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ACENET: R&D Technical Solutions Specialist

Last Updated: Juin 1st, 2022

ACENET is seeking a R&D Technical Solutions Specialist located in St. John’s, Newfoundland to assist industry clients and industry-applied academic researchers in navigating and using the advanced computing resources (HPC, GPU, cloud) available with ACENET. 

ACENET’s central mission is to help get research done. We do this by providing clients with computing resources, and by making those as easy to use as we can. This position will appeal to a motivated self-starter and relationship-builder who is equally comfortable in both academic and industry settings, and interested in working with industry and applied researchers across a range of disciplines and sectors in Newfoundland & Labrador, throughout Atlantic Canada, and nationally.  

Responsibilities

  • Consult with clients, both new and experienced, to provide support and expertise in Advanced Computing and High Performance Computing. Topics of consultation could include parallel programming, code optimization, cloud services, data analytics, GPU programming, use of job queuing systems, and data management.
  • Assist Director Business Development in: industry strategy, developing and executing marketing plans; community engagement; and, identifying prospective clients, understanding their needs and advising on technical solutions.
  • Participate in the evaluation of ACENET’s Industry client platform and experience
  • Liaise with university and community college innovation centres and industry associations to identify and serve advanced computing needs.
  • Maintain relationships with clients to ensure ACENET is meeting their current and preparing for their future needs.
  • Ensure client support issues are addressed in a timely manner.
  • Facilitate connections with subject experts within the region and throughout ACENET’s national network.
  • Participate in relevant national committees, working groups, and research support activities;
  • Work with the CTO, Director Business Development and the ACENET team to identify and respond to market trends, ensuring our services deliver on needs currently and in the future.
  • Develop and deliver training, workshops, seminars and information sessions around Advanced Computing technologies, approaches, and methodologies.
  • Perform other related duties as required. 

Background and Skills

As the ideal candidate, you will have a graduate degree in a STEM field, solid industry experience and an established network in Newfoundland & Labrador. You will have well-rounded computing skills and are able to apply them across a variety of needs scenarios. With a proven ability to quickly learn new technologies, you don’t hesitate to seek answers when faced with an unknown. You are insightful, able to dig to uncover client needs, and are a problem-solver who comes up with creative solutions when needed.

You must have: 

  • Experience in an industry research and development environment;
  • Several years of computational experience and significant programming skills in a Linux environment;
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, and the ability to translate scientific and technical terms into plain language;
  • A strong client-focused work ethic;
  • The ability to balance multiple project activities and responsibilities, prioritize work, manage time and maintain initiative with a high degree of independence; and
  • The ability and desire to be a team player.

We try to ensure our team members have complementary skill sets that address most of the disciplinary areas of our clients. As such, skills or experience in any of the following will be considered an asset.

  • Parallel computing and use of HPC environments
  • Experience in multiple programming languages (such as R, Python, C/C++, Fortran)
  • Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, TensorFlow
  • GPU computing: CUDA, OpenACC, or OpenCL
  • Data analytics and scientific visualization
  • Background in computational fluid dynamics, bioinformatics, or geomatics
  • Experience in bioinformatics
  • Experience in database design and use (relational or graph), OCR, XML, XHTML, XSLT, xQuery, SPARQL, and/or SQL
  • Experience using IaaS cloud offerings such as AWS and GCP
  • Experience preparing and delivering tutorials, workshops, lectures and seminars
  • Fluency in French

Benefits

This is an opportunity to work with a small, well-educated, cohesive and highly supportive distributed team with a skill set that runs deep. At our core is a continuous learning culture with opportunities for self-learning and professional development, a strong client service mentality, a can-do attitude and a passion for solving problems and helping clients bring R&D to fruition. This position offers you the ability to take initiative, create and execute your own projects in support of our mission. Through ACENET’s partnership in the Digital Research Alliance of Canada Federation, you will also have opportunities to work with a highly skilled, varied group of peers across the country.

You will be part of a team that works for a diverse clientele doing every kind of research imaginable – developing lighter aerospace materials, mapping environmental systems, analyzing Shakespeare, engineering ship propellers, mining historical documents, designing new drugs, creating green energy alternatives, informing public policy on nutrition, using AI to fight COVID, and many others. Areas as wide-ranging as nanotechnology, social science, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, ocean science, arts and humanities, genomics, and health research increasingly rely on the tools, support and training provided by ACENET. We help to develop and retain high technology skills in Atlantic Canada, grow our innovation economy and create socio-economic benefits in the region.

Salary is commensurate with experience. The position includes annual vacation, personal days, sick leave, tuition support, health benefits and the pension plan available to employees of Memorial University. 

About ACENET

Established in 2003, ACENET is a consortium of universities and colleges in Atlantic Canada that provides researchers in academia and industry with Advanced Computing resources, tools, software, training, and support. We help our clients use Advanced Computing as a means to accelerate discovery and innovation, helping Atlantic Canada to reach the forefront of research and development.

ACENET is a regional partner of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, the national organization responsible for coordinating infrastructure and activities required for advanced research computing (ARC), research data management (RDM) and research software (RS) for post-secondary institutions in Canada.