Okay, I've searched for Senior HPC Systems Administrator roles in Dallas, TX, requiring 5+ years of Linux system administration experience, with proficiency in SLURM and high-performance networking technologies such as InfiniBand. I have found 27 positions for you.

Sure. Here's the analysis:

Job Analysis:

This HPC Systems Administrator role is fundamentally about enabling cutting-edge research through expert management and optimization of high-performance computing infrastructure. The candidate is expected to design, deploy, and maintain complex HPC clusters primarily within a Linux environment, ensuring these systems deliver reliable, scalable computational power to support diverse and demanding research workloads. The role requires deep technical expertise in Linux systems administration, HPC cluster management, parallel file systems like Lustre, high-speed networking such as InfiniBand, and job schedulers like SLURM. Scripting skills (Bash, Python, or Perl) are critical for automating repetitive tasks and enhancing system efficiency. Success lies in the ability to balance meticulous system tuning and troubleshooting with proactive collaboration across interdisciplinary teams, including researchers and vendors. Candidates must navigate frequent complexity and ambiguity inherent in research computing environments, making autonomous decisions to resolve performance bottlenecks, deploy new software tools, and maintain system uptime. Strong communication skills are vital to bridge technical and non-technical stakeholders. Early success likely looks like rapidly stabilizing HPC services, optimizing resource utilization, reducing downtime, and fostering productive partnerships with end users and hardware vendors.

Company Analysis:

IDR, Inc. is a seasoned, employee-owned staffing firm with a diverse industry footprint, including IT and government services. While the role itself is deeply technical and research-oriented, the recruiter company IDR brings a culture of high-touch client and consultant engagement, reflected in their award-winning reputation. This suggests the candidate will experience a professional, supportive staffing environment that values strong relationships and quality delivery. Though IDR is not the direct employer of the HPC services but rather the staffing provider, the position being onsite in Dallas points to placement at a research-oriented client with sophisticated infrastructure needs. IDR's culture of empowerment and leadership development indicates the candidate should not only be technically strong but also open to continuous learning and growth within fast-paced, mission-driven contexts. The company’s emphasis on long-term partnerships may translate into expectations of stability, reliability, and professionalism in the candidate. The candidate should be prepared to demonstrate alignment with such values and readiness to step into a role that demands both technical independence and collaborative diplomacy.

Absolutely. Here are some mock interview questions that could come up:

• Behavioral: Tell me about a time when you had to troubleshoot a critical HPC system failure under tight deadlines. How did you prioritize and resolve the issue?
• Behavioral: Describe an experience where you collaborated with researchers or non-technical team members to implement a computing solution. How did you handle communication and expectations?
• Behavioral: Give an example of when you automated a repetitive system administration task. What tools or scripts did you use, and what was the impact?
• Behavioral: Have you ever had to coordinate with hardware or software vendors to resolve complex system issues? Walk me through that process.
• Technical: How would you approach designing and deploying an HPC cluster from scratch in a Linux environment?
• Technical: Explain your experience managing parallel file systems such as Lustre. What are common performance challenges, and how do you address them?
• Technical: What steps would you take to optimize job scheduling using SLURM for a heavy, mixed workload environment?
• Technical: Describe your proficiency with scripting to automate HPC tasks. Provide an example of a script you've written that improved system operations.
• Situational: Imagine a researcher reports that their parallel application is running slower than expected on the HPC cluster. How would you investigate and troubleshoot this?
• Situational: You discover an outdated firmware issue on several HPC nodes that is causing intermittent failures. How do you communicate this to stakeholders and manage the remediation?
• Situational: Suppose you have conflicting priorities between routine maintenance tasks and critical user requests. How do you balance and manage these demands?
• Company Fit: Why are you interested in working onsite in Dallas within this HPC Systems Administrator role, especially in a research computing environment supported by a staffing firm like IDR?
• Company Fit: How do your professional values and work style align with IDR's emphasis on empowerment, continuous development, and high-touch engagement?
• Questions for Interviewer: Can you describe the typical research projects or departments that the HPC systems will support?
• Questions for Interviewer: What are the biggest technical challenges currently facing the HPC infrastructure team?
• Questions for Interviewer: How does the company foster professional growth and knowledge sharing among HPC systems administrators?