Recruitment of AIMEC Research Engineer (WAE26-003)

Advanced Institute for Marine Ecosystem Change (WPI-AIMEC), an alliance-type WPI research center jointly established by Tohoku University and JAMSTEC, aims to realize the “elucidation and prediction of the mechanisms of marine ecosystem fluctuations” through interdisciplinary and international collaborative research, and to contribute to planetary stewardship toward a sustainable ocean, Earth, and human society. For this reason, WPI-AIMEC has established five Grand Challenges (GCs) as comprehensive initiatives aimed at “Elucidating and Predicting the Mechanisms of Marine Ecosystem Fluctuations” (for details on the GCs, see https://wpi-aimec.jp/en/news/2649/
For detailed information on WPI-AIMEC's research, please refer to this link:
https://wpi-aimec.jp/en/research/cluster.html
To advance these Grand Challenges, we will utilize Tohoku University’s High-Performance Computing System supercomputer “AOBA” and JAMSTEC’s supercomputer “Earth Simulator” (hereinafter collectively referred to as HPC). We are seeking one AIMEC Research Engineer to provide technical support for the development of advanced Earth System Models (ESMs), the operation of various numerical models, including ESMs, and research and development (R&D), to strongly promote the GCs.
The successful candidate will be responsible for operations, research and development support (OR&D) of numerical models on the HPC systems (Tohoku University AOBA and JAMSTEC Earth Simulator) as well as WPI-AIMEC institute-level shared workstations. This individual will work closely with multidisciplinary teams of researchers between Tohoku University and JAMSTEC to solve novel problems in our marine ecosystem research, focusing primarily on the development and operation of numerical models of marine ecosystems.

Work content and job description

[Job Description]
(Immediately upon employment)
The successful candidate will work in cooperation with research staff at AIMEC and HPC staff to perform the following duties:
1. Facilitate the deployment, configuration, development, and maintenance of scientific software required for AIMEC research.
2. Support CPU-based numerical simulations, including Earth System Models, ocean circulation models, biogeochemical models, and marine ecosystem models, primarily in collaboration with AIMEC's research members (e.g., installing, configuring, and optimizing core or community models on HPC systems; managing model operations on large-scale HPC systems; and managing data on the storage allocated to the HPC).
3. Troubleshoot compilation, runtime, and performance issues related to numerical simulations (including machine learning, as needed) in collaboration with the research staff (e.g., resolving build errors, identifying causes of runtime errors, and isolating performance bottlenecks and proposing improvements).
4. The outcomes of these research and technical development activities may be published in academic papers, whether as first author or co-author.
[Related GCs]
GC1, GC2, GC3
(The scope of possible changes)
The duties designated by WPI-AIMEC

Common to all Job Types
Annual Salary :

7 million yen
~
10 million yen

Education and Degree Requirements
Ph.D. / Doctor
/

Master
/

Bachelor

Work experience
[Qualifications and Experience]
Required:
1. Ability to communicate proficiently in English for technical and scientific collaboration with international researchers at AIMEC (including meetings, emails, and reading/writing technical documents).
2. Ability to communicate effectively in Japanese for smooth technical interaction with HPC staff from Tohoku University and JAMSTEC.
3. Experience in at least one of the following (A to D):

• A. HPC infrastructure experience: Operational experience with Linux-based operating systems (RHEL, Rocky Linux, Ubuntu Server, etc.) in a high-performance computing (HPC) environment.
• B. Development and scripting languages: Practical coding experience using Python, C/C++, or similar languages for automation, deployment, and system diagnostics.
• C. Scientific and engineering computing languages: Experience developing and using scientific, technological, and engineering languages such as MATLAB, Fortran, Perl, or Julia.
• D. Knowledge of parallel computing: Experience and knowledge of parallel computing, including MPI, distributed computing, and resource allocation.

Desirable (Experience in any of the following is preferred):

• Experience in developing and operating machine learning workflows on GPU-equipped servers (including PyTorch, JAX, and TensorFlow).
• Experience in developing prototypes (numerical simulation, agent-based models, machine learning) and deploying them to HPC environments by parallelizing and optimizing code based on GPU profiling.
• Experience with parallel file systems (such as Lustre), large-file transfers, and storage optimization.

Common to all Job Types
Nontenured

-

Non-tenure track

Various systems
Bonus :
Bonuses are included in the annual salary.

Measures for preventing passive smoking at the workplace
*Tohoku University: Measures to prevent passive smoking: No smoking on the premises, no work in areas where smoking allowed. *Yokohama Institute for Earth Science, JAMSTEC: Measures to prevent passive smoking: No smoking on the premises (smoking areas are available outside), no work in areas where smoking allowed.

Supplementary explanation of compensation
(1) Relocation travel expenses will be provided in accordance with the regulations of Tohoku University and JAMSTEC.
(2) Various allowances (commuting allowance, housing allowance, etc.) will be provided in accordance with the regulations of Tohoku University and JAMSTEC.
(3) Both of Tohoku University and JAMSTEC are fully covered by various insurances (health insurance, employee pension insurance, unemployment insurance, workers' accident compensation insurance, etc.) to promote welfare and benefits.
*At Tohoku University, there is the Mutual Aid Association of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and at JAMSTEC, there are the Corporate Pension Fund and Mutual Aid Association System, etc.
(4) Successful candidate assigned to Tohoku University have the right to move into the Lodging House.
At JAMSTEC, the candidate is eligible for the company housing lease service, although there are criteria based on income etc.
(5) Holidays and vacations: Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, year-end, and New Year's holidays. Annual vacations with pay, special vacations, leave of absence to care for a family member, and maternity leave are provided.
(6) Tohoku University has the largest on-site childcare environment of any national university in Japan, including the Kawauchi Keyaki Nursery School (Capacity: 22 children) and the Aobayama Midori Nursery School (Capacity: 116 children), which are available to all staff. There is also a nursery for children with minor illnesses and children after illnesses on the premises of the University Hospital, which is available for use by all university staff.

Attached documents

Application Form :
Online Submission
*Valid email and home address must be provided.
*Educational history should include all qualifications from high school and above.

Selection

Applicants will be selected on the basis of submitted application materials, followed by an interview in English.
*Web-based online interviews are expected basically.