Executive Director of Research Computing: Office of Innovative Technologies - UTK

The Executive Director of Research Computing provides leadership and management for the staff and services for the UT Research Computing Cluster, which provides services to the faculty and students across all of the UT campuses and institutes. This position works closely with administrative and faculty advisory boards to set long-term direction of the group, aligning with strategic goals of the University. This position will direct a team focused on the delivery of high performance research capability, including the design, deployment and operation of an advanced computing cluster as well as staff who can work with high profile faculty on applying advanced research techniques involving compliant on premise and cloud computing resources and/or high performance computing.

Strategic Leadership

• Execute the strategic vision for research computing, aligning with the UT’s research priorities, including the HPC, Cloud and AI initiatives.
• Collaborate with schools, departments, research centers, and faculty to identify emerging computational needs and opportunities. Identify opportunities for innovation and growth.
• Align the facility's goals with UT’s overall research strategy.

Service Excellence

• Drive service improvements with a strong focus on faculty needs, ensuring research computing services are responsive to emerging research and technology opportunities.
• Evaluate and improve services through fact-based measurement, service level definitions, sound financial practices, security policy, and effective user-focused and faculty-centric governance processes.
• Ensure continuous alignment with institutional research priorities and discipline-specific computing requirements.

Trusted Partner

• Build strong collaborative relationships with faculty, providing reliable expertise to address research computing needs.
• Assist faculty in drafting research proposals, identifying computational solutions, and resolving technical challenges.
• Act as a strategic advisor, ensuring sustainable, cost-effective solutions for faculty research projects.
• Collaborates with other technical leaders and services providers including the secure research computing group.

Research and Scholarship

• Lead the preparation and submission of major grant proposals for computing infrastructure and research projects.
• Collaborate with faculty and researchers to craft compelling grant narratives that align with institutional priorities and funding agency goals
• Co-author high-impact publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, demonstrating the institution's leadership in research computing
• Cultivate relationships with internal and external partners (industry, government labs, other academic institutions) that can lead to joint publications and expanded research opportunities

Communication and Engagement

• Foster an engaged community of researchers by facilitating open communication and regular updates on HPC capabilities.
• Articulate complex technical concepts clearly to both non-technical stakeholders and technical experts, ensuring alignment between researchers and IT services.
• Actively listen to faculty feedback and adjust services to meet evolving research needs.

Technical and Service Expertise

• Maintain an in-depth knowledge of research computing systems and their associated components, whether on-premises or in the cloud.
• Provide expert leadership in computational computing, including AI, hardware, software, and data.
• Serve as an expert with computational tools, software, and programming languages commonly used in research.
• Ensure compliance with federal requirements relevant to university needs, including the evolving AI guidelines

Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s required with a Master’s strongly preferred
• Experience: 10 years of progressively increased job responsibility relevant to research computing.
• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: Excellent interpersonal skills.
  • Excellent leadership ability.
  • Excellent decision-making skills.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills.
  • Excellent problem-solving skills.
  • Excellent conflict management skills.
  • Excellent listening and analytical skills.
  • Demonstrated ability to delegate tasks appropriately and mentor staff.
  • Demonstrated ability to simultaneously manage multiple tasks/projects.
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, and training
  • Knowledge of computer hardware and software
  • Productivity application skills (Microsoft Office, Office 365, and Google)
  • Good time management skills
  • Excellent knowledge best practices and protocols relative to research computing

Preferred Qualifications

• Education: Master's degree
• Experience:
  • In depth experience in research computing, establishing secure, high performance computing environments within a major research institution.
  • Experience could include, but is not limited to, system architecture, job scheduling, distributed processing, parallel code, data science (hadoop, spark, tensorflow).
  • Previous supervisory experience.

Work Location:

• Location: Knoxville, UTK’s main campus
• Onsite or hybrid

Compensation and Benefits:

• UT market range: 20
• Anticipated hiring range: $130,000 – 160,000
• Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here
• Find more information on UT Benefits here

Application Instructions:

To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments. To be assured of full consideration, completed applications with all requested materials should be submitted on or before [DATE]

• Resume
• Cover Letter
• List of 3 Professional References