NCSA Position Notice -- Director

National Center for Supercomputing Applications

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign invites applications and nominations for the position of Director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). NCSA missions include:

• Deploying and managing advanced technology to meet the large scale computing and data analysis needs of demanding science and engineering problems.
• Providing insights into complex systems and sharing the thrill of scientific discovery with the broadest possible audience.
• Developing software, techniques, and tools to improve cybersecurity.
• Preparing the next generation of scientists, engineers, social and behavioral scientists, artists and humanists to use computational tools and techniques effectively.
• Promoting interdisciplinary research collaborations to ensure continued leadership in advanced computing applications and technology.
• Collaborating with Colleges, Institutes and Centers at the University of Illinois to advance interdisciplinary research and scholarship.
• Partnering with the public and private sectors to encourage economic development.
• Supporting and promoting educational research, development and outreach activities related to education.

For more than 25 years, NCSA has been a leader in deploying robust high-performance computing, data and networking resources and in working with research communities to develop new computing and software technologies. Building on this history of leadership, NCSA and its partners are at work on the Blue Waters project, which provides sustained petaflop supercomputing resources to the national research community. NCSA also leads the National Science Foundation's Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), a five-year project to deliver advanced computing, data, networking, and collaboration tools and support to the nation's researchers.

We seek a visionary leader with an outstanding record of accomplishments (at the intersection of computing and other disciplines), who will work with campus leadership, state and federal agencies, corporate partners and international affiliates to set the strategic goals and specific directions of the Center and to plan and direct the deployment of the next generation of extreme-scale computing and cyberinfrastructure, in a rapidly changing landscape of high-performance computing technologies, distributed resources and commercial "big-data" platforms.

The Director will provide overall leadership for NCSA, ensuring the Center's position as a world leader in the development and deployment of advanced cyberinfrastructure. S/he will:

• Develop a long-term vision for national computing, networking, and data capabilities necessary to advance research in science, engineering, the humanities and other disciplines that rely on state-of-the-art technologies for progress;
• Identify new technologies and funding to deploy computational/data facilities at NCSA, and the necessary infrastructure and staff to facilitate use by the national community;
• Create organizational, technological and educational structures that foster collaboration between computer scientists, computational scientists and application specialists in diverse fields of study;
• Sustain and build external funding support from traditional as well as new federal and state agencies, corporate and private sponsors;
• Retain, expand, inspire and engage existing Center staff to cultivate an organization of unsurpassed expertise for national, regional, state and University users of NCSA resources;
• Consult and collaborate with computing leaders, nationally and internationally.
• Encourage economic development by partnering with the public and private sectors.
• Contribute to the long term agendas of federal funding agencies in areas critical to the advancement of science and engineering through computing.

The Director will have demonstrated leadership and management experience in relevant areas, such as high performance, interactive and real-time computing and cyberinfrastructure initiatives. Experience in academic administration is desirable. Ideal candidates will hold a doctoral degree and an academic track record appropriate for a tenured full professor at the University, or commensurately significant other qualifications in the field of high performance computing. The salary is competitive and negotiable. The Director will report to the Vice Chancellor for Research.

This is a full-time, twelve-month position, available August 16, 2013, or sooner upon mutual agreement. To be assured of full consideration, nominations and applications, including a curriculum vitae, should be submitted by January 2, 2013. Nominations should include the name, current position, and a brief description of qualifications and experience for the position and should be sent to chancellorsearches@illinois.edu. Application materials should include a letter outlining qualifications, a current curriculum vitae, contact information, and names of three references. Candidates may create a profile through jobs.illinois.edu or submit materials directly to chancellorsearches@illinois.edu. All applications will be held in confidence until finalists are selected for campus interviews. Finalists who are interviewed on campus will meet with members of the search committee, Illinois faculty and administrative staff. The search committee, NCSA staff and Illinois faculty will be invited to candidate presentations.

Illinois is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas who embrace and value diversity and inclusivity.