Computer Scientists, Software Engineers

Council for the Central Laboratories of the Research Councils
Daresbury Laboratory, Cheshire, England
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxford, England

CLRC - One of Europe's largest Research Support Organisations based in the UK is seeking 7 qualified candidates for the following positions in its e-Science Centre:

In the recent Government Science Spending Review, OST allocated £5M to CLRC over the next 3 years to develop a Grid infrastructure integrating its scientific experimental, computing and data facilities. The CLRC e-Science Centre (www.e-science.clrc.ac.uk) was established on 1 April 2001 to carry out this programme. The Grid is an emerging fast growing area of distributed computing which aims to provide transparent access to world wide computing and data resources.

Besides building the CLRC Grid, the Centre is playing a major role in the development of the UK Particle Physics Grid and in the EU DataGrid project. The Centre will also be responsible for operating and developing the central scientific computing facilities, including Beowulf clusters, Compaq Alphaservers and the ATLAS Datastore (comprising STK and IBM mass storage systems), which CLRC currently provides for its user community.

Duties

The Centre is now building a team with the skills needed to implement this challenging programme. There is an immediate need for staff to work in the following areas:

• Grid computing environments including development of the High Performance Computing Portal currently implemented in prototype form and implementation, development and support of the Globus system;
• Scientific information and data access via metadata and the underlying data management infrastructure including development of the CLRC Data Portal currently implemented in prototype form and implementation and support of the Storage Resource Broker system from the San Diego Supercomputing Centre;
• Development and deployment of Grid Information Services based on relational database management systems (Oracle, MySQL) and hierarchical directory systems (LDAP);
• Development and operation of Grid-based security systems including facilities for issuing digital certificates, for user authentication using digital certificates and the Public Key Infrastructure and for authorising access to individual facilities based on usage policies;
• Development and operation of Petabyte scale data storage systems including use of the latest storage technology and management software;
• Techniques for operating very large scale clusters including monitoring, controlling, and managing hundreds or thousands of computers with the associated storage and networking.

All posts will involve active collaboration with scientists in other departments of CLRC and with other organisations within the overall context of the UK e-science programme. In most areas, there should be opportunities to publish work and attend conferences. There will also be opportunities for working on projects with industrial partners as the programme moves towards technology transfer to industry.

Knowledge and Experience

A degree or equivalent in a related discipline is required. The skills needed for this work, depending on the specific area, include C/C++ and Java programming, PERL, distributed computing, metadata, XML, SQL, database development and administration, Oracle/MySQL/LDAP experience, data management, development of web clients and servers, graphical user interface development, specification and implementation of application programming interfaces, Unix/Linux system administration.

Experience of working in a scientific discipline would be an advantage but is not necessary.

Flexibility, good communication skills and an enthusiasm for team working in a dynamic environment are highly desirable. This programme has demanding deadlines so self motivation, high productivity and an ability to focus on priorities are important qualities.

Starting salary is up to £24,620 on a pay range from £19,700 to £27,080 at Band 5, and up to £31,250 on a pay range from £25,000 to £34,380 at Band 4. Salary on appointment is awarded according to relevant experience. A non-contributory pension scheme, flexible working hours and a generous leave allowance are also offered. Some assistance with relocation may be available.

Posts are at either Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington, Cheshire, or at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Didcot, Oxfordshire.

For further information contact John Gordon (at RAL), ++44 1235 826574, email j.c.gordon@rl.ac.uk or Kerstin Kleese (at DL), ++44 1925 603832, email k.kleese@dl.ac.uk. Application forms can be obtained from: Human Resources Division, Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 4AD. Telephone (01925) 603864 or email recruit@dl.ac.uk, quoting reference VND095/01. More information about CLRC is available from CCLRC's World Wide Web pages at www.cclrc.ac.uk.

All applications must be returned by 31 August 2001.

The Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) is committed to Equal Opportunities and is a recognised Investor in People. A no smoking policy is in operation.