HPC Engineer - SC Cleared

HPC Container Platform Consultant (SC Cleared) - Principal Consultant (Contract)

An SC-cleared HPC specialist is required to support a high-profile engineering programme within a globally recognised UK manufacturer operating across aerospace, defence, and mission-critical power systems.

The focus is modernising how HPC and HPC/ML workloads are built, packaged, and run using MPI-optimised container approaches - with pragmatic, implementable outcomes.

What you'll deliver:

• Rapid review of current HPC estate, workflows, and priority use cases (workshops + technical deep dives)
• Containerisation capability sessions focused on real HPC and HPC/ML workloads (not generic platform advice)
• Guidance on MPI-ready container images, build tooling, and repeatable operational patterns
• Scheduler/runtime alignment and deployment approach (batch, interactive, data science workflows)
• Clear recommendations and next steps; produce a short written report where required
• Core technology focus
• Slurm job scheduling
• MPI and performance-aware containerisation (HPC-first constraints)
• Apptainer/SIF images with OpenMPI (plus viable alternatives)
• Podman/Buildah tooling and secure build practices

Essential criteria (must have)

• Active SC Clearance
• Must meet programme nationality/eligibility requirements (sole nationality required; no dual nationality; no OCI)
• Hands-on experience operating in Beowulf-style cluster environments
• Excellent practical knowledge of Slurm and job execution patterns
• Strong understanding of best practices for MPI-optimised container images (build, run, troubleshoot, performance)

Desirable experience

• Ability to run structured interviews/workshops with customer engineering teams
• Awareness of SDLC considerations in research/HPC environments
• Familiarity with Jupyter (Hub/Lab/Notebooks) supporting data science workflows on shared compute
• Strong working knowledge of MPI patterns and real-world operational constraints

Contract Details:

• £600 - £700 Per Day Inside IR35
• Hybrid Working
• Contract Initially 3-Months with Lengthy Extensions

Nice to have:

• Singularity/SIF format and common HPC workflow patterns
• CFD tooling exposure (eg, OpenFOAM)
• Docker and image life cycle governance
• Kubernetes used as an HPC runtime environment (where appropriate)
• Run:AI and GPU slicing concepts