Research User Computing Platforms Lead

About the Role

The Research User Computing Platforms Lead is responsible for providing expert hands-on leadership and oversight of KAUST's Linux scientific workstation platform. This includes managing architecture, provisioning, configuration, automation, security, and lifecycle processes. The incumbent ensures that high-performance Linux workstations and their remote access systems meet the diverse needs of faculty, researchers, and students engaged in research and teaching. Additionally, the role oversees and directs the Windows and macOS engineering teams to maintain consistency and dependable service across all user computing platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Define the architecture and technical strategies for the Linux scientific workstation fleet at KAUST, covering configuration management, provisioning, inventory, patching, access control, security measures, and lifecycle management.
• Implement infrastructure-as-code principles, GitOps practices, automation techniques, and engineering standards for the Linux platform team while guiding the Windows and macOS endpoint platforms.
• Lead decision-making for build versus buy choices and tooling related to provisioning, configuration, secrets management, observability, and overall fleet operations, transparently documenting risks and tradeoffs.
• Manage the design and continuous enhancement of physical and remote workstation infrastructures to guarantee secure, high-performance user access.
• Oversee daily platform operations such as bare-metal and virtual provisioning, patch scheduling, inventory maintenance, drift monitoring, observability, reliability, and uninterrupted service for active research users.
• Ensure the security and compliance status of the workstation fleet, including host hardening, secrets protection, audit trails, compliance benchmarks, and adherence to standards like NIST 800-171 and CIS Benchmarks.
• Establish hardware standards, schedule refresh cycles, validate models, manage driver compatibility, automate firmware and BIOS updates, and plan hardware lifecycles while balancing research priorities, budgets, and minimizing user disruption.
• Lead, mentor, supervise, and develop the Linux workstation platform team alongside Windows and macOS engineers, clarifying roles, objectives, performance targets, and fostering best engineering practices.
• Act as the primary technical escalation contact for complex platform issues spanning provisioning, access control, hardware, and cross-platform endpoint challenges.
• Collaborate directly with faculty, researchers, students, vendors, and internal IT units to comprehend needs, align expectations, and convert research and teaching requirements into sustainable solutions.
• Partner with network, security, identity and access management (IAM), storage, and advanced computing teams to deliver integrated, secure, and compliant platform services.
• Provide regular updates and strategic advice to senior IT leadership regarding platform direction, associated risks, lifecycle planning, investment requirements, and service enhancement proposals.
• Undertake additional tasks relevant to the role as assigned, utilizing the employee's expertise and abilities within the domain.

Qualifications and Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, engineering, or related field required.
• Master’s degree in a relevant technical or management discipline preferred.
• Preferred certifications include Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE), Linux Professional Institute Certification (LPIC), Puppet Certified Professional or other equivalent configuration management certifications.
• Networking or security certifications relevant to Network Access Control (NAC) / 802.1X such as CCNA or Aruba certifications are advantageous.
• ITIL Foundation certification or higher, and security certifications such as CISSP, CISM, or CompTIA Security+ are also preferred.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Extensive experience supporting Linux systems infrastructure, platform or endpoint engineering with proven ownership of large-scale systems.
• Proficient in declarative configuration management tools, specifically Puppet or Ansible, with a strong infrastructure-as-code and GitOps approach utilizing Git workflows, code reviews, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Demonstrated experience managing large fleets (500+ endpoints) of Linux workstations, including Ubuntu and Rocky Linux, within enterprise, academic, scientific, or research environments.
• Knowledge in network-based provisioning, patch management, endpoint security, observability, hardware lifecycle management, firmware/BIOS automation, and maintaining security/compliance baselines.
• Familiarity with network access control mechanisms including 802.1X, RADIUS, certificate-based authentication, endpoint supplicant configurations, and provisioning or emergency access situations.
• Proven technical leadership skills: setting architectural direction, making strategic tradeoffs, mentoring engineering staff, enhancing engineering practices, and supporting recruitment and team growth.
• Experience liaising with faculty, researchers, students, technical teams, vendors, and leadership to gather requirements, manage priorities, and balance competing demands effectively.
• Expertise in supporting high-performance or GPU-enabled scientific computing, including familiarity with NVIDIA/CUDA technologies, performance tuning, and customized workstation configurations for specific workloads.