workloads, scientific computing, and GPU enabled processing.
The Engineer will work with infrastructure teams to configure, integrate, and sustain HPC cluster platforms including job schedulers, cluster provisioning systems, high speed interconnects, and distributed compute nodes. This role focuses on platform level troubleshooting, automation, and performance optimization to ensure HPC systems operate reliably and efficiently for mission users.
The position requires strong Linux systems engineering and administration skills, scripting experience, and familiarity with HPC technologies such as cluster schedulers, distributed computing frameworks, high performance networking, and GPU compute environments.
This position is onsite in Charlottesville, VA.
Responsibilities
- Support installation, configuration, and sustainment of HPC cluster environments including compute nodes, schedulers, and supporting infrastructure.
- Configure and maintain HPC job schedulers such as Slurm or PBS, including queue configuration, resource allocation policies, and job scheduling optimization.
- Support containerized workloads using technologies such as Docker, Podman, or Singularity/Apptainer within HPC cluster environments.
- Assist with cluster provisioning and node management using tools such as xCAT, Warewulf, or similar deployment frameworks.
- Assist with initial cluster build out activities including compute node integration, scheduler configuration, and validation of cluster provisioning systems.
- Troubleshoot hardware, operating system, scheduler, and networking issues impacting HPC cluster performance.
- Support configuration and performance troubleshooting of high performance networking technologies including RDMA capable interconnects such as InfiniBand.
- Assist with integration of compute nodes and hardware components into existing cluster environments.
- Develop automation and operational tooling using Bash, Python, or similar scripting languages.
- Support authentication and access controls using enterprise identity solutions such as LDAP or Kerberos.
- Analyze system performance and identify bottlenecks impacting compute throughput across compute, storage, and network layers supporting distributed parallel workloads (MPI/OpenMP).
- Support GPU enabled compute environments and ensure compatibility with CUDA based workloads and distributed GPU processing frameworks.
- Coordinate with government engineering teams to identify configuration issues and recommend improvements to cluster performance, stability, and scalability.
- Maintain documentation for cluster configurations, system procedures, and operational troubleshooting.
- Provide technical guidance on HPC best practices and system configuration to support mission workloads.
- BS degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related STEM field
- Experience may be substituted for degree
- TS/SCI Clearance
- Ability to obtain DoD 8140 (8570) IAT Level II certification
- Minimum 6 years of experience administering Linux based systems in enterprise, research computing, or distributed compute environments, including configuration and troubleshooting of multi-node systems.
- Experience supporting distributed compute environments utilizing workload schedulers such as Slurm, PBS, Torque, Grid Engine, or similar resource management platforms.
- Experience supporting multi-node compute environments or HPC cluster platforms.
- Professional experience administering Linux systems through command line interfaces (RHEL derivatives preferred).
- Experience with scripting and automation using Bash, Python, or similar languages.
- Experience troubleshooting server hardware, operating systems, and distributed computing environments.
- Familiarity with cluster networking concepts and high speed interconnect technologies.
- Experience diagnosing system performance issues across compute, networking, and storage layers.
- Strong troubleshooting and documentation skills.
- Active TS/SCI security clearance.
- Experience administering multi-node HPC clusters supporting distributed compute workloads.
- Experience with parallel or distributed file systems such as Lustre, BeeGFS, GPFS, or similar high throughput storage platforms used in HPC environments.
- Experience supporting parallel computing frameworks such as MPI or OpenMP in distributed cluster environments.
- Experience with configuration management tools such as Ansible or Puppet.
- Experience working in DoD/DoW, or IC computing environments.
- Experience supporting HPC systems in research, laboratory, or mission computing environments.
- Experience supporting GPU enabled compute environments and CUDA based workloads.
- Familiarity with hybrid compute architectures integrating on-prem HPC clusters with cloud compute resources (e.g., AWS HPC services).
Many of DSA's positions require the ability to obtain a security clearance. Security clearances may only be granted to U.S. citizens. In addition, applicants who accept a conditional offer of employment may be subject to government security investigation(s) and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. DSA is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. DSA is committed to treating all employees and applicants for employment with respect and dignity and maintaining a workplace that is free from unlawful discrimination. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other legally protected status. DSA requires background checks , where permitted , by law. DSA is an E-Verify Employer.