Job Description

Systems Programming Specialist – Supercomputing | NV2 | VIC, SA | Long-term contract n

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Defence Australia – Melbourne VIC

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Australian citizenship required. Must have an active Negative Vetting Level 2 (or higher) security clearance.

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Location: Fishermans Bend/Edinburgh (Onsite).

What to Submit n

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- A tailored resume in docx format
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RFQ Details nn
- RFQ ID: 92097 (RFx30672)
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- Agency: Department of Defence
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- Closing Date: 6 October 2026 at 10:00am
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- Estimated Start Date: Not specified
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- Initial Contract Duration: 20 months, to 30 June 2028
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- Extension Term: 12 months
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- Number of Extensions: 2
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- Security Clearance: Negative Vetting Level 2
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- Location of Work: Fishermans Bend, VIC and Edinburgh, SA
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- Working Arrangements: Onsite at least 4 days per week
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Job Details n

The INV-5 Supercomputing project is seeking one Systems Programming Specialist to join the Supercomputing Platforms team.

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You will develop, maintain and support the base image and core tooling for the supercomputing platform. The role will deliver operating systems and privileged-space tooling underpinning the Supercomputing Capability, applying best-practice software development services that meet Defence security and performance standards.

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The position also involves knowledge transfer, on-the-job skills training and mentoring for Commonwealth staff, as well as contributing to standard operating procedures and processes.

Key Duties and Responsibilities n

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- Deliver highly complex base image artefacts that meet the design, security and performance requirements of the supercomputing capability.
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- Apply modern DevSecOps methodologies to continuously improve the capability.




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- Develop automation tools, configuration templates and supporting documentation for a reliable, scalable and reproducible supercomputing capability.
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- Deliver tooling supporting user and storage management, cluster management, health monitoring, metrics reporting and security monitoring.
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- Work proactively with project stakeholders and the research community to deliver robust tooling supporting DSTG research projects.
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- Work closely with the Supercomputing Infrastructure team to develop tools for effective and secure system administration.
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- Support and maintain the project’s standard operating processes and security instructions.
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- Comply with Australian Government and Department of Defence information management requirements.
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- Develop and maintain researcher self-management tools.
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- Develop and maintain testing and deployment pipelines.
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- Containerise services.
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- Develop and maintain Role Based Access Control and Host Based Access Control schemes.
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- Develop and maintain disk and filesystem management tools.
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Technical Skills nn
- Linux systems programming and Linux internals
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- Operating system image provisioning and configuration
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- Kickstart, cloud-init, PXE, Packer or similar technologies
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- CI/CD pipelines for system images and automation workflows
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- Configuration-as-code and infrastructure automation, including Ansible
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- HPC schedulers such as Slurm or PBS
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- High-performance networking, including InfiniBand and RDMA
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- Identity and access management, RBAC, LDAP, Active Directory, FreeIPA or IDM
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- Kubernetes
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About the Environment n

The Supercomputing Branch within DSTG Information Services delivers the operating systems and privileged-space tooling underpinning Defence’s Supercomputing Capability.

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The workplace supports a many-user supercomputer and includes base operating-system images, automation, cluster and storage management, monitoring, security controls and tooling for research workloads.

Selection Criteria n

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- Systems programming experience in Linux environments.
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- Deep knowledge of Linux internals, OS image, provisioning and configuration – eg Kickstart, cloud-init, PXE, Packer or similar.
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- Experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines for system images and automation workflows.
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- Competence with configuration-as-code and infrastructure automation tools – eg Ansible
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- Familiarity with HPC stack components – eg schedulers like Slurm, PBS.
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- Familiarity with high-performance networking – infiniband/RDMA
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- Strong understanding of Identity and access management and RBAC – eg LDAP/AD/FreeIPA/IDM
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- Experience with Kubernetes
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How you are paid... n

You choose what's best for you.

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- PAYG through Pinaka
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- Third-party payroll
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- Self-employed (own ABN)
n With a single, transparent and fixed margin, we ensure compliance to all state and payroll laws. So that is one less thing for you to worry about.
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📌 Systems Programming Specialist - SupercomputingVIC, SA | Long-termcontract (Victoria)
🏢 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Defence Australia
📍 Victoria