Director of Research Technology and HPC Services at University of Maryland

The Director of Research Technology and HPC Services, within the unit of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure and Internet Global Services (ACIGS) organization in the Division of Information Technology (DIT), is responsible for providing research-optimized, secure and compliant cyberinfrastructure (CI) services and software tools to fulfill the research mission of the university. The Director manages the development of high-performance computing (HPC) clusters, cloud implementation, data storage and transfer services for fundamental, sensitive, CUI and secure computing systems. The university has a broad spectrum of research disciplines and the position will provide support services for domain specific technology tools. The position will provide resource and budget planning, faculty support, and expertise in research computing and data. The Director will be a strategic thinker with an open and collaborative style who fosters teamwork, sustains a learning environment for a growing number of staff and develops an open, engaged culture that engenders trust from the broader university-wide research community. The position will lead a team that regularly interacts with UMD researchers to design, integrate and customize research technology solutions and provides tiers 2 and 3 support for DIT’s research technology services. Strong project management, interpersonal, and customer-centric/user-experience skills are required to effectively oversee and coordinate a team of staff responsible for planning, implementing, delivering and monitoring a wide variety of customer-facing research technology services. The Director will have the ability to articulate complex concepts to cross-functional audiences. The position reports to the Assistant Vice President/Chief Technology officer.

This position is considered essential and may be required to work at the normal work location or an alternative location during a major catastrophic event, weather emergency, or other operational emergency to help maintain the continuity of University services.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years experience providing information technology support services within a higher education setting, including five years of progressively responsible experience. Proven ability to lead others in the creative uses of technology in an academic environment.
• Strong collaborative skills working with a variety of diverse academic and administrative constituencies, often with competing priorities. Demonstrated problem-solving skills. Mitigates team conflict and communication problems.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills. Excellent administrative, organizational and time management skills. Ability to deliver engaging, informative, well-organized presentations.
• Ability to work concurrently on multiple projects, adjust to occasional changes in priorities and respond quickly and effectively in emergency situations.
• A thorough knowledge of budgeting, planning, operation, and management within a public sector organization
• Experience working with regulatory requirements related to academic research at a university.
• U.S. Citizenship required.

Preferences:

• Bachelor’s degree in data science, computer science, computer engineering or other relevant field
• Master’s degree or doctorate in data science, computer science, computer engineering or other relevant field.
• Proficiency in information technology and with high-performance computing platforms.
• Proven ability to develop and manage a high-performing team.
• Extensive experience with leading, complex cloud and big-data systems, specifically Linux HPC clusters.
• Experience with computational resources, data storage and management, and architecture and system administration.
• Strong understanding of higher education institutions and staff, with demonstrated experience supporting large-scale HPC implementations and upgrades, and delivering reliable and quality research technology support services within a higher education environment or large private sector organization with federated operations.
• Experience working with faculty and other stakeholders to translate research needs into technical strategies with corresponding technology roadmaps.
• Exceptional written and oral communication and interpersonal skills, with extensive experience presenting ideas and solutions in non-technical, business friendly terms.
• Demonstrated experience serving productively and effectively as both a team leader and member, establishing positive working relationships and strong rapports with groups diverse in culture, discipline, and background, and developing high-performing teams.
• Excellent organizational, planning and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects while developing and managing audit processes and reporting results.
• Strong customer service orientation.

Licenses/ Certifications:

• Broad knowledge of deployment and management of High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems, including CPU, GPU, storage, file systems, networking, visualization, job schedulers (e.g., Slurm) and scientific applications. Demonstrated knowledge of GPU, parallel, and distributed computing
• Experience working with sensitive and CUI data. Understanding of data security and compliance standards and regulations (e.g., CUI, FAR, DFARS, HIPAA). Experience or knowledge in supporting cloud based computing platforms such as Microsoft Azure and AWS. Demonstrated consulting and customer service skills and being comfortable with directly interacting and facilitating research with university faculty, students, and staff across the various academic disciplines at the UMD.
• Experience supervising and leading a team of technical professionals with a diverse set of skills and knowledge.