HPC Storage Architect

Job description

The Company NorthMark Compute & Cloud (NMC²) is backed by dedicated leadership and investment, with a clear mission as it operates at the bleeding edge of technology. Its goal is to scale and enhance the high-performance computing (HPC) and cloud infrastructure that supports its clients' research, production, and delivery, enabling breakthroughs that shape the industries of tomorrow. Its engineers build critical infrastructure to eliminate friction in scientific research, simulations, analysis, and decision-making, accelerating discovery and driving faster innovation. The Position As an HPC Storage Solutions Architect, you will design, integrate, and optimize high-performance storage architectures that underpin HPC, AI/ML, and large-scale data-intensive workloads. You will act as a trusted advisor to customers, guiding them through the full solution lifecycle — from requirements discovery and workload analysis, through solution design, proof-of-concept, and deployment, to workflow optimization and long-term adoption. This is a customer-facing technical role with a focus on building scalable, resilient, and efficient storage systems. You will ensure that customer workloads — from simulation and AI training to data pipelines and scientific research — are matched with the right file systems, protocols, and architectures to deliver maximum performance. You will also collaborate closely with product, engineering, and vendor partners, influencing both platform evolution and the adoption of emerging storage technologies. Responsibilities: Serve as the primary storage subject matter expert (SME) for customers deploying or scaling HPC environments. Partner with customers to capture workload storage requirements, performance objectives, and capacity planning needs. Design and document end-to-end storage architectures, including parallel/distributed file systems (e.g., Lustre, GPFS, Ceph, VAST), object storage, and tiered solutions. Lead proof-of-concept and benchmarking initiatives, validating performance, scalability, and resiliency of storage designs. Implement integration strategies across compute, networking, and orchestration layers to ensure seamless end-to-end performance. Conduct workflow assessments and storage usage reviews, recommending optimizations to improve throughput, latency, and cost efficiency. Develop architecture blueprints, reusable design patterns, and integration guides to standardize HPC storage solutions. Work with infrastructure-as-code and automation practices (e.g., Ansible, Terraform) to deliver consistent, repeatable storage environments. Collaborate with engineering, product, and operations teams to refine storage offerings and influence platform strategy. Partner with vendors (e.g., Dell, VAST, HPE, Rubrik) to integrate new features, evaluate emerging technologies, and provide customer-driven feedback into vendor roadmaps. Stay up to date with emerging storage technologies, protocols, and data management practices, providing future insight to customers on adoption strategies. Represent the team at customer workshops, technical reviews, and industry forums, building strong technical relationships. Requirements: Demonstrated experience in storage solution architecture, HPC storage engineering, or large-scale distributed storage design. Strong technical expertise in parallel and distributed file systems (Lustre, GPFS, Ceph, VAST) and object storage platforms. Hands-on experience with multi-petabyte storage systems, including design, deployment, and scaling. Skilled in Linux storage stack tuning, file system protocols (NFS, SMB, POSIX), and performance optimization. Experience implementing storage automation and infrastructure-as-code practices (e.g., Ansible, Terraform). Proven ability to troubleshoot and optimize storage workflows for HPC, AI/ML, or data-intensive workloads. Strong customer-facing communication skills, with the ability to explain complex storage architectures to technical and non-technical stakeholders. Preferred Experience Experience delivering HPC or AI/ML workloads on large-scale, high-performance storage environments. Familiarity with data protection, backup, and recovery technologies integrated with HPC storage. Exposure to multi-vendor storage ecosystems, including collaboration with leading hardware and software providers. Experience with workflow optimization for data pipelines, simulation workloads, or scientific computing. Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field. Relevant Storage and systems certifications such as NetApp NCIE, Dell EMC Proven Professional, Red Hat RHCE, or cloud platform certifications like AWS Solutions Architect. It is impossible to list every requirement for, or responsibility of, any position. Similarly, we cannot identify all the skills a position may require since job responsibilities and the Company’s needs may change over time. Therefore, the above job description is not comprehensive or exhaustive. The Company reserves the right to adjust, add to or eliminate any aspect of the above description. The Company also retains the right to require all employees to undertake additional or different job responsibilities when necessary to meet business needs. Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future. Benefits & Perks: Company-Paid Lunch Stipend : Lunch is provided via GrubHub Company-Paid Benefits: 100% Employer-Paid Medical in our High Deductible Health Plan, Dental and Vision benefits for employees and their families, 16 weeks of Paid Parental Leave, Employee Assistance Program, Life insurance, Short-Term Disability and Long-Term Disability 401(k): Company will match 100% of your contributions up to 6% Optional Employee-Paid Benefits: Medical insurance in our PPO plan and a variety of other benefits such as Health Savings Accounts (with Company Contribution!), Flexible Spending Accounts, Supplemental Life Insurance, Wellhub and more. Time Off: 25 days of Paid Time Off plus 12 company holidays EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER NORTHMARK STRATEGIES LLC IS AN EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. THE COMPANY'S POLICY IS NOT TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANY APPLICANT OR EMPLOYEE BASED ON RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, AGE, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY OR EXPRESSION, MARITAL STATUS, MENTAL OR PHYSICAL DISABILITY, AND GENETIC INFORMATION, OR ANY OTHER BASIS PROTECTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. THE FIRM ALSO PROHIBITS HARASSMENT OF APPLICANTS OR EMPLOYEES BASED ON ANY OF THESE PROTECTED CATEGORIES.