About KAUST and the Role

KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), located in Thuwal, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, is seeking a Research User Computing Linux Specialist. This full-time position is integral to supporting the university's advanced research environment, requiring 5-10 years of relevant experience in Linux systems administration and support.

Role Overview

The Research User Computing Linux Specialist will design, operate, and continuously enhance KAUST's Linux-based research end-user computing platforms. This includes managing Ubuntu and Rocky Linux endpoints, physical scientific workstations, and virtual scientific workstation services. The primary goal is to ensure secure, reliable, and high-performance access to scientific desktop environments for faculty, researchers, and students across the university.

Key Responsibilities

• Administer, maintain, and improve Ubuntu and Rocky Linux end-user platforms to provide stable and secure scientific workstation services for KAUST's research and academic communities.
• Develop, standardize, and maintain Linux workstation builds and images for physical and virtual scientific desktops, ensuring consistency, reliability, and readiness for research use.
• Manage and support remote scientific workstation platforms, including NICE DCV and Kasm Workspaces, to enable secure, high-performance access to research desktop environments.
• Automate provisioning, configuration, patching, monitoring, and compliance activities using scripting, configuration management, Infrastructure as Code, and GitOps-aligned practices.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex Linux endpoint, workstation, remote desktop, GPU, driver, performance, identity, storage, and network-related issues, escalating where deeper platform or infrastructure support is required.
• Integrate Linux desktops and workstations with enterprise IAM, storage, network, monitoring, security, and endpoint management services to support compliant and reliable operations.
• Partner with faculty, researchers, students, research labs, HPC, storage, security, and advanced computing teams to understand scientific workflows and translate requirements into sustainable workstation solutions.
• Support installation, validation, and maintenance of scientific and research software on Linux workstation environments, considering compatibility, performance, reproducibility, and user needs.
• Implement and maintain security and compliance controls for Linux workstation environments, including patching, hardening, audit logging, endpoint security, and alignment with KAUST policies and relevant frameworks.
• Develop and maintain operational documentation, runbooks, user guidance, dashboards, and service metrics to improve supportability, transparency, and continuous improvement.
• Evaluate new Linux desktops, remote access, virtualization, automation, and scientific workstation technologies, and provide recommendations to improve service quality and platform capability.

Required Experience and Skills

Candidates for this role should possess 5-10 years of professional experience in Linux systems administration and support, specifically within research or academic computing environments. A strong background in managing and optimizing Linux-based end-user computing platforms, including scientific workstations and remote access solutions, is essential. Proficiency in automation, troubleshooting complex technical issues, and integrating systems with enterprise services is also required.

Work Environment

The specialist will work within a dynamic research and academic setting at KAUST, collaborating with diverse teams including faculty, researchers, and technical specialists in HPC, storage, and security. This role supports a community focused on scientific discovery and requires a proactive approach to maintaining high-performance and secure computing environments.

Application Process

Interested candidates are invited to apply for this full-time position. Salary details will be discussed during the interview process.