Research Infrastructure Engineering Lead

Role: Research Infrastructure Engineering Lead

Location: Birmingham (Hybrid)

Salary: £58,000 – £67,000

Contract: Fixed Term until March 2031

Network IT are working with a leading research-intensive organisation to recruit a Research Infrastructure Engineering Lead. This is a rare opportunity to take on a senior technical leadership role within a world-class Research Computing environment, supporting cutting-edge research across multiple disciplines.

You will play a key role in shaping the future of large-scale research infrastructure, supporting High Performance Computing (HPC), High Throughput Computing (HTC), cloud platforms, research storage, and next-generation networking technologies that underpin nationally significant research programmes.

Role Overview

As a Research Infrastructure Engineering Lead, you will act as one of the organisation's senior technical authorities for research infrastructure, combining strategic leadership, technical expertise, and team management responsibilities.

You will lead the design, evolution, and operation of critical research computing platforms, including High Performance Computing (HPC), High Throughput Computing (HTC), storage, cloud, and networking services, ensuring they remain reliable, scalable, secure, and capable of meeting future research demands.

Alongside your technical leadership responsibilities, you will manage and develop a team of Infrastructure Engineers, driving innovation, technical excellence, and the successful delivery of complex infrastructure projects.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the strategic development, enhancement, and lifecycle management of large-scale research infrastructure platforms

Oversee the operation and reliability of High Performance Computing (HPC), High Throughput Computing (HTC), cloud, storage, and networking services

Provide technical leadership for infrastructure architecture, integration, and service design

Line manage and develop a team of Infrastructure Engineers, fostering a high-performance and collaborative culture

Lead complex infrastructure and research technology projects from design through to implementation and operational support

Develop technical roadmaps and support long-term investment planning across research computing technologies

Act as a senior escalation point for infrastructure issues, technical challenges, and major incidents

Build strong relationships with researchers, academic stakeholders, suppliers, and external partners

Evaluate emerging technologies and drive innovation across research computing services

Develop technical specifications, risk assessments, and implementation strategies for major infrastructure initiatives

Represent the organisation within national and international research and technology communities

Essential Skills & Experience

Degree-qualified or equivalent, with substantial experience in infrastructure engineering or research computing environments

Significant experience designing, implementing, and supporting large-scale research or enterprise infrastructure

Strong expertise in one or more of:

High Performance Computing (HPC)

High Throughput Computing (HTC)

Large-scale research storage platforms

High-performance networking

Private cloud infrastructure (e.g. OpenStack)

Extensive Linux systems administration experience

Strong understanding of compute, storage, networking, security, identity management, and research technology ecosystems

Experience with automation, DevOps, Infrastructure as Code, CI/CD, and configuration management tools

Proven experience leading complex technical projects and delivering large-scale infrastructure initiatives

Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical audiences

Experience mentoring, coaching, and leading technical teams

Desirable Skills & Experience

Experience with public cloud platforms supporting research workloads

Experience supporting national research infrastructure or external research communities

Familiarity with Agile, ITIL, and structured service management practices

Experience contributing to funding bids, research programmes, or technical strategy development

Experience working with GPU-accelerated computing environments