Systems Engineer II

Mass General Brigham • Boston, MA

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

Site: The General Hospital Corporation Mass General Brigham relies on a wide range of professionals, including doctors, nurses, business people, tech experts, researchers, and systems analysts to advance our mission. As a not-for-profit, we support patient care, research, teaching, and community service, striving to provide exceptional care. We believe that high-performing teams drive groundbreaking medical discoveries and invite all applicants to join us and experience what it means to be part of Mass General Brigham. Department Overview & Position Summary The Molecular Biology Department at MGH is seeking a replacement engineer in anticipation of a planned retirement this fall. Come work with a dynamic, welcoming team known for its long‑tenured staff, many of whom describe the department as their second home. As part of a world‑class research community composed of approximately 15 laboratories and more than 200 scientists, staff, and trainees, the department conducts leading‑edge research in molecular biology, genetics, bioinformatics, and related disciplines. Our investigators hold appointments at Harvard Medical School and collaborate closely with the MGH Research Institute and the Department of Genetics, contributing to scientific breakthroughs that advance human health. The department is home to internationally recognized researchers—including Nobel and Lasker Award winners and members of the National Academy of Sciences—reflecting a deep commitment to scientific excellence, innovation, and discovery. We are seeking a motivated self‑starter who works effectively with others yet thrives independently. The ideal candidate will be able to “speak code” fluently to build, enhance, and maintain the critical systems that support both our scientific mission and administrative operations. This individual will help streamline day‑to‑day research workflows, ensure data‑driven efficiency, and contribute to tools that keep our science moving forward. This role offers an exceptional opportunity to support transformative research and become part of a highly respected, collaborative scientific community. Expanded Technical Expectations for This Role In addition to the core responsibilities outlined in this job description, this position requires advanced capabilities in modern application architecture, security, and deployment to ensure continuity of critical departmental systems. The engineer will be expected to design and maintain production‑grade, multi‑user web applications; implement secure authentication and authorization workflows, including SSO and integration with enterprise identity providers; and contribute to secure, scalable infrastructure through containerization, CI/CD pipelines, and production monitoring tools. This role also involves developing permission‑aware administrative interfaces, applying industry‑standard security practices (such as OWASP Top 10 mitigation), and partnering across teams to support reliable, high‑quality deployments. These enhanced expectations reflect the evolving technical landscape, the department’s operational needs, and the requirement for deeper expertise in security, identity management, and platform operations.

Requirements

• Proficiency in modern programming languages and frameworks used to build and maintain production‑grade, multi‑user web applications.
• Strong understanding of secure authentication and authorization workflows, including SSO and integration with enterprise identity providers (e.g., OIDC, OAuth2, SAML).
• Experience developing and maintaining administrative interfaces with role‑ and permission‑based access controls.
• Hands‑on experience with infrastructure components such as Linux‑based systems, Nginx/Apache, application runtimes, and containerization tools like Docker.
• Ability to design and maintain relational database schemas, manage migrations, and troubleshoot database performance or concurrency issues.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, code reviews, monitoring tools, logging frameworks, and automated deployment practices.
• Knowledge of web security best practices, including OWASP Top 10, CSRF/XSS/SQL injection mitigation, secure storage of credentials, and audit logging.
• Frontend development experience with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and familiarity with modern frameworks (e.g., React, Vue, Angular, Svelte).
• Ability to troubleshoot across multiple layers of an application stack (infrastructure, network, application, database, and security).
• Skill in developing automation scripts and tools to improve operational efficiency.
• Experience supporting upgrades, patching, migrations, and production environment health.
• Strong teamwork skills and ability to collaborate with scientists, administrators, and cross‑functional technical teams.
• Ability to translate technical concepts into clear, actionable information (“speak code” effectively with both technical and non‑technical staff).
• Exceptional communication skills to support both scientific and administrative workflows.
• Self‑starter who is comfortable working independently and taking ownership of technical systems.
• Adaptable and willing to learn new technologies and approaches.
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail in maintaining reliable, secure, and scalable systems.
• Bachelor's Degree Computer Science required or Bachelor's Degree Related Field of Study required
• Experience as a systems engineer or related position 3-5 years required
• Proficient in administering enterprise systems and platforms.
• Solid understanding of networking concepts, firewalls, and load balancers.
• Solid understanding of data structure and database systems.
• Intermediate scripting and automation skills to streamline operational tasks.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and hybrid environments.
• Ability to analyze and troubleshoot complex system and application issues.
• Experience with system monitoring tools and interpreting performance data.
• Understanding of system security concepts and the implementation of security-leading practices.
• Effective collaboration and communication skills across technical and non-technical teams.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day operations of enterprise platforms, including applications, servers, storage, and networked services.
• Monitor and optimize platform performance, availability, and capacity.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex platform issues across multiple environments.
• Develop and maintain automation scripts and tools to improve operational efficiency.
• Contribute to the design and implementation of new platforms and services.
• Participate in platform upgrades, migrations, and patch management.
• Support security hardening and vulnerability remediation efforts.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support business and technical projects.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level