University of Colorado Boulder
Senior Technical Lead of Research Infrastructure
University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States, 80301
Senior Technical Lead of Research Infrastructure
University of Colorado Boulder
Job Details
Seniority level: Mid‑Senior level
Employment type: Full‑time
Job function: Information Technology
Industries: Higher Education
Job Summary The Office of Information Technology encourages applications for a Senior Technical Lead of Research Infrastructure. This role provides technical leadership and hands‑on expertise for research computing infrastructure, including HPC systems (Alpine), research storage (PetaLibrary, scratch), and Blanca clusters. The Lead serves as the senior technical expert and primary mentor for HPC Specialists and Storage System Administrators within the Research Infrastructure Technology (RIT) team. This position translates architectural direction from the Associate Director into practical implementation, leads complex technical work, and develops team capabilities through direct mentorship and guidance.
CU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We are committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and we encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.
Vision
OIT will be valued by campus as a strategic, inclusive and innovative partner in advancing learning and discovery in order to enable CU Boulder to be an outstanding public university.
Mission
OIT enables campus priorities by providing high-value IT services and solutions.
Values
Trust, as a foundation for how we engage with one another and with campus partners, along with
Curiosity in how to better support the campus and our partner’s while
Encouraging empowerment and authentic engagement among ourselves and
Celebrating a culture that promotes a sense of belonging while acknowledging that each person is unique and valued.
Strategy
OIT will advance learning and discovery by delivering high-value reliable IT services and solutions that:
Provide a fluid and adaptable academic and student experience
Enable research competitiveness and
Deliver core infrastructure and enterprise IT services for business efficiency.
Responsibilities
Technical Leadership & Implementation : Translate architectural direction into hands‑on infrastructure solutions, serve as the team’s primary technical escalation point, shape day‑to‑day technical decision‑making, establish and maintain technical standards, procedures, and practices, tackle multi‑system issues spanning infrastructure domains, and champion automation, monitoring, and operational improvements that strengthen system reliability.
Systems Administration & Operations : Perform hands‑on administration of HPC clusters, storage systems (ZFS, RAID, GPFS, Lustre), and parallel computing infrastructure; lead complex system changes, upgrades, and optimizations; conduct hardware repairs, OS configuration (Linux/Unix), and software updates; optimize system performance, resource utilization, and data‑transfer capabilities (Globus); manage compute resources and job schedulers (SLURM); automate infrastructure provisioning through configuration management tools (Ansible, Puppet, Chef); and develop monitoring and observability platforms (Nagios, Grafana).
Team Mentorship & Capability Development : Mentor HPC and Storage System Administrators on technical skills and problem‑solving approaches; provide hands‑on guidance during complex implementations and troubleshooting; develop team capabilities through pairing, code reviews, and guided learning; coach team members on user documentation and knowledge‑sharing; support cross‑training initiatives to reduce single points of failure; and champion a collaborative problem‑solving culture within the RIT team.
Documentation & Knowledge Management : Maintain technical runbooks, procedures, and troubleshooting guides; document system configurations and implementation details; create and update architectural diagrams; build knowledge base and wiki; and conduct technical knowledge‑sharing sessions.
Multi‑functional Collaboration & Support : Coordinate with User Support (UST), Data Center Operations (DCOPS) and other teams on technical issues; participate in sprint planning and Agile processes; provide technical input on infrastructure planning and vendor evaluations; support the Associate Director with technical assessments and recommendations; advise researchers on optimal infrastructure use; and use open source and community projects to enhance infrastructure capabilities.
Professional Development : Maintain professional expertise by reviewing trade publications, studying vendor trends, reviewing mailing lists, and attending seminars, training sessions and conferences; identify and elect relevant training opportunities.
What You Should Know
This position is in a hybrid position, working Tuesdays on campus.
This position carries an expectation to respond to critical issues outside of normal business hours within a reasonable timeframe, consistent with Research Computing’s “best effort” service commitments.
Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.
What We Can Offer
The salary range is $99,700 to $112,145 annually.
