HPC Research Scientist I and HPC Research Scientist II

Posting Details

Posting Details

Posting Number
S07340P

Position Title
HPC Research Scientist I and HPC Research Scientist II

Functional Title
HPC Research Scientist I and HPC Research Scientist II

Department
Information Technology-Research Computing

Salary Range
Research Scientist I $85,000 - $115,000 Annually Depending on Qualifications, Research Scientist II $115,000 - $145,000 Annually Depending on Qualifications

Pay Basis
Monthly

Position Status
Regular full-time

Location
Richardson

Position End Date (if temporary)

Posting Open Date
11/10/2026

Posting Close Date

Open Until Filled
Yes

Desired Start Date
12/07/2026

Job Summary

The Office of Information Technology is hiring two Research Scientist positions at the Research Scientist I and Research Scientist II levels. Candidates will be reviewed for both levels, and the appropriate classification will be determined based on education and relevant experience.

Research Scientist I
The High-performance Computing (HPC) Research Scientist will be responsible for assisting customers using complex research computing resources for advanced research purposes. The position will provide consulting, technical support, and training to users of high-performance computing resources. Responsibilities include assisting customers with onboarding on HPC systems; porting, debugging and optimizing code; troubleshooting and general assistance in using HPC systems; training faculty and students on use of HPC resources and programming; and tracking the use of HPC resources and parallel programming, and the resulting research outcomes and publications. The position reports to the Director of HPC Facilitation.

Research Scientist II
The High-performance Computing (HPC) Research Scientist will be responsible for guiding customers using complex research computing resources for advanced research purposes. The position will provide leadership in consulting, technical support, and training to users of high-performance computing resources. Responsibilities include leading customers through onboarding on HPC systems; porting, debugging and optimizing code; troubleshooting and providing general assistance in using HPC systems; training faculty and students on use of HPC resources and parallel programming; and tracking the use of HPC resources and the resulting research outcomes and publications. A growing share of this work involves GPU-accelerated and AI/ML workloads. Overall, the position provides leadership and guidance on facilitation services and reports to the Director of HPC Facilitation.

Minimum Education and Experience

Research Scientist:
Master's degree in a field directly related to specified research area and two (2) years of directly applicable experience conducting research related to the specified field of study.

Research Scientist II:
A minimum of a PhD in a field directly related to research and a minimum of two years of experience/expertise as noted below.
Research Scientist II requires a minimum education of PhD. Minimum qualifications for this position may not be changed.

Preferred Education and Experience

Research Scientist I

• PhD or Master's degree in Computer Science, engineering, science, Mathematics, Data Science or similar quantitative subject area
• Focus for this position:
  • Python programming and code optimization (using parallel libraries, distributed Python programs, using GPUs, scaling GPUs)
  • CUDA programming
  • AI/ML programming (neural networks, using GPUs, scaling across multiple GPUs)
  • Code optimization of scientific applications using C/C++ and/or Python
  • Workshops development (on code optimization techniques)
  • Consulting with research groups (learn needs, provide guidance, arrange training, arrange advanced services, plan computational pipelines)
  • Helping PIs write grant proposals (computational, cyberinfrastructure sections)
• Preferred Qualifications:
  • Current knowledge of HPC systems, best practices, and research customer support
  • Ability to troubleshoot customer code, porting code, and optimizing code for HPC environments
  • Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills are essential
  • Multitasking, with the ability to work across teams and adapt to varying customer needs
  • Ability to gather data about the use of HPC systems, analyze the data and prepare reports for leadership
  • Ability to manage support tickets and prioritize considering varied scope, scale, and technical requirements
  • Know multiple programming and scripting languages
  • Knowledge of parallel programming techniques including shared memory and message passing parallel programming
  • Experience in using HPC resources within a university or from national cyberinfrastructure resources
  • Previous work with faculty in research projects, worked with and mentored students, written and presented academic/research papers
  • Experience attending conferences, representing one's institution, and gleaning trends and opportunities in the field and industry
  • Familiarity with secure research management practices (e.g., NIST and NSF frameworks)
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
  • Ability to program in languages like C/C++, FORTRAN, Python, R or similar scientific programming languages
  • Knowledge of parallel programming using the shared memory and message passing techniques. Knowledge of OpenMP and MPI or similar programming directives and libraries
  • Knowledge of GPU programming with CUDA, HIP, oneAPI or OpenMP for GPUs
  • Knowledge of widely used scientific and AI/ML libraries (e.g. NumPy/SciPy, BLAS, PyTorch, TensorFlow) and their GPU-accelerated equivalents
  • Knowledge of HPC job execution environments like SLURM, PBS, or similar
  • Working understanding of the system and architecture factors that limit application performance, and the ability to use profiling tools to identify and address bottlenecks
  • Comfortable in discussing scientific research topics with faculty and students
  • Comfortable in translating research computing requirements to suitable HPC resources
  • Experience with scientific computing code development and support
  • Knowledge of Linux usage, scripting, Git, development tools and an HPC batch processing system

