The role
The Bristol AI Supercomputing Centre runs the Isambard-AI National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource, recently announced AI Data facility and the Isambard3 Tier-2 Supercomputer. Isambard-AI is the most powerful supercomputer in the UK and amongst the most powerful in Europe.
- The AI Supercomputing team owns the entire process of developing and operating the centre’s compute & software infrastructure, which includes:
- The sourcing of hardware and system design.
- The deployment of huge software-defined infrastructure using tools such as Kubernetes and Terraform / OpenTofu.
- Building and operating platforms to enable researchers to conduct leading-edge research using the systems.
- Optimising and refining software to ensure environmental and economic efficient use.
As one of the largest Open AI Research Resources internationally, we are committed to catalysing an AI transformation in the research & development community.
In this role, you will work as part of the AI Supercomputing Team to build and operate primarily the infrastructure & compute platforms that researchers use for their work. You do not need to be an AI or computational research domain expert to deliver world-class infrastructure, but you do need to quickly obtain a deep technical understanding of new domains. You should enjoy being self-directed and identifying the most important problems to solve as the team matures with standardized tools and processes around stability, robust service delivery and scaling.
What will you be doing?
- Use tools such as Python, Rust, Terraform / OpenTofu, Kubernetes, Git & Bash.
- Design and operate large, highly available supercomputing services managed as software-defined infrastructures, and integrated as complete computational experiments.
- You will experience designing & operating massive-scale GPU and combined CPU/GPU workloads across these services.
- You will design and debug platforms, and will work closely with researchers as you co-design solutions that will enable the development and operation of new algorithms and software to solve leading-edge research problems.
You should apply if
- Want to help build, maintain & secure some of the largest, modern software-defined supercomputing systems.
- Would enjoy working with world class domain & AI researchers as your primary workload .
- Have supported development or operation of a small to large clusters or dabbled in building your own physical or software-defined systems.
- Love operating large distributed, highly available systems, and want to see them used for truly open national-scale research in a cybersecurity compliant manner.
For our AI Supercomputing Infrastructure Associate Engineer role focusing on storage & networking, you’ll need:
- Domain knowledge in 1 or more areas from SysOps, NetOps, DevOps, SecOps, MLOps or Research Software Engineering.
- Degree (or equivalent practical experience) in computer science, computational or ML/AI research or in a natural science with a high degree of competence in computer science or computational research.
- Ability to contribute as a member of diverse, technical teams and to follow operational procedures.
The available job description provides a full view of the person specification.
Additional information
To find out more about what it's like to work in the Faculty of Engineering, and how the Faculty supports people to achieve their potential, please see our staff blog:
https://engineering.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/category/engineering-includes-me/
For any informal enquiries, please contact Emma Rose, Centre Manager - emma.rose@bristol.ac.uk.
Contract type: Open ended with fixed funding until August 2030.
Positions available: x3 FTE
This advert will close at23:59 UK timeon 31st January 2027
The interview date will be confirmed shortly.
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£44,746 to £50,253. Grade J, per annum