Lead Application Analyst - Digital Health Institute

Houston Methodist•Houston, TX

42d

About The Position

At Houston Methodist, the Lead Application Analyst is responsible for the operation, maintenance, and optimization of a Linux-based High Performance Computing (HPC) clustered environment used in support of Research Activities at Houston Methodist. This role encompasses hardware, operating systems, networking, and storage systems. The successful candidate will implement and manage clusters and desktops to ensure efficient system operation. The position also requires monitoring and documenting the environment, and adherence to corporate change management processes. The position entails assisting, training and supporting junior analysts with the operation and administration of systems. The Lead Application Analyst position works with customers at all levels in the organization to enhance their understanding of available tools to enhance operational efficiencies. This position manages customer expectations and deliverables and responsibilities may include creating custom solutions or advanced configuration options to solve operational or workflow issues. The Lead Application Analyst position manages troubleshooting of issues and problems within related IT applications and manages applications and related services and contributes to the successful mission of the department. This position applies skills in line with Houston Methodist values and goals, to assure the efficient, effective and consistent delivery of high-quality IT services.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field required.
5+ years of relevant experience in HPC, research computing, or production IT environments.
Strong experience with Linux distributions (Rocky Linux, Ubuntu); experience with Windows Server/cluster; Windows desktop environment.
Experience with SLURM or other workload/job management systems.
Experience with NVIDIA Base Command Manager Cluster Manager, or similar cluster manager software
Hands-on experience with high-performance/clustered storage systems (e.g., VAST Data) and storage protocols (NFS, SMB), including RDMA.
Proficiency in scripting languages (Bash, Python, Perl).
Strong knowledge of networking and internet standards, including TCP/IP and InfiniBand networking.
Experience with system services such as DHCP, DNS, LDAP, and Active Directory.
Familiarity with Conda environments, Python, and open-source software installation.
Proven hardware troubleshooting skills.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and documentation skills.
Customer-focused with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Business Administration or related field or experience working as a licensed clinical or certified professional or an additional four years' experience in additional to the experience listed below in lieu of Bachelors or licensed clinical or certified IT professional experience
Five years' experience in direct support and/or development of clinical or business applications
Experience supporting large scale clinical, ancillary or business environments
Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations.
Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security.
Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles.
Expert knowledge and skill in multiple healthcare applications or clinical or business workflows.
Demonstrated leadership skills and ability to positively influence others to meet team goals.
Strong desire to pursue management career path.
Ability to lead projects independently.
Ability and skill to expertly manage systems and to engineer solutions with IT customers and vendors.
Demonstrates strong knowledge of Project Management Methodologies through system implementations.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Lenovo hardware, Mellanox networking equipment, NVIDIA GPUs, and DGX systems a plus.
Cloud computing experience (AWS, Azure) preferred.
Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across functions in an inclusive, growth-oriented environment.
Knowledge of applicable data privacy regulations and best practices.

Responsibilities

Implement, maintain, and manage a High Performance Computing environment for research staff, including 3 clusters, 2 storage systems, associated networking, and desktops.
Manage user access and authentication, including PAM and LDAP integration.
Design and develop scripts for system administration, task automation, monitoring, and reporting.
Support data migration and loading into the environment from internal and external sources.
Create and maintain documentation related to system configurations, processes, and inventory.
Install and maintain (primarily open-source) applications in the HPC environment.
Ensure continuous network connectivity and high availability across all systems.
Optimize performance of HPC systems, infrastructure, and storage.
Design, implement, and manage security best practices across the various technologies.
Stay current with industry trends and emerging HPC technologies.
Familiar with Data Center practices
Provide hybrid support, including occasional after-hours support and participation in an on-call rotation.
Initiates and maintains positive relationships with key customers and co-workers. Supports and evaluates change management efforts on assigned solutions.
Participates in interviewing process for hiring potential team members. Provides input into team members' annual evaluations. Assists in the development and execution of team building exercises.
Serves as role model and mentor. Assists, trains and supports team members.
Effectively communicates with customers, providing proactive updates and alerts to potential issues, major system outages, disaster management and change control. Develops clear messaging to customers and management on plans for issue resolution, status updates and their effect on the department to customers.
Directs deliverables and distributes work assignments.
Manages large scale projects. Proactively coordinates regular status sessions.
Partners with customers and team members to coordinate discovery, planning, or follow up sessions. Translate business requirements into viable solutions, Identifies potential benefits, and re-engineers workflow/processes to achieve anticipated benefits.
Implements and supports large, complex applications with technical experience in systems analysis, design, building, testing, and implementation.
Performs high level administration of applications and ensures quality delivery of application availability by directing work product of team members. Evaluates effectiveness of work product.
Participates in setting, monitoring, and meeting Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with key customers. Monitors and evaluates project outcomes.
Identifies solutions to optimize performance of existing systems and gains customer consensus on instituting changes. Institutes changes when approved.
Provides input to department budgeting process.
Fosters an environment that encourages innovation, continuous improvement and growth. Seeks out opportunities to stay up to date on the latest technology relevant to the team and technology roadmap. Evaluates and recommends technologies for growth and long term planning.
Ensures consistency in changes to process, tools, and overall practice are developed, ensuring a focus on continued integration and overall system benefit.
Actively seeks opportunities to lead initiatives. Participates in professional development. Completes My Development Plan.