Associate Director, Research, Operations, and Infrastructure

• →Leads day-to-day operations and project management for systems and network infrastructure, including hosted Windows and Linux departmental servers; application, database, email, file, and backup services; and core infrastructure services such as DNS, DHCP, and Active Directory.
• →Leads and manages a team of system administrators and research support staff, taking responsibility for assigning work, managing workflow, and creating professional development opportunities.
• →Manages and maintains the enterprise storage and storage area network (SAN) environment including troubleshooting, performance planning, capacity, and continuity planning.
• →Enhances the focus on security administration by working closely with the Booth Information Security team to maintain continuous risk assessments, review critical systems and identified threats, and produce operational policies/procedures documentation.
• →Collaborates directly with faculty, research teams, and leadership to understand their unique computational needs and develop tailored technological solutions.
• →Assists in the planning, design, and implementation of new systems, storage, automation and virtualization technology.
• →Develops and implements strategies to advance research computing capabilities, while assessing and evaluating existing infrastructure to recommend necessary improvements.
• →Develops project plans, forecasts budget needs, and manages financial resources effectively to optimize operations and cost-effectiveness.
• →Represents the University's research computing interests by fostering partnerships with external organizations, national HPC centers, and other internal IT departments to enhance overall capabilities.
• →Maintains Booth's Disaster Recovery infrastructure and documentation, ensuring systems and applications are adequately protected according to their SLAs, and run bi-annual Disaster Recovery tests.
• →Ensures the implementation of approved best practices and information technology policies that result in the highest quality systems administration.
• →Manages the creation of standards and procedures to maintain production servers that run the operating system. Manages the installation, configuration, and maintenance of operating systems and utility software.
• →Performs other related work as needed.

• Bachelor’s degree in technical fields such as computer science, engineering, or data science.
• Master’s degree.

• At least ten years of relevant experience.
• Supervisory or team management experience.
• Higher education industry experience.

• Proficient managing networked servers with knowledge of switches and firewalls, network services, system utilities, hardware installation, and operating/application system installation.
• Proficient managing high-performance computing (HPC) systems, clusters, and advanced research computing infrastructure.
• Strong understanding of research computing needs, including large-scale data management, analysis, and scientific workflow and job scheduling architectures.
• Familiarity with various programming languages and tools commonly used in research, such as Python, R, MATLAB, Jupyter, and Slurm.

• Demonstrated project management skills to achieve results for multiple, simultaneous projects with competing demands.
• Work independently, identify opportunities for innovation, and recommend effective technological changes.
• Outstanding leadership and collaboration skills to work effectively with researchers, students, and IT professionals across multiple disciplines.
• Deal with confidential and sensitive research data with tact, discretion, and strict adherence to security protocols.

• This position is currently expected to work a hybrid schedule.

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter (required)

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FLSA Status

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Pay Range

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.  A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.  Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. The Report can be accessed online at: http://securityreport.uchicago.edu. Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E. 61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.