What are the responsibilities and job description for the Associate Research Scientist - Agriculture Data Center Manager position at Texas A&M AgriLife?
Job Title
Associate Research Scientist - Agriculture Data Center Manager
Agency
Texas A&M Agrilife Research
Department
Corpus Christi
Proposed Minimum Salary
Commensurate
Job Location
Corpus Christi, Texas
Job Type
Staff
Job Description
About Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas A&M AgriLife is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members:
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
- Texas A&M AgriLife Research
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University
- Texas A&M Forest Service
- Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory
As the nation’s largest most comprehensive agriculture program, Texas A&M AgriLife brings together a college and four state agencies focused on agriculture and life sciences within The Texas A&M University System. With over 5,000 employees and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M AgriLife is uniquely positioned to improve lives, environments and the Texas economy through education, research, extension and service.
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Position Information
Texas A&M AgriLife Research at Corpus Christi, is seeking a highly motived Agriculture Data Center Manager to provide leadership in the development, operation, and strategic direction of a state-of-the-art agricultural data center. Ensure secure, reliable, and efficient management of large-scale agricultural datasets including remote sensing, IoT, soil and weather data, supporting research, innovation, and decision-making in digital agriculture. Interact with cross-disciplinary teams, guide infrastructure development, and position the data center as a critical resource for agricultural science and technology advancement.
Responsibilities:
- Data Center Operations: Direct daily operations of the agriculture-focused data center to ensure uptime, scalability, and efficiency; Oversee installation, maintenance, and optimization of servers, storage, networking, and cloud resources; Manage high-performance computing and data pipelines tailored to agricultural applications; Lead the development and maintenance of a scalable data management platform capable of uploading, processing, visualizing, and disseminating agricultural data in standard formats to research partners and cooperators.
- Data Management & Research Integration: Oversee integration of agricultural datasets, including UAV, robots, satellite, and field-based sensors; Develop advanced data workflows supporting AI/ML applications in crop and environmental modeling.
- Security, Compliance & Risk Management: Ensure cybersecurity and compliance with institutional, state, and federal data policies; Develop and maintain disaster recovery and business continuity strategies.
- Strategic Leadership & Collaboration: Collaborate with faculty, researchers, IT professionals, external partners and stakeholders to advance digital agriculture infrastructure, Mentor and train staff, postdocs, and students in data management best practices.
- Other job-related duties as required.
Required Qualifications:
- Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, or a closely related field.
- 3 years progressively responsible experience with project oversight.
- Ability to multi-task and work cooperatively with others.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Minimum 3–5 years of postdoctoral or professional experience managing data centers, high-performance computing, or agricultural data systems. Demonstrated leadership in developing data-driven research infrastructure, preferably in agricultural or environmental domains.
- Technical expertise such as strong knowledge of server administration, distributed computing, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud); Familiarity with geospatial, UAV, and sensor-based agricultural data formats; Working experience with mechanistic simulation models and data-driven modeling approaches for agricultural systems. Familiarity with the development of Digital Twin models and forecasting tools to support predictive analytics in agriculture.
- Leadership & communication such as proven ability to lead cross-disciplinary teams and manage complex projects. Excellent written and oral communication skills for technical and non-technical audiences. Ability to align technical infrastructure with research and institutional goals.
- Experience managing large-scale agricultural or environmental research data systems. Strong record of scholarly publications, grant leadership, and research collaboration in digital agriculture. Background in AI/ML applications for agriculture and sustainability. Preference will be given to candidates with a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering and at least three years of experience in the digital agriculture field.
Other Requirements:
- This is a full-time position, on-site.
- Requires occasional travel to research sites, conferences, and partner institutions.
What You Need to Know
Salary: Compensation for this position is commensurate based on the selected candidate’s qualifications.
Why Work at Texas A&M AgriLife?
When you choose to work for Texas A&M AgriLife, you become part of an organization that is an established leader in agriculture and life sciences with a wide range of capabilities to meet the needs of our statewide, national, and international constituents.
In addition, Texas A&M AgriLife offers a comprehensive benefit package including the following:
- Health, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurancewith Texas A&M AgriLife contributing to employee health and basic life premiums
- 12-15 days of annual paid holidays
- Up to eight hours of paid sick leave and at least eight hours of paid vacation each month
- Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas
- Employee Wellness Initiative for Texas A&M AgriLife
Applicant Instructions
Applications received by Texas A&M AgriLife must either have all job application data entered or a resume attached. Failure to provide all job application data or a complete resume could result in an invalid submission and a rejected application. We encourage all applicants to upload a resume or use a LinkedIn profile to prepopulate the online application.
All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.
Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.
