Research Computing Technical Specialist

Marist University•Poughkeepsie, NY

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Research Computing Technical Specialist is a member of the Infrastructure Team within Marist Information Technology. This position serves as a technical resource for faculty, students, and staff utilizing institutional research computing services and technologies. The specialist collaborates with researchers to understand project objectives, computational requirements, and data-intensive workflows, while supporting the effective use of advanced computing, artificial intelligence, data science, and cloud technologies. This position is designed as a growth-oriented technical role, providing opportunities to develop expertise in research computing, artificial intelligence, cloud technologies, and high-performance computing environments.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, or a related field
1–3 years of related experience
Adaptability while working in a rapidly changing technological environment

Nice To Haves

Experience working in Linux-based systems administration or research computing infrastructure
Demonstrated ability to communicate technical concepts effectively to faculty, researchers, students, and IT professionals
Experience supporting academic, scientific, or research computing projects, including undergraduate research, graduate research, or grant-funded initiatives

Responsibilities

Serve as a technical resource for faculty, students, and staff utilizing research computing services and technologies.
Collaborate with researchers to understand project objectives, computational requirements, data-intensive workflows, and emerging technology needs.
Develop proficiency in advising researchers on the effective use of advanced computing, artificial intelligence, data science, and cloud technologies to support research activities.
Partner with IT teams to administer, configure, monitor, and maintain research computing environments, including IBM zSystems, Linux-based servers, GPU and accelerator resources, cloud-based services, virtualized infrastructure, storage systems, and container platforms.
Gain experience in installing, maintaining, and upgrading research software, libraries, middleware, and related tools.
Assist with routine maintenance, patching, upgrades, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, and incident response activities to ensure reliable and secure operation of research computing services.
Support AI and other computational research applications by configuring and maintaining software environments and development tools.
Develop proficiency in adapting, compiling, and optimizing applications, scripts, and programming environments to ensure compatibility with platform-specific architectures, libraries, and accelerator technologies.
Assist researchers with workflow optimization, resource utilization, benchmarking, performance tuning, and efficient use of shared computing resources.
Assist in the lifecycle management of research computing infrastructure, including technology evaluation, deployment, capacity monitoring, utilization analysis, refresh planning, and retirement of computing resources.
Support workload scheduling, resource allocation, and fair-use practices that enable effective use of shared computing resources.
Contribute technical input regarding future research computing capabilities and service improvements.
Create and maintain technical documentation, knowledge resources, user guides, and standardized workflows that promote reproducible research and efficient onboarding.
Deliver workshops, training sessions, and outreach activities that increase awareness and effective use of research computing services.
Continuously develop technical competency in emerging technologies relevant to the research portfolio of Marist.
Collaborate with researchers, IT staff, and other stakeholders to support the secure and compliant use of research computing resources.
Assist with data access, governance, security, and compliance practices consistent with institutional policies, regulatory requirements, grant obligations, IRB protocols, and data use agreements.
Support computational resource planning and provide technical information for grant applications, research proposals and sponsored projects.
Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

3 weeks of paid vacation.
4 weeks of paid vacation beginning in the 6th year of employment.
Unlimited paid sick time.
14+ paid holidays per year.
Medical, Dental & Vision insurance programs at a 15% employee / 85% employer contribution rate.
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Dependent Care (FSD).
Life insurance.
Generous short-term and long-term disability programs and workers compensation.
403(b) defined contribution plan: First 6 years University contributes 7.5%, Employee contributes a mandatory 4%. University contribution increases to 10.5% in year 7, and 12% after 15 years. Employee contribution decreases to 1% in year 7. Remains 1% thereafter. Typical eligibility requirements: 1 year of service and 1,000 hours with Marist University.
403(b) Tax Deferred Annuity – Roth option available. Voluntary, up to IRS maximum contribution.
Tuition Benefits: Up to 16 undergraduate credits per semester. Up to 18 graduate credit per academic calendar. Eligibility extends to employee, spouse, and dependent children under age 26. University pays 100% tuition only. Eligible dependents may be Reimbursed up to $2,000 per semester towards tuition at another accredited institution. Eligibility requirements including waiting periods and/or employee probationary periods may apply at the discretion of the University.