Scientific Computing Officer - Structural Studies - Scientific Computing - LMB 1697

View Vacancy -- Scientific Computing Officer - Structural Studies - Scientific Computing - LMB 1697
Open Date
18/10/2021, 14:30
Close Date
15/11/2021, 23:55
Research Institute  
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Research Institute / Unit Information  

The MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is one of the birthplaces of modern molecular biology and has played an important role in the development of many new techniques, most notably protein crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, DNA sequencing and monoclonal antibodies. The LMB has a clear goal of understanding biological processes at the molecular level, with the ultimate aim of using this knowledge to tackle specific problems in human health and disease. We aim to tackle difficult, long-term problems, which often require investment over many years.

There are four scientific Divisions - Structural Studies, Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry, Cell Biology and Neurobiology. However, scientific collaboration between the different Divisions is extensive. Scientists are well supported by excellent scientific facilities and by the LMB Operations Group which maintains the core infrastructure and services of the institute.

The LMB provides an unsurpassed environment for both new and established researchers. Scientists are drawn to the LMB from all over the world, thus creating a lively and international community for the exchange of ideas and technical innovation.

UK Research and Innovation is a new entity that brings together nine partners to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, more information can be found at www.ukri.org
Band  
MRC - 4
Location  
Cambridge
Salary  
£32,005 - £40,769 per annum
Contract Type  
Permanent
Job Type  
Science
Full Time / Part Time  
Full Time
Job Description  

Overall purpose:

•    To plan, install, commission and maintain services for central and peripheral computer systems and networks that are essential to the overall research strategy of the Unit.
•    Assume technical and organisational lead responsibility for one or more services.
•    To provide expert input to the day-to-day maintenance of the unit’s Scientific Computing facilities.
•    To diagnose and troubleshoot problems that arise.
•    To undertake the configuration and installation of new hardware and/or software.
•    To provide timely and pertinent communication to colleagues and users (as appropriate) with users by web, email or by documents.
•    To assist in the introduction and appropriate use of project management tools and processes in the workplace.
•    Contribute to writing of disaster recovery processes and documentation, as directed.
•    Attendance and reporting to appropriate internal and external meetings.
•    To provide other general technical assistance as required, for example in backups and the maintenance of large file systems.
•    To provide IT support to the unit’s members using PC and Macintosh to connect to Unix equipment.
•    To maintain Scientific Computing services such as DNS, DHCP, Linux workstations, storage servers, backup systems and the computing cluster.
•    To liaise with management and scientists and advise where possible on IT solutions.

Main duties/ Key responsibilities:

•    To work with the Scientific Computing team, including taking responsibility as required for operational issues such as maintaining and troubleshooting the Unit’s email and network servers, computing cluster during the absence of other team members, and attending meetings on behalf of the Scientific Computing group.
•    To initiate and act as an independent project manager for discrete infrastructure services/projects, typically integrating diverse software components to provide a functioning whole, and reporting to the Head of Scientific Computing on significant milestones.
•    In consultation with scientific and support staff and the Head of Scientific Computing, to propose, develop, implement, test, upgrade and maintain hardware and software solutions appropriate to specific needs within the unit.
•    To research, develop and maintain the Unit’s High Performance Computer (HPC) cluster and data storage systems which form the core of the Scientific computing infrastructure. This is a crucial and rapidly changing field which requires a high level of computing expertise and a knowledge of the scientific requirements of the Unit scientists.
•    Creating and maintaining documentation describing the systems configuration and operation.
•    To give technical support and assistance to users, whether that be troubleshooting technical problems or helping with personal user operating difficulties.
•    Implementing hardware /software installations and upgrades.

Key Responsibilities

•    To be responsible for the day-to-day provision and maintenance of Scientific Computing services across the Unit, ensuring that systems run in a smooth manner and as transparently as possible for users, addressing and resolving all types of hardware and software problems efficiently within an appropriate time frame and providing support to users for both systems and applications when appropriate. This will include monitoring, maintaining, and repairing the central UNIX facilities, such as servers, application devices, switches and maintenance of the Unit’s UNIX desktop and laptop machines (currently ~80 machines) Together with the cluster & associated servers (currently ~600 machines) and also assist with the maintenance and integrity of the Unit’s data storage, backup, disaster recovery and archive systems.
•    To contribute to the Scientific Computing team effort in providing a state-of-the-art computing infrastructure that facilitates the cost-effective accomplishment of the Unit’s scientific goals. This will include researching ongoing trends in system development.
•    To be responsible for the maintenance of the current Scientific Computing facilities audit, ensuring licences are kept up to date.
•    To have responsibility for monitoring and maintaining the IT hardware in good health, e.g. pro-actively replacing disk drives and other failing components, as well as maintaining good security by applying software updates and upgrades as required.
•    To document all changes made, and fully describe new systems developed on the groups wiki. 
•    To share information with the group regarding technical developments.
•    To introduce and trial a ticket based system for handling job requests.
•    To propose, develop, implement, test, upgrade and maintain hardware and software solutions appropriate to specific needs within the unit.

