The Network Computing Systems (NeCSys) group at the MIT Media Lab is responsible for all the digital infrastructure that the Lab uses to produce, consume, and store its bits. We are looking for a personable, talented, and energetic Assistant Director with solid Systems Engineering skills who will assume a leading role in the design, operations and maintenance of the systems and infrastructure operated by NeCSys for the Lab. Will work closely with the Director of NeCSys, our user population, and the rest of the NeCSys team.

Responsibilities

Management 

• Supervises all five main functions of NeCSys and their corresponding staff–networking, computing, multimedia, communications, and support center;
• Responsible for staffing, performance management, training and development of NeCSys employees and temporary staff including student workers;
•  Prepares annual budget for NeCSys operations;
• Establishes computing priorities, determines necessary activities, and allocates staff time, budget and equipment accordingly.
• Implements and provides significant input into the development of NeCSys strategies, workflows, policies and procedures, technical standards and methods, and priorities.

System Design/Architecture/Deployment 

• Leads the design, deployment and operations of the Lab’s digital infrastructure from Layer 2 ethernet switching to storage arrays, virtualization and high-performance computing servers;
• Applies development skills on software tools for system management, testing and benchmarking, configuration management, log storage and analysis, security incident analysis, data management, and video streaming;

System Maintenance  

• Ensures ongoing reliability, testing, performance, and management of computing systems and infrastructure;
• Determines priorities for IT support activities to ensure that organization’s information systems function reliably and resources are used effectively;
• Oversees planning and implementation of IT technology solutions, ensuring successful fulfillment of end-user requirements, proper and accurate testing, and sound implementation.

Research Computing

• In conjunction with NeCSys Director, develops short-term operational plans and strategic goals to meet the computing needs of the Lab;
• Collaborates with faculty, students, and staff to understand their current and future technology needs and determine how appropriate systems should be installed, configured, and maintained to best meet these needs;
• Analyzes trends in technology, assessing the impact of emerging technologies and develops solutions to address technology and business issues;

Procurement/Equipment Management

• Establishes and leverages strategic relationships with key vendors;
• Determines configuration options and directs installation and deployment;
• Oversees planning and implementation of IT solutions;
• Serves on boards, working groups, and committees at DLC, school, and institute level;
• Other duties as needed or required.

Qualifications

MINIMUM REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• BS in Computer Science or related discipline and five years of related experience.
• Demonstrable experience in the following areas:

1. Systems software development
2. TCP/IP and Ethernet networking
3. Hypervisor and Container platforms
4. Datacenter and Cloud operations
5. Configuration management systems
6. HPC cluster deployment and operations
7. Cybersecurity monitoring and auditing tools
8. Linux/Windows/OS X internals and interoperability
9. Active Directory
10. Familiarity with Audio Visual equipment and multimedia networking

• Excellent interpersonal communication, solid systems architecture, software development and sharp problem-solving skills and the ability to learn and adapt quickly to new technologies are required.
• Earning the respect of colleagues through demonstration of solid technical and soft skills is an essential part of the job.
• Evening/night/weekend work occasionally required for off-hour deployments;

PREFERRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s degree or equivalent;
• Two years academic study in a business or finance heavy discipline;
• Ten years experience in information technology in a higher-education research environment;
•  Experience creating budgets, financial reports, and journals in accordance with Generally Accepted Account Practices;
•  Familiarity with the following:

1. Information Technology Service Management principles and tools, ServiceNow;
2. Monitoring software, Nagios, ntopng, and Suricata preferred;
3. Networking architecture, Cisco and Meraki preferred;
4. Infoblox;
5. Hyper-V;
6. Databases, MSSQL, MariaDB, and Elasticsearch preferred;
7. Web servers, nginx and Apache preferred;
8. Version control systems, git/Github preferred;
9. Visualization software, Tableau preferred.

• Experience with rapid prototyping, graphical design, and wide-format printing.

This is a hybrid position, with 3 days a week, or as needed, required onsite in Cambridge, MA

Pay range minimum: $102,350

Pay range maximum: $138,700

To apply, go to https://hr.mit.edu/jobs and search for job ID #25572