The University of Chicago's Data Science Institute (DSI) is hiring a Systems Administrator 3 to design, operate, and secure its computing infrastructure. In this role, you will independently administer and improve DSI's full IT environment, with a strong focus on high-performance computing.

What You'll Do

Independently administer and maintain Linux-based servers, storage systems, and workstations supporting research, teaching, and administrative workloads.
Serve as a maintainer of the DSI HPC cluster, including compute nodes, scheduling infrastructure, storage, and supporting services.
Design, implement, and maintain configuration management and automation using tools such as Ansible and/or Puppet.
Plan and execute system upgrades, migrations, and large-scale infrastructure projects with minimal guidance.
Administer and troubleshoot storage systems (such as ZFS) and parallel or networked filesystems such as pNFS and Lustre.
Monitor system health, performance, and capacity; analyze logs and metrics to proactively identify and remediate issues.
Manage core infrastructure services including DNS, DHCP, TCP/IP networking, authentication, and access control.
Support and troubleshoot networking infrastructure, including switches and related hardware.
Administer Linux operating systems across multiple distributions, including Ubuntu and Red Hat–based systems.
Support endpoint management solutions such as SimpleMDM and manage macOS, Windows and Linux workstation environments.
Provide technical leadership and mentoring to junior staff and assist with operational best practices.
Support and maintain audiovisual systems, including Zoom Rooms, displays, digital signage, and assembly or conference room technology.
Collaborate with faculty, researchers, students, and staff to gather requirements and deliver technical solutions that support research workflows.
Participate in incident response, disaster recovery planning, backups, and security remediation activities.
Maintain documentation for systems, procedures, and infrastructure.
Successfully collaborate and communicate with other system administrative team members and non-technical staff.
Utilize virtualization and containerization technologies such as Docker, Nomad or Podman.
Configure, install, upgrade, and maintain server applications and hardware to safeguard the integrity of computer software.
Implement operating system enhancements to improve the reliability and performance of the system.
Administer operating systems, maintain security, and implement backup procedures for the organization's information systems and peripheral equipment.

What We're Looking For

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Nice to Have

Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field.
Significant hands-on experience administering Linux systems in production environments.
Deep knowledge of command line tools and systems.
Experience operating or supporting HPC or related systems, including computer clusters, schedulers, and research workflows.
Strong experience with configuration management (Ansible, Puppet, or similar tools).
Proficiency in Python and Bash scripting for automation and systems tooling.
Experience with distributed and high-performance storage systems, including ZFS, pNFS, and Lustre.
Familiarity with containerization tools such as Nomad, Docker and Kubernetes.
Experience managing multi-platform environments including Linux and macOS.
Working knowledge of enterprise networking concepts, including routing, switching, and troubleshooting.
Experience supporting A/V systems and institutional collaboration technologies.

Technical Stack

Linux, Ansible, Puppet, ZFS, pNFS, Lustre, DNS, DHCP, TCP/IP
Ubuntu, Red Hat, SimpleMDM, macOS, Windows
Docker, Nomad, Podman, Kubernetes
Python, Bash

Team & Environment

You will be part of the Data Science Institute (DSI) Tech staff.

Benefits & Compensation

Compensation: $100,000.00 - $115,000.00
The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off.

Work Mode

This is a hybrid position based in Chicago, IL.

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law.