Working relationships:

The post holder will report to the Head of Scientific Computing, and in their absence to the Senior Scientific Computing Officer. They will be required to produce oral and written reports for other members of management. The post holder will also be expected to give presentations to the Unix users of current and planned work as well as day to day informal contact and regular meetings. 

In addition, the post holder will need to communicate with the users, to ascertain any problems they might be having and determine solutions, such as user training. The post holder will interact with all members of the Unit, and will form part of the Scientific Computing Group.

Additional information:

Please note that final appointment will be subject to pre-employment screening.

The above lists are not exhaustive and you are required to undertake such duties as may reasonably be requested within the scope of the post. All employees are required to act professionally, co-operatively and flexibly in line with the requirements of the post and the MRC.  

Person Specification  

Education / qualifications / training required:

Essential: Degree in Computing, Science or equivalent subject.

Desirable: MSc/MA/PhD RHC, or other formal computing qualifications.

Previous work experience required:

Essential: Experience of server administration and system development.

Desirable:  Experience of integrating Linux servers into a heterogeneous client environment (Linux / Windows / Mac) using tools such as Samba. Administration experience with authentication systems such as LDAP, Kerberos and Active Directory. Experience of maintaining system security, administering network switches  as well as general computer fault-finding and repair.

Knowledge and experience:

Essential: Experience of supporting Linux and Unix systems.

Desirable: Experience of supporting & installing Red Hat / Centos Linux, Windows 10 and OSX.

Computer Cluster Administration

Essential: Experience of using HPC clusters or cluster-based storage systems.

Desirable: Experience of administering clustered storage system (e.g. Ceph, Beegfs or Lustre). Experience of administering and installing large scale Linux based HPC, e.g. SGE, SLURM or LFS. 

Programming and Automation Skills

Essential: Competent in writing Shell Scripts.

Desirable: Experience of C, Python or Fortran programming.

Understanding the work of the Laboratory

Essential: Has worked in an IT support, academic or research environment.

Desirable: Research experience in Molecular Biology.

People Skills, communication skills (written and verbal)

Essential: 
Excellent communication skills – both verbal and written. Ability to communicate difficult concepts successfully at all levels. 

Experience/ability to devise and implement policies and procedures.

Desirable: 
Writing policy and procedure and system documentation.

Good organisational skills. Experience of managing work projects.

Issue Management

Essential: Can work under pressure, ability to prioritise and multi-task.

Desirable: Good organisational skills. Experience of managing work projects. 

Self-Development Essential

Essential: 
Track record in keeping self-updated and informed about latest developments in IT.

Willingness to learn and develop own skills in areas useful to the unit.

Willingness to learn new skills not studied before.

Personal skills / behaviours / qualities:

Essential: Experience/ability to devise and implement policies and procedures.

Desirable: Writing policy and procedure and system documentation.

Good organisational skills. Experience of managing work projects. The successful candidate is expected to be highly motivated, creative and capable of contributing productively in a team environment. A well-organised individual willing to undertake continuing personal development. Comfortable with continuous improvement and able to adapt to the changing priorities and demands of a dynamic research environment. Articulate and able to communicate at technical and non-technical levels. A pragmatic and diplomatic approach to problem solving.

The MRC is a great place to work and progress your career, be it in scientific research or the support functions.The MRC is a unique working environment where our researchers are rewarded by world class innovation and collaboration opportunities that the MRC name brings. The MRC is an excellent place to develop yourself further and a range of training & development opportunities will be available to you, including professional registration with the Science Council.
Choosing to come to work at the MRC (part of UKRI) means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement to access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme, as well as the chance to put the MRC and UKRI on your CV in the future.
Our success is dependent upon our ability to embrace diversity and draw on the skills, understanding and experience of all our people. We welcome applications from all sections of the community irrespective of gender, race, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability or age. As "Disability Confident" employers, we guarantee to interview all applicants with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.
UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider whether this conflicts with your personal values or beliefs.
We will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as an essential part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check.