Research Computing Software Engineer (Platform Observability)

About the role

We are seeking a motivated, self-starting Computing Software Specialist (Platform Observability) to join our Cloud Technology Advancement Department in the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State. In this role you will perform DevSecOps functions with a strong focus on observability and platform reliability — building and operating the monitoring, logging, and tracing backbone for our high-performance and cloud-native computing environments. This position would work out of our State College, PA, location. ARL is an authorized DoD SkillBridge partner and welcomes all transitioning military members to apply.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement secure, automated infrastructure solutions for high-performance computing environments through Agile software development
• Build and operate observability infrastructure across the three pillars — metrics, logging, and tracing — including dashboards, actionable alerting, and health/performance monitoring
• Work to maintain and monitor our CI/CD pipelines to allow for frequent, trouble-free deployments of infrastructure code, and deploy/operate workloads in container orchestration environments across bare metal and cloud
• Assist in performing and reviewing pull requests, writing unit tests, and producing occasional documentation as needed
• Provide demonstrations of your work to the internal team and occasionally external customers
• Coordinate with the Agile team to identify risks, issues, requirements, and design solutions for project-level activity on a daily basis

Required Skills & Experience

• DevSecOps tools/practices and Linux-based infrastructure / system administration
• Infrastructure/automation via configuration management and scripting tools
• Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipeline development skills
• Container orchestration and interest in cloud-native technologies
• Observability concepts and tooling — collecting and analyzing metrics, logs, and traces

Preferred Skills & Experience

• One or more observability stacks — metrics/monitoring, log aggregation, distributed tracing, and dashboard/alerting platforms
• Service-level objectives (SLOs/SLIs) and supporting on-call/incident response practices
• Container orchestration at scale and familiarity with public, private, or hybrid cloud platforms
• Configuration management via distributed version control, and experience with containerization

Minimum Qualifications

If filled as Scientific Computing Engagement Specialist (ARL) - Intermediate Professional: Associate Degree + 2+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience accepted.

If filled as Scientific Computing Software Specialist (ARL) - Professional: Bachelor's Degree (no prior relevant work experience required; previous relevant work experience accepted in lieu of education).

Required Certifications: None

Work location

Your working location will be fully on-site located in State College, PA but options exist for hybrid of on-site/work from home based on project-dependent ability. Questions related to flexible work should be directed to the hiring manager during the interview process.

Pay & Benefits

The salary range for this position, including all possible grades, is $68,604.00 - $102,900.00.

Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional well-being. In addition to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, employees enjoy robust retirement plans and substantial paid time off which includes holidays, vacation and sick time. One of the standout benefits is the generous 75% tuition discount, available to employees as well as eligible spouses and children.