Research Operations Engineer

About us

Our primary mission is to facilitate world-class computational and data-intensive research by bridging the gap between complex IT infrastructure and academic discovery.

The department manages the CREATE ecosystem (Computational Research, Engineering, and Technology Environment), a suite of advanced services that includes High Performance Computing (HPC), Cloud platforms, and Trusted Research Environments (TREs). Beyond hardware, the department is a hub of expertise, offering Research Software Engineering (RSE) support and consultancy to support researchers across all faculties, ensuring that King’s remains at the forefront of scientific innovation.

About the role

This is a pivotal opportunity for someone interested in getting broad experience in High Performance Computing and related technologies with a view to pursuing roles such as a Research Software Engineer and Infrastructure or Operations specialist (in areas such as, storage, networking, security and specific technologies such as Openstack). Your technical expertise will directly support world-class scientific discovery. As a core member of the Operations team, you will ensure the seamless operation of critical research infrastructure, including the CREATE High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster, OpenStack Cloud, Trusted Research Environments (TREs), and Research Data Storage. Your primary purpose is to empower the research community by optimizing the utilisation of these technologies, acting as the essential bridge between complex hardware and the scientists who rely on it to push the boundaries of knowledge. The breadth of the role makes it suitable for a wide range of candidates from those that have studied in more formal circumstances such as PhD completers to graduates in Computer Science and other disciplines who have explored some of the related technologies under their own initiative.

The role offers a stimulating variety of responsibilities that blends hands-on engineering with high-level software support. You will be active in the field, attending data centres to install, configure, and maintain hardware, while simultaneously developing a deep understanding of the systems to troubleshoot issues effectively. Beyond physical infrastructure, you will drive continuous improvement through code and automation, using tools such as Puppet, Spack, and GitLab/GitHub repositories to deploy solutions and manage CI/CD pipelines. Whether you are maintaining software for the HPC cluster or helping cloud users configure instances for internet access, your technical versatility will be key.

Collaboration and communication are at the heart of this position. You will actively engage with researchers, responding to queries via tickets and forums, and occasionally embedding within specific project groups to provide tailored technical guidance and leadership. You will also manage relationships with external suppliers to resolve hardware faults and ensure robust documentation is maintained. To ensure you remain at the cutting edge of this rapidly evolving field, the department is committed to your growth, providing one dedicated day a fortnight (or equivalent) for personal professional development. If you are looking for a role that combines technical challenge with meaningful impact, this is an ideal opportunity.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered an indefinite contract.

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