Position: System Engineer

AR State Title:	COSMOS – System Engineer
Requisition Number:	R0074279 Apply Now
Department:	COSMOS Research Center
Salary Range:	$65,000.00 annually
FLSA Status:	Exempt

Position Summary:

The System Engineer is a full-time position at the COSMOS Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The System Engineer focuses on the deployment, configuration, monitoring, and maintenance of GPU-enabled servers, virtualized environments, and hybrid infrastructure supporting research and enterprise systems. It is a non-coding role requiring strong Linux/Windows administration skills, virtualization experience, automation knowledge, and familiarity with data center operations. The System Engineer will collaborate with researchers, data engineers, developers, and partners to maintain high-performing, secure, and scalable infrastructure that powers computational workloads. This on-campus position is governed by state and federal laws and agency/institution policy.

The position reports to:
Prof. Nitin Agarwal (nxagarwal@ualr.edu),
Maulden-Entergy Chair and Donaghey Distinguished Professor,
Director, COSMOS Research Center, UA-Little Rock.

Required Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related discipline.
• Strong Linux and Windows server administration skills.

Preferred Education and/or Experience:

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related discipline;
• 1+ year(s) of hands-on experience in server management, system administration, or infrastructure support;
• Basic knowledge of Linux system administration;
• Certifications such as RHCSA/RHCE, MCSE, CompTIA Network+/Security+;
• Experience with GPU environments (NVIDIA preferred), CUDA drivers, and related tools;
• Experience in research labs, AV systems, and hybrid on-prem/cloud setups.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

• Configure, maintain, and troubleshoot GPU servers, workstations, and physical hardware;
• Deploy and manage virtual machines using VMware, KVM, Proxmox, etc.;
• Establish and maintain on-premises cloud architecture (e.g., OpenStack);
• Monitor system performance, health, and storage integrity;
• Perform hardware installations, upgrades, diagnostics, and repairs;
• Administer and maintain Linux and Windows operating systems;
• Manage user access, permissions, and security compliance;
• Collaborate with AI/ML and research teams to ensure infrastructure readiness;
• Design and implement scalable infrastructure using enterprise and open-source tools;
• Automate server provisioning and system tasks using Bash, PowerShell, or Python;
• Use automation platforms such as Ansible, Terraform, and CloudFormation;
• Manage containers (Docker) and orchestration platforms (Kubernetes);
• Maintain Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, and identity/authentication protocols;
• Administer networking components: VLANs, routing, firewalls, VPNs;
• Configure and manage Arista switches and related network appliances;
• Lead projects for AV systems and hybrid learning environments;
• Maintain physical network setups, including rack mounting and cabling;
• Support hybrid cloud infrastructure; ensure uptime, compliance, and documentation;
• Assist with infrastructure for data ingestion, storage, and processing; and
• Other tasks as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Proficient in remote server management (e.g., iDRAC) and dynamic resource allocation;
• Familiar with data models, pipelines, ETL workflows, and storage systems;
• Skilled in identifying and resolving performance and system issues;
• Experience with virtualization tools (VMware, KVM, Proxmox);
• Advanced scripting skills (Bash, PowerShell, Python);
• Experience with monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Nagios);
• Familiarity with network segmentation, firewalls, VLANs, and TCP/IP;
• Knowledge of Arista EOS CLI, ACLs, BGP, STP, EVPN, VXLAN;
• Hands-on experience with switch configuration, patch panels, and physical network setup; and
• Experience in classroom AV systems, hybrid learning setups, and IP management.