Student Assistant II - CIRRUS
About The Position
This position works with the CIRRUS platform team within the Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) to support the team’s mission to deploy, operate, and maintain CIRRUS, a cloud native, Kubernetes based scientific computing platform spanning multiple bare-metal clusters at the Mesa Lab (Boulder) and the NCAR Wyoming Supercomputing Center (Cheyenne). While specific tasks and level of complexity will depend on the skill set of the incumbent, the primary focus areas are: • Collaborate with the CIRRUS platform team and the scientific researchers who use the platform. • Verify and validate platform workflows, new functionality, and supporting documentation prior to release. • Improve the clarity, accuracy, and usability of CIRRUS documentation for an audience of scientific and HPC-background users. • Develop reusable, repeatable workflows that validate new workloads onboarded to the platform. This position requires basic familiarity with Linux and containers. Prior Kubernetes experience is not required. The incumbent will learn the platform alongside experienced teammates, starting with workflow verification and documentation quality and growing into platform operations over time.
Requirements
- Must be enrolled (or intend to enroll in the next regular session) for credit in an accredited secondary or post-secondary school, college or university, or in a trade school that has received a Certificate or Approval from the Colorado State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education.
- Basic familiarity with Linux and containers (e.g., Docker or Podman), gained through coursework, personal projects, or prior work.
- Ability to work with a team and convey technical concepts to engineers and platform users.
- Good oral and written communication skills, with an aptitude for clear technical writing and documentation.
- Ability to follow moderately complex procedures/practices.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with at least one scripting language such as Python or Bash.
- Familiarity with Git and version control.
- Familiarity with scientific or high-performance computing environments.
Responsibilities
- Tests and verifies platform workflows, new functionality, and supporting documentation prior to release. Works through documentation as an end-user would to confirm it is accurate, complete, and easy to understand, and provides written feedback and recommendations for improvement. Validates that documented procedures produce the expected results on the Kubernetes-based CIRRUS environment.
- Develops and maintains reusable, repeatable workflows that validate new workloads onboarded to the platform. Modifies and runs existing workflows, scripts, and manifests, and proposes improvements to the validation process. Documents these workflows so other team members and platform users can reuse them.
- Authors, edits, and improves CIRRUS documentation, including user-facing guides and onboarding material, for an audience of scientific and HPC-background users. Composes clear technical writing and may assist in producing technical reports, walkthroughs, or presentations on platform functionality.
- Develops knowledge and understanding of the CIRRUS platform and of atmospheric and Earth system science workloads. Gains experience with platform operations under the supervision of senior staff. Additional tasks may be assigned from time to time.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Part-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
High school or GED