Benefits At the University of Colorado Boulder, we are committed to supporting the holistic health and well‑being of our employees. Our comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, and retirement plans; generous paid time off; tuition assistance for you and your dependents; and an ECO Pass for local transit. As one of Boulder County’s largest employers, CU Boulder offers an inspiring academic community and access to world‑class outdoor recreation. Explore additional perks and programs through the CU Advantage program.
Be Statements Be collaborative. Be groundbreaking. Be Boulder.
What We Require
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Engineering or related field. A combination of education and relevant experience as described below may be substituted for a degree on a year‑for‑year basis.
5+ years experience:
in IT infrastructure administration with deep technical depth in HPC or storage systems;
working with HPC clusters or large‑scale research storage environments;
including 3+ years in a senior technical role with mentorship or technical leadership responsibilities.
What You Will Need
Exceptional ability to work effectively both within a team and independently, as circumstances warrant.
Ability to follow through with assignments and commitments in a timely and professional manner.
Ability to work from a set of requirements to build complex computing systems.
Ability to develop and advocate independent solutions and system designs.
Experience in system and related network administration of complex computer systems, specifically Linux systems and preferably Linux clusters.
Experience diagnosing and repairing computer hardware.
Experience with batch queueing systems, preferably Slurm.
Experience with network interconnects (e.g., Intel Omni‑Path Architecture, Mellanox InfiniBand, RoCE).
What We Would Like You To Have
Master’s Degree or equivalent experience.
Background in higher education or research environments.
Linux Professional Institute (LPIC) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE).
Demonstrated experience in system and related network administration of complex computer systems, specifically Linux systems and preferably Linux clusters.
Demonstrated experience with an on‑premises clustered virtualization environment. For example:
OpenStack (preferred)
OpenNebula
Ovirt
Proxmox
Experience with Linux network file systems, particularly NFSv3.
To Apply
A current resume.
A cover letter that specifically tells us how your background and experience align with the requirements, qualifications, and responsibilities of the position.
We may request references at a later time.
Please apply by
January 5, 2026 , for consideration.
Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, please apply through CU Boulder Jobs.
In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age‑identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
Job Details
Seniority level: Mid‑Senior level
Employment type: Full‑time
Job function: Information Technology
Industries: Higher Education
Job Summary The Office of Information Technology encourages applications for a Senior Technical Lead of Research Infrastructure. This role provides technical leadership and hands‑on expertise for research computing infrastructure, including HPC systems (Alpine), research storage (PetaLibrary, scratch), and Blanca clusters. The Lead serves as the senior technical expert and primary mentor for HPC Specialists and Storage System Administrators within the Research Infrastructure Technology (RIT) team. This position translates architectural direction from the Associate Director into practical implementation, leads complex technical work, and develops team capabilities through direct mentorship and guidance.
CU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We are committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and we encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.
Vision
OIT will be valued by campus as a strategic, inclusive and innovative partner in advancing learning and discovery in order to enable CU Boulder to be an outstanding public university.
Mission
OIT enables campus priorities by providing high-value IT services and solutions.
Values
Trust, as a foundation for how we engage with one another and with campus partners, along with
Curiosity in how to better support the campus and our partner’s while
Encouraging empowerment and authentic engagement among ourselves and
Celebrating a culture that promotes a sense of belonging while acknowledging that each person is unique and valued.
Strategy
OIT will advance learning and discovery by delivering high-value reliable IT services and solutions that:
Provide a fluid and adaptable academic and student experience
Enable research competitiveness and
Deliver core infrastructure and enterprise IT services for business efficiency.
Responsibilities
Technical Leadership & Implementation : Translate architectural direction into hands‑on infrastructure solutions, serve as the team’s primary technical escalation point, shape day‑to‑day technical decision‑making, establish and maintain technical standards, procedures, and practices, tackle multi‑system issues spanning infrastructure domains, and champion automation, monitoring, and operational improvements that strengthen system reliability.
