Job Description

Salary

The starting salary will be from 42,882 to 52,565 on Grade F, depending on qualifications and experience.

Contractual hours

36.5

Package

Generous holiday allowances, flexible working, pension scheme and relocation package (if applicable).

Job category/type

IT and Digital

Date posted

28/07/2025

Job reference

V53921

IT Services

This full-time post is available immediately on a permanent basis and offers the opportunity of hybrid working - some time at home and some time on campus.

We welcome applications from candidates interested in working part-time hours (minimum 3 days per week) or job-sharing arrangements.

Why our staff love working here

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

41 days leave per year options for flexible working Actively inclusive organisation ensuring equality and fairness for all Multiple wellbeing and health initiatives for staff Sustainability and the environment being at the heart of what we do numerous discounts at leading retailers onsite gyms on all of our campus' and a cycle to work scheme sector leading policies around maternity, adoption and shared parental leave (up to 26 weeks full pay), paternity leave (up to 6 weeks full pay) and a Fertility Treatment Policy stunning campus environments in Exeter and Cornwall, in the beautiful South West of England


Are you passionate about high-performance computing (HPC) and ready to help power research that addresses some of the world's most complex challenges?

The University of Exeter is seeking an experienced HPC Systems Administrator to join our growing Research IT team. You'll play a vital role in supporting the University's strategic investment in Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI), ensuring our compute environment is secure, efficient, and responsive to the needs of our world-leading researchers.

About the Role

Reporting to the Acting HPC Lead, you will be responsible for the operational health, performance, and resilience of the University's HPC systems. You will work closely with academic users to deliver services that enable data-intensive, compute-intensive, and interdisciplinary research.

This is a hands-on technical role with strategic impact, balancing system optimisation, user experience, and long-term sustainability. You'll contribute to service design, infrastructure development, and resource planning, while helping to ensure HPC services are accessible, cost-effective, and well-integrated into the wider DRI ecosystem.

What You'll Be Doing

Monitor, maintain and optimise the performance, resilience, and reliability of HPC platforms and clusters. Manage access control, job scheduling, system patching, and software updates (e.g. Slurm, Lustre, Linux). Support researchers with proposal development and compute planning for complex projects. Collaborate with academic users and governance groups to align HPC service development with DRI strategy. Track and report usage metrics, cost recovery performance, and environmental impact. Engage with internal teams and external HPC networks to share learning and shape future services

About You

We are looking for someone who combines technical expertise with a strong service ethos and the ability to work collaboratively with researchers. You will have:

Experience managing HPC systems in a Linux environment Proficiency with tools such as Slurm, Lustre, and virtualisation platforms An understanding of research workflows and academic compute needs A proactive approach to performance tuning, sustainability, and user support Excellent communication skills and the ability to engage a diverse user base

Please ensure you read the and Person Specification for full details of this role.

We will be reviewing applications as they come in, so please don't hesitate in applying, as we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications.

Why Exeter?

We are a member of the prestigious Russell Group of research-intensive universities and in the top 200 universities in the world (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 and QS World University Ranking 2024). We combine world-class teaching with world-class research, achieving a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework Award 2023, underpinned by Gold ratings for Student Experience and Student Outcomes.

Our world-leading research impact has grown more than any other Russell Group university in recent years, and we are home to some of the world's most influential researchers, seeking to answer some of the most fundamental issues facing humankind today. More than 99 percent of our research is of international quality and 47 percent is world-leading (2021 Research Excellence Framework).

We encourage proactive engagement with industry, business and community partners to enhance the impact of research and education and improve the employability of our students. Read about our world leading research - Green Futures and how we are transforming education for a changing world. We are located in a beautiful part of the country and Exeter (a fast growing tech hub) is one of only a few UK cities to have been designated as a UNESCO Creative City.

By joining us, you'll be working at the heart of our Digital Research Infrastructure programme, a major institutional investment in research computing, data platforms, and skills. This is your opportunity to shape compute services that underpin exceptional research across disciplines.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment

We are committed to ensuring reasonable adjustments are available for interviews and workplaces.

Whilst all applicants will be judged on merit alone, we particularly welcome applications from groups currently underrepresented within our working community.

With over 30,000 students and 7,000 staff from 150 different countries we offer a diverse and engaging environment where our diversity is celebrated and valued as a major strength. We are committed to creating an inclusive culture where all members of our community are supported to thrive; where diverse voices are heard through our engagement with evidence-based charter frameworks for gender (Athena SWAN and Project Juno for Physics), race equality (Race Equality Charter Mark), LGBTQ+ inclusion (Stonewall Diversity Champion) and as a Disability Confident employer.

We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and welcome applications from service people.

Apply Now

Be part of Exeter's digital transformation in research. If you're ready to take HPC operations to the next level, we'd love to hear from you.

For further information, contact:

Dr Andrew Cowley, Acting HPC Lead: a.cowley@exeter.ac.uk

This role may be subject to additional background screening.