Solutions Architect, Scientific GPU Compute

About Schmidt Sciences

Schmidt Sciences is a nonprofit organization founded in 2024 to accelerate scientific knowledge and breakthroughs with advanced tools. The organization focuses on AI and advanced computing, astrophysics, biosciences, climate, and space, and supports researchers through its science systems program.

About the AI & Advanced Computing Center

The AI & Advanced Computing Center (“AI Center”) is a grantmaking and research group that views AI as a transformative force for scientific discovery. It supports expertise in three focus areas: AI for Science, Science of AI, and Beneficial AI.

Role Overview

We are seeking a technical advisor to bridge the gap between cutting‑edge scientific research and high‑performance computing (HPC) infrastructure. In this role, you will serve as the primary strategic liaison for Schmidt Sciences‑funded researchers globally, working across all scientific disciplines—including climate, synthetic biology, astrophysics, and AI & advanced computing—to accelerate discovery through advanced compute resources.

Key Responsibilities

• Grantee Strategic Advisory: Serve as a technical and strategic advisor to Schmidt leadership and principal investigators across a diverse portfolio of scientific disciplines.
• Compute Needs Assessment: Conduct deep‑dive technical consultations with labs and research organizations to translate scientific goals into specific GPU, AI/ML, HPC, and cloud requirements.
• Technical Onboarding & Enablement: Lead end‑to‑end onboarding of research teams onto the Schmidt Sciences compute infrastructure, and provide comprehensive training to boost cloud and compute proficiency.
• Resource Advocacy: Act as a “Proposal Concierge,” helping grantees align research proposals and activities with available compute resources to maximize scientific impact.
• Feedback Loop: Deliver critical field insights to internal product and engineering teams to drive continuous improvement of compute services and research tools.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Advanced scientific background: A post‑graduate degree in a technical field such as computer science, biology, climate, astrophysics, or a related computational science.
• Computing expertise: 8+ years of combined experience spanning AI/ML infrastructure and research‑facing technical advisory; experience building networks across academic, nonprofit, or government research is strongly preferred.
• Cross‑disciplinary communication: Exceptional ability to communicate complex technical and scientific concepts to both high‑impact research scientists and executive leadership.
• Hands‑on experience with cluster workload management using Slurm and Kubernetes.
• Successful track record of accelerating time from grant approval to first result for computationally intensive projects.
• History of collaborative impact in high‑intensity, team‑based environments.
• Sense of controlled urgency in driving work to completion.
• Integrity and ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to travel within the U.S. on a regular basis as needed.
• Understanding of the tech stack needed to design, train, deploy, and maintain state‑of‑the‑art AI models at a production scale.
• Experience producing technical writing for expert and general audiences.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ph.D. in a technical field such as computer science, biology, climate, astrophysics, or a related computational science.
• Grant and funding acumen: Proven track record of supporting large‑scale, federally funded, or private scientific grant proposals.
• In‑depth knowledge of data center storage and networking technologies and solutions.
• Proficiency with modern machine‑learning hosting software frameworks, such as NVIDIA Dynamo, TensorFlow Serving, Ray, etc.
• Prior leadership of data center infrastructure initiatives and projects, such as evaluating hardware scalability, securing data, or executing large‑scale upgrades.
• Expertise in relevant technical focus areas, e.g., AI model performance monitoring or network and storage optimization.
• Expert‑level experience and industry credentials in the software and hardware frameworks that drive modern AI, and competence in at least one, and preferably multiple, fields of science impacted by modern AI.
• Ability to work with and effectively translate technical concepts across multiple scientific disciplines.
• Ability to critically evaluate scientific and technical publications and emerging methods in related disciplines.
• Experience working with science‑focused institutions such as philanthropic organizations or academic/government research institutions.

Compensation

$180,000 – $250,000 per year. This is an exempt position.

Equal Opportunity

Schmidt Sciences is an equal‑employment opportunity employer that proudly pursues and hires a diverse workforce. We do not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender‑identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws or prohibited by company policy. We strive for a healthy and safe workplace and strictly prohibit harassment of any kind.