Systems Administration & Operations : Perform hands‑on administration of HPC clusters, storage systems (ZFS, RAID, GPFS, Lustre), and parallel computing infrastructure; lead complex system changes, upgrades, and optimizations; conduct hardware repairs, OS configuration (Linux/Unix), and software updates; optimize system performance, resource utilization, and data‑transfer capabilities (Globus); manage compute resources and job schedulers (SLURM); automate infrastructure provisioning through configuration management tools (Ansible, Puppet, Chef); and develop monitoring and observability platforms (Nagios, Grafana).
Team Mentorship & Capability Development : Mentor HPC and Storage System Administrators on technical skills and problem‑solving approaches; provide hands‑on guidance during complex implementations and troubleshooting; develop team capabilities through pairing, code reviews, and guided learning; coach team members on user documentation and knowledge‑sharing; support cross‑training initiatives to reduce single points of failure; and champion a collaborative problem‑solving culture within the RIT team.
Documentation & Knowledge Management : Maintain technical runbooks, procedures, and troubleshooting guides; document system configurations and implementation details; create and update architectural diagrams; build knowledge base and wiki; and conduct technical knowledge‑sharing sessions.
Multi‑functional Collaboration & Support : Coordinate with User Support (UST), Data Center Operations (DCOPS) and other teams on technical issues; participate in sprint planning and Agile processes; provide technical input on infrastructure planning and vendor evaluations; support the Associate Director with technical assessments and recommendations; advise researchers on optimal infrastructure use; and use open source and community projects to enhance infrastructure capabilities.
Professional Development : Maintain professional expertise by reviewing trade publications, studying vendor trends, reviewing mailing lists, and attending seminars, training sessions and conferences; identify and elect relevant training opportunities.
What You Should Know
This position is in a hybrid position, working Tuesdays on campus.
This position carries an expectation to respond to critical issues outside of normal business hours within a reasonable timeframe, consistent with Research Computing’s “best effort” service commitments.
Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.
What We Can Offer
The salary range is $99,700 to $112,145 annually.
Benefits At the University of Colorado Boulder, we are committed to supporting the holistic health and well‑being of our employees. Our comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, and retirement plans; generous paid time off; tuition assistance for you and your dependents; and an ECO Pass for local transit. As one of Boulder County’s largest employers, CU Boulder offers an inspiring academic community and access to world‑class outdoor recreation. Explore additional perks and programs through the CU Advantage program.
Be Statements Be collaborative. Be groundbreaking. Be Boulder.
What We Require
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Engineering or related field. A combination of education and relevant experience as described below may be substituted for a degree on a year‑for‑year basis.
5+ years experience:
in IT infrastructure administration with deep technical depth in HPC or storage systems;
working with HPC clusters or large‑scale research storage environments;
including 3+ years in a senior technical role with mentorship or technical leadership responsibilities.
What You Will Need
Exceptional ability to work effectively both within a team and independently, as circumstances warrant.
Ability to follow through with assignments and commitments in a timely and professional manner.
Ability to work from a set of requirements to build complex computing systems.
Ability to develop and advocate independent solutions and system designs.
Experience in system and related network administration of complex computer systems, specifically Linux systems and preferably Linux clusters.
Experience diagnosing and repairing computer hardware.
Experience with batch queueing systems, preferably Slurm.
Experience with network interconnects (e.g., Intel Omni‑Path Architecture, Mellanox InfiniBand, RoCE).
What We Would Like You To Have
Master’s Degree or equivalent experience.
Background in higher education or research environments.
Linux Professional Institute (LPIC) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE).
Demonstrated experience in system and related network administration of complex computer systems, specifically Linux systems and preferably Linux clusters.
Demonstrated experience with an on‑premises clustered virtualization environment. For example:
OpenStack (preferred)
OpenNebula
Ovirt
Proxmox
Experience with Linux network file systems, particularly NFSv3.
To Apply
A current resume.
A cover letter that specifically tells us how your background and experience align with the requirements, qualifications, and responsibilities of the position.
We may request references at a later time.
Please apply by
January 5, 2026 , for consideration.
Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, please apply through CU Boulder Jobs.
In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age‑identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.
#J-18808-Ljbffr