Senior HPC Engineer, Classified Computing

Oak Ridge National Laboratory•Oak Ridge, TN

11d•Onsite

About The Position

The Field Intelligence Operations Division invites candidates to apply to join the team as a Senior High Performance Computing (HPC) Engineer for Classified Computing to lead the design, implementation, and management of HPC systems within a classified environment. We are looking for candidates with extensive 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. As part of our team, you will be joining a vibrant group of professionals eager to provide premier customer service to ensure people and information technology remain secure. The team is collaborative and strives to ensure security practices and procedures are understood, implemented, and enforced. All team members deliver ORNL’s mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with our core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service. As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, ORNL has an impressive 80-year legacy of addressing the nation’s most pressing challenges. Our team is made up of over 7,000 dedicated and innovative individuals! Our goal is to create an environment where a variety of perspectives and backgrounds are valued, ensuring ORNL is known as a top choice for employment. These principles are essential for supporting our broader mission to drive scientific breakthroughs and translate them into solutions for energy, environmental, and security challenges facing the nation.

Requirements

BS in computer science, engineering, or a related field and a minimum eight (8) years of relevant experience. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
Eight (8) years of experience in HPC engineering, with a focus on cluster management, parallel computing, and performance optimization.
Demonstrated experience working in classified environments, including a thorough understanding of security policies, compliance frameworks, and associated standard processes (e.g., NIST, DISA STIGs).
HPC systems architecture experience, including cluster management tools (e.g., SLURM, PBS, Moab).
Linux system administration skills, with experience in scripting and automation using tools such as Bash, Python, or Ansible.
Experience with performance tuning and benchmarking tools for HPC environments (e.g., Ganglia, Grafana, or similar).
Experience with parallel programming frameworks (e.g., MPI, OpenMP, CUDA) and high-performance interconnects (e.g., InfiniBand).
Federal ATO processes experience required.
HPC architecture and performance optimization is required.
Scientific software development and deployment.
High-speed network and parallel file system architecture.
Troubleshooting, diagnostics, and technical support.
Strong communication and multitasking skills.
Languages - Pascal, BASIC, Delphi, Visual Basic, C, C++
Scripting - Bash, Perl, Python, Ruby, PEAR, Tcl
Linux – RHEL/CentOS, SUSE, Debian, Ubuntu
Windows – 95–10; NT–Server 2016, 2019, 2025
Networking – Active Directory, TCP/IP v4/v6, DHCP, DNS, WINS:
Legacy – NOVELL 3.1–5, VPN, Citrix, Terminal Services
Monitoring & Management Tools:
Nagios, Ganglia, HP BAC, Precise i3
SGI SMC, HP PCM, Bright Cluster Manager (incl. Data Analytics)
Infrastructure & Automation:
Puppet, Cobbler, Ansible, Chef
Red Hat Satellite, Kickstart, RPM optimization
File Systems & Archiving:
Panasas (DirectFlow/panfs), DDN (GPFS), SGI DMF, StorHouse/RFS (Filetek)
HPC Tools & Job Scheduling:
MOAB/MAUI, Torque, PBS Pro, Windows HPC Scheduler
Visualization & Remote Access:
Nice DCV, EnginFrame, VNC, OpenText Exceed OnDemand, Web Remote Desktop
Containerization & GPU:
Docker, Kubernetes, Kubeflow, NVIDIA DGX-1 GPU systems
Databases:
SQL Server (2000–2008), MySQL, Zope
High-Speed Networking:
Infiniband, Mellanox, OFED, Voltaire, Force10
Proven experience in: HPC architecture and performance tuning
Cybersecurity in HPC/cloud environments
Infrastructure as Code (AWS, Terraform, Ansible, Packer)
Supporting scientific workflows in research environments

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with advanced storage solutions and parallel file systems (e.g., Lustre, GPFS, or BeeGFS).
Professional certifications (e.g., Certified HPC Professional, Linux+, or Security+)
Excellent leadership and project management abilities.
Strong problem-solving skills with a proactive approach to identifying and resolving issues.
Effective communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work closely with cross-collaborative teams.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively in a fast-paced, high-security environment.
Proactive mentality with a commitment to continuous learning and improvement in the rapidly evolving HPC field.

Responsibilities

Lead the design and deployment of HPC systems, ensuring they meet the computational needs and security requirements of a classified environment.
Create and maintain detailed documentation of HPC architectures, configurations, and operational procedures.
Guide the architecture of the next-generation of GPUs through an intuitive and comprehensive grasp of how GPU architecture affects performance for datacenter applications, especially Large Language Models (LLMs)
Drive the discovery of opportunities for innovation in GPU, system, and data-center architecture by analyzing the latest data center workload trends, Deep Learning (DL) research, analyst reports, competitive landscape, and token economics
Oversee the installation, configuration, and management of HPC clusters, ensuring optimal performance, scalability, and reliability.
Implement and manage job scheduling, resource allocation, and load balancing to maximize the efficiency of HPC resources.
Ensure all HPC systems comply with security policies and regulatory requirements, implementing necessary controls and conducting regular audits.
Collaborate with the security team to address vulnerabilities and ensure the protection of sensitive data within the HPC environment.
Monitor and optimize the performance of HPC systems, identifying and resolving bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
Identify and resolve complex issues, ensuring minimal downtime and disruption to critical operations.
Lead HPC-related projects, from initial planning and design through to implementation and operational support.
Collaborate with scientists, researchers, and others to ensure that the HPC environment meets their computational needs.
Mentor and support junior HPC engineers, sharing expertise and best practices.
Research and remain informed of the latest advancements in HPC technologies, identifying opportunities for innovation and enhancement of the HPC infrastructure.
Propose and implement improvements to existing systems and processes to support the evolving needs of the organization.
Find opportunities where we uniquely can address customer needs, and translate these into compelling GPU value proposition and product proposals
Distill sophisticated analyses into clear recommendations for both technical and non-technical audiences