Research Facilitator II

PRIMARY PURPOSE:

The Research Facilitator II supports research and instructional use of advanced computing resources including High Performance Computing (HPC) through the establishment of relationships with the research community, specifically serving as a dedicated resource for University of South Florida College of Public Health researchers and liaison with the Research Technology team. This position also pursues grant funding for activities both individually and in cooperation with other researchers.

This role includes proactive engagement, consultation, and training for researchers within the College of Public Health, especially to those new to High Performance Computing or requiring complex, data-intensive research workflows. This relationship with researchers from the College of Public Health affords the use of advanced computing resources through support requests, in-person consultations, and fully embedded research services as appropriate.

This position is within Research Technology who performs and manages leading edge technology services to support the advancement of research. This position is responsible for software and data, facilitation, and systems services in partnership with researchers. This position engages and collaborates with researchers in the use of a broad set of Research Technology systems, tools, and software to enable research productivity.

ORGANIZATIONAL SUMMARY:

Located in the vibrant and diverse Tampa Bay region of Florida’s gulf coast, the University of South Florida (USF) is a Preeminent State Research University with campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee. Rated as one of the top places to live in the U.S., Tampa Bay offers a high quality of life, year-round sunshine, and easy access to top-rated entertainment. USF is one of the nation’s largest public universities, serving more than 50,000 students with an annual budget of $1.8 billon. Over the past five years, USF has been the fastest-rising university in the nation, public or private, on the U.S. News and World Report's list of best universities, which it ranks as the 44th best public university in America.

USF is proud to be an innovating partner within the Tampa Bay region, listed by Forbes as the top emerging tech city in the country. 

USF Information Technology (USF IT) provides technology services and support for the University of South Florida. The IT team, led by the Vice President and CIO, provides the following services: Administrative Services, Client Support, Communication Services, Teaching and Learning, Analytics and Reporting, Mobile and Web Services, Consulting Services, Cybersecurity Service and Research Technologies. For more information, please visit: Information Technology | University of South Florida (usf.edu).

ADDITIONAL INFO FOR APPLICANTS: The selected candidate must have current work authorization in the United States. This position is not eligible for Visa Sponsorship.

USF offers GREAT BENEFITS to full time employees!!

• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Paid Vacation Days
• Paid Sick Days
• 11 Paid Holidays
• Various Retirement Options, including 401K employer match
• Tuition Assistance (available for yourself, spouse, partner or dependent)
   

For more information about your total compensation package and other USF benefits, please visit: Work at USF

PRIMARY JOB DUTIES:

(35%) HPC Computational Research Support

• Consults with researchers on best technology fit for their research advanced computational need. Connect and coordinate interactions between researchers and technology providers.
• Understands and consults researchers on end-to-end data workflows including data collection platforms, secure storage, transfer methods, and long-term system access.
• Collaborates with storage and systems teams to identify and escalate issues with storage capacity, performance, and data transfer.
• Assists researchers in navigating and implementing file storage integration and automated data transfer solutions across various storage platforms, internal and external HPC systems, and external collaborators.
• Installs, configures, and supports software stacks dedicated to the College of Public Health.
• Help to facilitate the design and debugging of research workflows alongside researchers.
• Translates research requirements to the Research Technology team to align computational requirements with resources and architectural constraints.

(30%) Researcher Engagement & Relationship Management

• Serves as the primary point of contact for the College of Public Health and their research groups and maintains ongoing relationships through regular meetings, consultations, and follow-ups.
• Advocates for researcher needs with Research Technology to address their compute, storage, security, and system requirements, ensuring timely communication and resolution of issues.
• Understands the evolving research workflows within the College of Public Health to address anticipated support requirements and barriers before it impacts their research productivity.
• Supports researchers collaborating with international advisors to understand the appropriate systems for secure access, data sharing, and compliance.

(20%) Training, Documentation & Outreach

• Aids in the design and implementation of processes that promote the interface between the entire USF research community and the HPC systems administration group.
• Provide regular communications to systems and software/data professionals.
• Design and provide introductory training for graduate students and researchers on Research Computing resources, best practices, and institutional systems.
• Develops and manages a repository for shared documentation, on-boarding materials, code, data, and knowledge bases for user references and support.
• May supervise the work of other employees within Research Technology.

(10%) Grant & Research Collaboration

• Pursues grant funding individually, and in cooperation with researchers from the College of Public Health. Aids colleagues in the pursuit of grant funding.
• Collaborates with researchers and faculty on grant proposals to contribute technical narratives related to computing, data management, workflows, and infrastructure. 

(5%) Other Duties as Assigned

• Performs other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Master's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field. OR a Bachelor's degree in a related field and 5 years of experience in research environments.

Degree Equivalency Clause: Four years of direct experience for a bachelor’s degree.
• Senate Bill 1310- The Florida Senate (https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1310) is conditional upon meeting all employment eligibility requirements in the U.S.
• SB 1310: Substitution of Work Experience for Postsecondary Education Requirements
• A public employer may include a postsecondary degree as a baseline requirement only as an alternative to the number of years of direct experience required, not to exceed:
• (a) Two years of direct experience for an associate degree;
• (b) Four years of direct experience for a bachelor’s degree;
• (c) Six years of direct experience for a master’s degree;
• (d) Seven years of direct experience for a professional degree; or
• (e) Nine years of direct experience for a doctoral degree
• Related work experience may not substitute for any required licensure, certification, or registration required for the position of employment as established by the public employer and indicated in the advertised description of the position of employment.
• Minimum Qualifications that require a high school diploma are exempt from SB 1310.

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

• Experience working Linux in a high-performance computing (HPC) environment and distributed computing systems including familiarity with modern schedulers such as Slurm.
• Strong proficiency in Python, R, and/or Matlab for scientific computing purposes including experience with common libraries.
• Experience with statistical languages such as SAS, SPSS, or R.
• Experience with advanced statistical analysis including survey data and longitudinal studies.
• Experience with shell scripting for workflow implementation, automation, and/or HPC job submissions.

INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE:

• Academic research environments and incentives
• Grant-funded research operations
• Data governance, privacy, and international collaboration considerations

SOFT SKILLS:

IT CORE COMPETENCIES

• Growth Mindset: Takes ownership of personal growth and embraces the concept that intelligence and talent can be developed through continuous learning. Willing to take on new challenges, and views failure as an opportunity to grow.
• Communication: Comfortable using a broad range of communication styles, and chooses appropriate, effective ways to communicate. Adapts communication style depending on the audience and situation. Listens and asks questions to develop a better understanding.
• Collaboration: Collaborates with others in the pursuit of common missions, visions, values and goals. Fosters a sense of community within and across teams, building on mutual respect, trust, and drawing on the strengths of others.
• Client Obsession: Client focused when creating solutions or solving problems, believing that everything we do is to earn and keep our clients’ trust.
• Ownership: Takes responsibility, accountability and proactively focuses on areas they can directly influence. Understands their role within the team and recognizes that they share the team’s successes and failures.
• Outcome Driven: Focuses on desired results, business outcomes, and how to achieve them. Takes appropriate actions to ensure commitments are met and results achieved.