Senior HPC Storage Engineer - Classified Environment

Requisition ID: 17319

About the role

The Field Intelligence Operations Division (FIOD) of the National Security Directorate (NSSD) is seeking a Senior Engineer for a Classified High Performance Computing (HPC) Storage & Infrastructure role, helping shape the secure, high-performance computing capabilities behind some of the nation’s most consequential national security and scientific missions. This is an opportunity for an accomplished technical professional who wants to remain deeply engaged in engineering while influencing architecture, technical strategy, and the future of classified HPC infrastructure. You will lead and support initiatives that advance the security, performance, scalability, functionality, and reliability of storage and supporting systems across multiple classified HPC environments. As a senior technical advisor and subject matter expert, you will tackle complex infrastructure challenges, translate demanding mission and scientific requirements into resilient technical solutions, and help evaluate and introduce emerging technologies. You will work alongside scientists, researchers, HPC engineers, cybersecurity professionals, technical leaders, vendors, and mission partners to deliver capabilities where performance, availability, and security are critical. Join ORNL and help build the infrastructure that enables world-class science in support of national security. You will work alongside leaders in HPC and advanced computing while helping develop and modernize the storage capabilities required for current and emerging national security missions. We are looking for someone who combines deep technical expertise with curiosity, leadership, and an engineering mindset—someone who wants to solve difficult problems, influence what comes next, and build advanced computing infrastructure that directly supports science and national security.

Responsibilities

HPC Storage Architecture & Engineering

• Lead the architecture, design, modernization, and optimization of high-performance storage and supporting systems across classified HPC environments.
• Translate complex scientific and mission requirements into secure, scalable, resilient, and high-performing infrastructure solutions.
• Apply systems engineering and analysis to define hardware, software, storage, networking, and integration requirements.
• Develop prototypes, automation, scripts, and engineering solutions using technologies such as Python, Bash, and modern configuration-management tools.
• Establish technical standards, engineering best practices, performance objectives, and lifecycle strategies for HPC storage infrastructure.

Performance, Reliability & Operations

• Analyze and optimize storage performance, scalability, availability, and data movement across HPC environments.
• Lead troubleshooting and root-cause analysis of complex storage and systems issues in mission-critical production environments.
• Develop and enhance monitoring, metrics, and observability using technologies such as Grafana, Nagios, and related platforms.
• Support lifecycle planning and coordinate with vendors and internal engineering teams to resolve complex hardware and software challenges.
• Participate in planned maintenance and an on-call rotation supporting mission-critical systems.

Security & Classified Computing

• Architect and operate HPC infrastructure in accordance with applicable classified computing, cybersecurity, and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with cybersecurity and Information Assurance teams to integrate security throughout system design, implementation, operation, and modernization.
• Identify and remediate vulnerabilities while maintaining the performance and availability required by mission workloads.

Technical Leadership & Innovation

• Serve as a trusted technical advisor and subject matter expert for classified HPC storage and supporting infrastructure.
• Collaborate with scientists, researchers, engineers, cybersecurity professionals, and mission partners to develop solutions for complex computational and data requirements.
• Mentor technical staff, share expertise, and help develop engineering capabilities across the organization.
• Evaluate emerging HPC, storage, AI/ML, data-management, and infrastructure technologies and identify opportunities to advance mission capabilities.
• Help shape technical roadmaps and guide the evolution of classified HPC storage infrastructure.

Requirements

• BS degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a closely related field and a minimum of twelve years of relevant systems engineering, HPC, storage infrastructure, or technical consulting experience. An equivalent combination of education, experience, and certifications may be considered.
• Minimum of five years of experience supporting Intelligence Community environments or missions.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex technical efforts and translate requirements into scalable infrastructure solutions.
• Eligibility for access to Sensitive or Special Access Program information.
• Current Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced experience with HPC storage architectures and parallel file systems, including Lustre, IBM Storage Scale/GPFS, BeeGFS, or similar technologies.
• Advanced Linux engineering experience within large-scale compute