Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Senior HPC Linux Systems Engineer, Classified Environment

Oak Ridge National Laboratory$100K — $130K *
Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • BS degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical field.
  • Minimum of 8 years of experience in Linux systems administration or HPC systems engineering.
  • Experience in leading the design and deployment of HPC or large-scale distributed computing systems.
  • Proficiency with automation frameworks such as Ansible, Puppet, or Salt.
  • Advanced programming skills in Python, Bash, or Go.

Responsibilities

  • Provide technical leadership in HPC cluster design and administration.
  • Lead technical projects while coordinating with stakeholders.
  • Architect and deploy advanced infrastructure solutions for critical computing environments.
  • Mentor HPC engineers on best practices in system management.
  • Implement configuration management and automation frameworks for reliability.
  • Conduct advanced system performance analysis and optimization.
  • Manage vendor relationships regarding technical requirements.

Benefits

  • Opportunities for professional development and continued education.
  • Access to cutting-edge HPC technologies in a secure environment.
  • Collaboration with scientists and researchers on critical projects.
  • Participation in strategic planning for technology advancements.
  • Experience in a highly regulated government environment.
Full Job Description
Requisition Id 16496

Overview:

The Field Intelligence Operations Division invites candidates to apply to join our National Security Computing team to contribute to the design, implementation, and management of High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems within a classified environment. We are looking for candidates with experience in HPC architecture, cluster management, and parallel computing, with a proven ability to work within highly secure and regulated environments. This role involves close collaboration with security teams, scientists, and IT leadership to ensure that the HPC infrastructure meets the stringent performance, security, and compliance requirements necessary for classified work.

This evergreen posting represents multiple openings for roles across ORNL's high-performance computing classified ecosystem.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:
  • Provide technical leadership in the design, integration, and administration of large-scale Linux-based HPC clusters, high-speed networks, and storage systems.
  • Lead medium to large technical projects, coordinating requirements, schedules, and deliverables across internal and external stakeholders.
  • Architect and deploy advanced infrastructure solutions supporting exascale-class and mission-critical computing environments.
  • Serve as a technical mentor for HPC engineers, guiding best practices in automation, performance tuning, and system security.
  • Develop, implement, and maintain configuration management and automation frameworks (e.g., Ansible, Puppet, Salt) to enhance reliability and reproducibility.
  • Perform advanced system performance analysis, troubleshooting, and optimization, ensuring system scalability and long-term sustainability.
  • Manage critical vendor and partner relationships, representing ORNL's technical requirements during procurement, integration, and system acceptance.
  • Contribute to strategic planning and technology roadmaps, influencing unit goals and technical direction.
  • Collaborate closely with scientists, researchers, and IT specialists to align infrastructure capabilities with research and security objectives.
  • Ensure compliance with DOE cybersecurity standards, configuration baselines, and operational policies.
  • Author technical documentation, present internal briefings, and communicate complex issues and resolutions to management and stakeholders.
  • Participate in on-call rotations, maintenance windows, and incident response as needed to support 24x7 operations.


Basic Qualifications:
  • BS degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical field.
  • A minimum of 8 years of relevant experience in Linux systems administration or HPC systems engineering.


Preferred Qualifications:
  • Demonstrated experience leading the design and deployment of HPC or large-scale distributed computing systems.
  • Expertise with batch schedulers (SLURM, PBS, LSF) and parallel file systems (Lustre, GPFS/Spectrum Scale).
  • Proven ability to lead technical projects from concept through implementation, balancing technical depth with project delivery.
  • Strong proficiency in automation and infrastructure-as-code frameworks (Ansible, Puppet, Salt).
  • Advanced scripting or programming skills (Python, Bash, Go) for automation and operational tooling.
  • In-depth understanding of high-speed interconnects (InfiniBand, Slingshot, Ethernet) and storage architectures.
  • Experience managing identity and access management systems, including MFA, SSO, and zero-trust frameworks (PingFederate, RSA SecureID, Entra ID).
  • Experience integrating virtualization or containerization solutions (VMware, KVM, Apptainer, Podman) into HPC environments.
  • Ability to manage client and stakeholder relationships across multiple directorates and technical disciplines.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
  • Proven ability to influence technical strategy and mentor staff in a collaborative research environment.


Special Requirements:
  • SCI Clearance: This position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Secret Compartmented Information (SCI) clearance from the Department of Energy. As such, this position is a Workplace Substance Abuse (WSAP) testing designated position. WSAP positions require passing a pre-placement drug test and participation in an ongoing random drug testing program. In addition, due to the SCI, you may also be subject to random polygraph testing


This position will remain open for a minimum of 5 days after which it will close when a qualified candidate is identified and/or hired.

We accept Word (.doc, .docx), Adobe (unsecured .pdf), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and HTML (.htm, .html) up to 5MB in size. Resumes from third party vendors will not be accepted; these resumes will be deleted and the candidates submitted will not be considered for employment.

About Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a science and technology national laboratory managed for the United States Department of Energy (DOE) by UT-Battelle. ORNL is the largest science and energy national laboratory in the Department of Energy system by size and by annual budget. ORNL conducts research and development activities in a variety of scientific and technical disciplines. ORNL's scientific programs focus on materials, neutron science, energy, high-performance computing, systems biology and national security. ORNL partners with other national laboratories, universities and industry to solve complex problems and transfer knowledge and technology. ORNL is home to several of the world's most powerful supercomputers, including Summit, the world's most powerful supercomputer as of November 2018.
Learn more about Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Size
5,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1943

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