Research Scientist II

• PhD Computer Science, engineering, science, Mathematics, Data Science or similar quantitative subject areas
• Focus for this position:
  • Python programming and code optimization (using parallel libraries, distributed Python programs, using GPUs, scaling GPUs)
  • CUDA programming
  • AI/ML programming (neural networks, using GPUs, scaling across multiple GPUs)
  • Code optimization of scientific applications using C/C++ and/or Python
  • Workshops development (on code optimization techniques)
  • Consulting with research groups (learn needs, provide guidance, arrange training, arrange advanced services, plan computational pipelines)
  • Helping PIs write grant proposals (computational, cyberinfrastructure sections)
• Preferred Qualifications:
  • Expert knowledge of HPC systems, best practices, and research customer support
  • Ability to troubleshoot customer code, porting code, and optimizing code for HPC environments
  • Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills are essential
  • Multitasking, with the ability to work across teams and adapt to varying customer needs
  • Ability to gather data about the use of HPC systems, analyze the data and prepare reports for leadership
  • Ability to manage support tickets and prioritize considering varied scope, scale, and technical requirements
  • Ability to define, deliver, and optimize HPC or scientific support services
  • Know multiple programming and scripting languages
  • Extensive knowledge of parallel programming techniques including shared memory and message passing parallel programming, knowledge of GPU programming
  • Knowledge of containers (especially Apptainer), Open OnDemand, data modelling and data repositories
  • Experience in using HPC resources within a university or from national cyberinfrastructure resources
  • Previous work with faculty in research projects, worked with and mentored students, written and presented academic/research papers
  • Experience attending conferences, representing one's institution, and gleaning trends and opportunities in the field and industry
  • Demonstrated ability in writing grant papers, identifying opportunities for grants and converting them into grants
  • Demonstrated ability in presenting at conferences either as tutorials, lightning talks, or workshops
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
  • Ability to program in multiple programming languages like C/C++, FORTRAN, Python, R or similar scientific programming languages
  • Knowledge of parallel programming using the shared memory and message passing techniques. Knowledge of OpenMP and MPI or similar programming directives and libraries
  • Knowledge of GPU programming with CUDA or OpenMP for GPUs, Python Numba
  • Knowledge of widely used scientific and AI/ML libraries (e.g. NumPy/SciPy, BLAS, PyTorch, TensorFlow) and their GPU-accelerated equivalents
  • Knowledge of HPC job execution environments like SLURM, PBS, or similar. Knowledge of launcher and array jobs.
  • Working understanding of the system and architecture factors that limit application performance, and the ability to use profiling tools to identify and address bottlenecks
  • Comfortable in discussing scientific research topics with faculty and students
  • Comfortable in translating research computing requirements into suitable HPC resources
  • Experience with scientific computing code development and support
  • Knowledge of Linux usage, scripting, Git, development tools and an HPC batch processing system

Other Qualifications

To the extent this position requires the holder to research, work on, or have access to critical infrastructure as defined in Section 117.001(2) of the Texas Business and Commerce Code, the ability to maintain the security or integrity of the critical infrastructure is a minimum qualification to be hired and to continue to be employed in the position.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Research Scientist I

• Assist customers with onboarding by sharing information about system capabilities, how to obtain accounts and access the systems (within UTD, across Texas, and national resources), running customer's own programs or packages software, using the batch system, and monitoring systems usage
• Assist customers with porting and optimizing code, including selecting appropriate development tools, porting applications to HPC systems, and optimizing performance within a node, across nodes, and on GPUs
• Assist customers with guidance on appropriate computing tools for general mathematical, scientific, engineering or computing tasks. Guide researchers in research management practices as described in NIST and NSF guidelines
• Assist customers with troubleshooting and debugging including common issues, debugging code errors, and debugging performance bottlenecks (profiling, resource usage monitoring, benchmarking).
• Consult and train HPC users about system capabilities, using HPC resources, porting and optimizing code, using packaged software, and debugging routine and complex issues
• Develop and deliver workshops and training materials on code optimization techniques, including but not limited to GPU and Python-based optimization
• Consulting with research groups to understand their computational needs, plan computational pipelines, and arrange training and advanced services
• Assist principal investigators with the computational and cyberinfrastructure sections of grant proposals.
• Track system usage and prepare reports that include resource consumption, what research problems are being solved using HPC resources, track publications like journal articles, conference papers, dissertations, theses, and technical presentations; prepare reports by gathering, analyzing, and reporting the data to HPCRE and university leadership

Research Scientist II

• Lead and guide customers during the onboarding process by sharing information about system capabilities, how to obtain accounts and access the systems (within UTD, across Texas, and national resources), running customer's own programs or packaged software, using the batch system, and monitoring systems usage
• Assist customers with porting and optimizing code, including selecting appropriate development tools, porting applications to HPC systems, and optimizing performance within a node, across nodes, and on GPUs
• Guide customers on appropriate computing tools for general mathematical, scientific, engineering or computing tasks. Guide researchers in research management practices as described in NIST and NSF guidelines
• Assist customers with troubleshooting and debugging including common issues, debugging code errors, and debugging performance bottlenecks (profiling, resource usage monitoring, benchmarking).
• Consult and train HPC users about system capabilities, using HPC resources, porting and optimizing code, using packaged software, and debugging routine and complex issues
• Develop and deliver workshops and training materials on code optimization techniques, including but not limited to GPU and Python-based optimization
• Consulting with research groups to understand their computational needs, plan computational pipelines, and arrange training and advanced services
• Write grant proposals and assist principal investigators with the computational and cyberinfrastructure sections of grant proposals.
• Assist researchers in defining an