DIRECTOR, HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING in San Diego, California at Sanford Burnham Prebys

Sanford Burnham Prebys is much more than a research facility and hub for innovation; it’s a vibrant global community of talented scientists and researchers from over 30 countries. This worldwide representation enriches our perspectives and enhances our creative approach to solving complex scientific challenges.

We strive to be leaders not only in biomedical research but also in creating an environment where excellence thrives through collaboration across cultures and backgrounds. Our mission is to advance the biomedical sciences by cultivating the next generation of scientific leaders, providing meaningful opportunities for researchers of all backgrounds to learn, innovate, and make breakthrough discoveries that improve human health.

Together, we translate science into health.

The duties and responsibilities contained in the job description are intended to be examples of the accountabilities for which the person in the position will demonstrate competency through performance. The job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list. Duties and responsibilities are subject to change and other duties may be assigned as necessary.

Position Summary:

The Director of High-Performance Computing (HPC) will lead both the strategy and day-to-day operations of the Institute’s research computing environment. This role is responsible for delivering a reliable, responsive, and scalable HPC platform that directly supports faculty research, accelerates scientific discovery, and adapts to evolving computational needs. The Director will oversee HPC as a shared institutional resource, ensuring that faculty and research teams have consistent, high-quality access to computing services. The role will also implement a transparent and sustainable cost recovery model, enabling the Institute to support expanding computational demand through grant-funded research.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Operations & Service Delivery

• Oversee and be accountable for day-to-day HPC operations, ensuring high availability, performance, and reliability
• Ensure faculty have consistent, timely access to computing resources critical to their research workflows
• Establish and manage service levels (SLAs) aligned with grant timelines and research priorities
• Implement monitoring, incident response, and continuous improvement processes to support stable and predictable operations
• Develop and oversee user support services, including onboarding, training, and troubleshooting for faculty and labs
• Manage capacity allocation and workload prioritization to reflect research impact and time-sensitive projects
• Continuously improve system performance, usability, and accessibility from a researcher’s perspective

Strategy & Planning

• Develop and execute a research-driven HPC strategy and multi-year roadmap aligned with faculty priorities and institutional growth
• Engage faculty to anticipate emerging computational needs (e.g., AI/ML, genomics, large-scale data analysis) and translate these into infrastructure and service requirements
• Evaluate and recommend future-state architecture, including on-premise, cloud, and hybrid computing models
• Ensure HPC capabilities evolve to support increasing scale, complexity, and competitiveness of grant-funded research
• Define long-term investment priorities, capacity planning, and technology lifecycle strategies
• Partner with Finance and leadership to align strategy with sustainable funding and recharge models
• Benchmark HPC capabilities against peer institutions to ensure competitiveness and research enablement
• Identify and enact (jointly with faculty and other stakeholders) creative funding strategic to maximize HPC capacities

Team Leadership & Development

• Build, manage, and mentor a high-performing HPC team
• Supervise staff responsible for system administration, storage, and user support
• Clearly define ownership for operations, support, and infrastructure components
• Foster a culture of service, accountability, and responsiveness to faculty needs

Collaboration with Central IT Services

• Partner closely with central IT to ensure HPC services integrate seamlessly with the broader technology environment used by faculty
• Coordinate on infrastructure critical to research workflows, including:
• High-speed networking for large data transfers
• Secure and accessible storage systems
• Identity and access management for research teams
• Backup and data protection services
• Align with institutional cybersecurity and data governance standards while ensuring ease of use for researchers
• Serve as a bridge between faculty computing needs and enterprise IT capabilities

Faculty Engagement & Research Partnership

• Build strong relationships with directors, faculty, lab managers, and research staff
• Be a trusted advisor helping researchers optimize HPC usage for scientific outcomes
• Gather and incorporate faculty feedback into service improvements and operational priorities
• Ensure HPC services directly contribute to research productivity, grant success, and scientific output

Technology & Vendor Management

• Evaluate technologies that improve research performance and operational efficiency
• Oversee vendor relationships and ensure cost-effective solutions
• Assess cloud and hybrid HPC options to support both burst capacity and long-term scaling

Perform other related tasks, duties and responsibilities as required, assigned or directed.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education:

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology, Data Science, Computational Science, or a related technical discipline. Advanced degree in a related field preferred.

Experience:

• 10+ years of experience in HPC, research computing, or large-scale infrastructure
• Experience operating shared services with recharge/cost recovery models preferred
• Experience collaborating with central IT organizations in complex environments
• Supervision of staff and/or project teams

Certifications, Licenses, etc: None

Other Knowledge, Skills and/or Abilities:

• Demonstrated ability to lead both HPC strategy and hands-on operations in a research environment
• Clear understanding of cloud-based, on-prem and co-lo HPC environments
• Strong expertise in HPC architecture (compute, storage, networking)
• Familiarity with federal grant cost principles (OMB Uniform Guidance) preferred
• Proven ability to manage and develop technical teams
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts into research impact

Supervisory Responsibilities:

Direct: Yes

Indirect: No

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

This is a hybrid position. When working on-site, the work environment is in a standard office setting. Frequently exposed to low to moderate noise, various odors, temperature changes, and equipment with moving parts, including but not limited to computers, phones, printers, and other standard office equipment.

When working from home, you are responsible for ensuring a quiet, organized, and comfortable setting, free from significant noise or distractions. This role requires the use of standard home office equipment, including but not limited to computers and phones. As you may be exposed to minimal noise and temperature variations depending on your home setup, it's important to maintain a workspace that supports productivity and well-being. Reliable internet connectivity and a suitable workstation are essential to fulfill job responsibilities effectively.

Physical Requirements:

The basic physical requirements of this role are:

• Sitting, Standing and Walking: Ability to occasionally (up to 3 hours) walk and stand during their work hours, but will be sitting for extended periods (6 – 8 hours) daily.
• Bending, squatting, climbing, kneeling, crawling or twisting: The capability to perform these activities is generally not required.
• Lifting and Carrying: The capability to lift and carry equipment and materials is generally not required.
• Manual Dexterity: Simple grasping with their hand, reaching above their shoulder and fine manipulation of their hands may occasionally be required.
• Repetitive Motions: The repetitive use of hands daily, usually for keyboarding/typing.
• Visual Acuity: Ability to view paperwork and computer monitors as virtually all work will be on paper or online.

Work Location: This is a hybrid position; candidates must be willing to work onsite in San Diego. Out-of-state applicants must disclose their willingness to relocate.

Compensation: The expected hiring range for this position is $135,641.00 to $195,000.00/annually commensurate with relevant experience.

We welcome talented individuals of all backgrounds regardless of gender, sex, religion, race, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, perceived disability, pregnancy, pregnancy-related condition, reproductive health decisions, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, HIV/AIDS, marital status, covered veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations. We are proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer.

As part of this commitment, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If a reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact our Benefits Team at (858) 646-3100 or via e-mail at benefits@sbpdiscovery.org