HPC Systems Administrator (Hardware & Infrastructure Operations)

• Hardware Lifecycle & Deployment: Leadthephysicaldeployment,burn-in, troubleshooting,anddecommissioningofcomputenodes,GPUservers,and high-density storage systems.
• Diagnostics & Root Cause Analysis: Perform troubleshooting on hardware issues-suchasmemoryerrors,GPUthermalthrottling,networkfailures-and coordinate with vendors for support and replacements.
• Data Center Operations: Collaboratewiththedatacentersteamtoplanandmanage hardware deployments.
• Provisioning & Automation: Work with lead platform administrators on testing and provisioningtoensurerapid,consistentdeploymentofclusterimagesacrossthefleet.
• Health & Telemetry: Refinehardware-levelmonitoringtoproactivelyidentifyfailing components before they impact active research jobs.

• Education: Bachelor’s degree and eight years of relevant experience, or a combination of education and relevant experience.
• Experience: 3-5+ years of experience in Linux Systems Administration, with a strong preference for candidates from HPC, larges-scale data center, or research environments.
• Hardware Proficiency: Solid understanding of x86 server architecture, GPU systems, ethernet,and high-performance interconnects.
• Scripting: Proficiency in scripting languages for automating hardware health checks, log parsing, and routine maintenance tasks.
• Infrastructure Management: Experience using configuration management tools to manage hardware settings and firmware versions at scale. Experience working with data center teams to populate and maintain DCIM solutions preferred.
• Physical Requirements: Ability to lift up to 50 lbs and work comfortably in a data center environment, including racking equipment and managing complex cable topologies.
• Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Skills

• Direct experience maintaining hardware for HPC systems and large scale storage systems.

• Familiarity with the Slurm workload manager and how hardware health impacts job scheduling.

• Exposure to liquid cooling solutions or high-density rack power management.

Physical Requirements*:

• Constantly perform desk-based computer tasks.

• Frequently sit, grasp lightly/fine manipulation.

• Occasionally stand/walk, writing by hand.

• Rarely use a telephone, lift/carry/push/pull objects that weigh up to 10 pounds., * Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrates the ability to work well with Stanford colleagues and clients and with external organizations.

• Promote Culture of Safety: Demonstrates commitment to personal responsibility and value for safety; communicates safety concerns; uses and promotes safe behaviors based on training and lessons learned.

• May work extended hours, evenings, and weekends.

The Sherlock HPC cluster is the flagship of Stanford’s research computing environment, supporting thousands of users and a massive variety of scientific workloads. We are looking for an HPC Systems Administrator who thrives at the intersection of high-density hardware and Linux systems engineering.

In this role, you will be the primary steward of the physical infrastructure on Sherlock and other platforms. You will ensure that our 1,500+ compute nodes, high-density GPU racks, and petabyte-scale storage arrays are meticulously maintained, expertly tuned, and highly available.

Why Stanford?

You won’t just be swapping parts; you will be managing the physical backbone of a world-class research environment. From debugging errors on NVIDIA H200s to optimizing InfiniBand cabling for our Lustre scratch tiers, your work is the foundation upon which Nobel-caliber research is built.