Research Technology Engineer I

The Opportunity:

The Research IT arm of the Graduate & Research IT (GRIT) team in UCF’s Office of Research facilitates research efforts and fosters strategic partnerships to provide UCF researchers with the tools and services they need to advance their science. This includes high-performance computing, cloud computing, research data processing, research networks, and research storage. Research IT is seeking a talented and motivated Engineering or Science graduate to serve as a technical subject matter expert in statistics and machine learning as a Research Technology Engineer I. This researcher-facing role will provide direct support to research faculty, post-docs, and graduate students enabling them to run their workloads in on-premise HPC environments and national research computing grids such as ACCESS and OSG. The position will also help researchers optimize research data pipelines and visualization.

Responsibilities:

• Assist investigators in determining the appropriate computing resources, data storage, and/or statistical methodology to meet their study needs and objectives.

• Support researchers on data analysis and insights including, but not limited to, classification and prediction (Machine Learning), statistical issues in big data sets, and data visualization.

• Help onboard researchers to High Performance Computing (HPC) or High Throughput Computing (HTC) systems like ACCESS, Open Science Grid, HiPerGator, and UCF’s ARCC or other clusters through support requests and in-person consultations.

• Develop research computing & data services and solutions: Assist in developing next-generation research workflows and research data pipelines and/or debug complex issues by having a deep understanding of future technology, software, and tools.

• Support researchers in their use of statistical analysis tools (Matlab, R, SPSS, Stata); data science frameworks/tools (Anaconda, Pandas, ScikitLearn, Numpy); machine learning tools/frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Weights & Biases, TensorBoard); data visualization (Matplotlib, Seaborn, Plotly); data transfer tools (Globus, rsync, SCP), scientific scripting programs (Linux, Python); scientific collaboration tools (Overleaf, LaTeX, Jupyter notebooks, GitHub); scientific software reproducibility techniques (version control, containerization, FAIR data principles); and tools for data collection (Qualtrics, REDCap).

• Stay abreast of emerging technologies related to research computing and make recommendations.

• Engage with faculty, vendors, and IT staff as necessary to perform role through meetings, email communications, and office hours.

• Partnership/Collaboration: Collaborate with campus researchers and scholars to understand their areas of research interest and scholarly activity. Provide regular communications to researchers and technology providers, both internal and external (national CI centers, cloud vendors, etc.).

• Training programs: Help review and test training material, create new training material, and conduct workshops on topics in high-performance computing, high throughput computing, cloud computing, scientific software reproducibility, machine learning, big data analytics, data visualization, and scientific writing.

• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree and 2 years of relevant experience; or High School Diploma (or equivalent) and 6 years of relevant work experience in lieu of degree. Or an equivalent combination of education and experience pursuant to Fla. Stat. 112.219. Click here for more information

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, computational discipline or closely related field with 2 years of experience or Master’s degree in computer science, engineering, computational discipline or closely related field with 1 year of experience.

• Strong programming skills in one or more of the following languages: Python, Fortran, C, Java.

• Experience in building research data pipelines for automating data collection and/or data analysis.

• Experience in drafting and submitting proposals for allocations on national supercomputing facilities.

• Demonstrated ability to develop training material and provide training.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Special Instructions to the Applicants:

This is a Contract and Grant (C&G) funded position. Employment is subject to availability of funding and may cease at the time funding for this employment is depleted.

Hybrid work schedule or remote work within the state of Florida may be considered based upon specific circumstances and candidate qualifications.

If you are selected as the final candidate for an employment opportunity here at UCF, both your position and salary will be significantly based upon the information that you have provided in your application for employment. We urge you to please take the time to complete the application in its entirety.

Are you ready to unleash YOUR potential?

As a next-generation public research university and Forbes-ranked top employer in Florida, we are a community of thinkers, doers, creators, innovators, healers, and leaders striving to create broader prosperity and help shape a better future. No matter what your role is, when you join Knight Nation, you’ll play an integral role at one of the most impactful universities in the country. You’ll be met with opportunities to connect and collaborate with talented faculty, staff, and students across 13 colleges and multiple campuses, engaging in impactful work that makes a positive difference. Your time at UCF will provide you with many meaningful opportunities to grow, you’ll work alongside talented colleagues on complex projects that will challenge you and help you gain new skills and you’ll have countless rewarding experiences that go well beyond a paycheck.

Working at UCF has its perks!  UCF offers:

• Benefit packages, including Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Flexible Spending, and Employee Assistance Program 

• Paid time off, including annual and sick time off and paid holidays

• Retirement savings options 

• Employee discounts, including tickets to many Orlando attractions 

• Education assistance 

• Flexible work environment 

• And more…For more benefits information, view the UCF Employee Benefits Guide click here .

Unless explicitly stated on the job posting, it is UCF’s expectation that an employee of UCF will reside in Florida as of the date the employment begins.

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Department

Office of Research – Operations

Work Schedule

Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. Schedule may vary as required.

Type of Appointment

Regular

Expected Salary

$64,518.00 to Negotiable

Job Posting End Date

03-12-2024-12-00-AM

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

The University of Central Florida is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer including Disabled/Vets.  Click on UCF’s Equal Opportunity Statement to view the President’s Statement.

The UCF affirmative action plans for qualified individuals with disabilities and protected Veterans are available for inspection in the Office of Institutional Equity, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., upon request.

As a Florida public university, UCF makes all application materials and selection procedures available to the public upon request. 

The University of Central Florida is proud to be a smoke-free campus and an E-Verify employer.