Job Description

Systems Programming Specialist

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

Location: Fishermans Bend/Edinburgh (Onsite).

What to Submit

1. A tailored resume in docx format

RFQ Details

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

Job Details

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

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.

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

• Deliver highly complex base image artefacts that meet the design, security and performance requirements of the supercomputing capability.
• Apply modern DevSecOps methodologies to continuously improve the capability.
• Develop automation tools, configuration templates and supporting documentation for a reliable, scalable and reproducible supercomputing capability.
• Deliver tooling supporting user and storage management, cluster management, health monitoring, metrics reporting and security monitoring.
• Work proactively with project stakeholders and the research community to deliver robust tooling supporting DSTG research projects.
• Work closely with the Supercomputing Infrastructure team to develop tools for effective and secure system administration.
• Support and maintain the project’s standard operating processes and security instructions.
• Comply with Australian Government and Department of Defence information management requirements.
• Develop and maintain researcher self-management tools.
• Develop and maintain testing and deployment pipelines.
• Containerise services.
• Develop and maintain Role Based Access Control and Host Based Access Control schemes.
• Develop and maintain disk and filesystem management tools.

Technical Skills

• Linux systems programming and Linux internals
• Operating system image provisioning and configuration
• Kickstart, cloud-init, PXE, Packer or similar technologies
• CI/CD pipelines for system images and automation workflows
• Configuration-as-code and infrastructure automation, including Ansible
• HPC schedulers such as Slurm or PBS
• High-performance networking, including InfiniBand and RDMA
• Identity and access management, RBAC, LDAP, Active Directory, FreeIPA or IDM
• Kubernetes

About the Environment

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

The environment 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

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

Why choose Pinaka

We know the government ICT market and we keep things straightforward. We take time to understand your background, your goals and the type of role that suits you. We believe transparency is about more than rates and our margins are fair and always disclosed.

What you can expect from us...

1. Fair, disclosed margins
2. Clear communication at every stage
3. Honest advice on fit and competitiveness
4. Visibility on submissions and process status
5. A professional and respectful experience

How you are paid...

You choose what's best for you.

1. PAYG through Pinaka
2. Third-party payroll
3. Self-employed (own ABN)
4. 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.

BYO CONTRACT

Already in a role but not happy with the setup?

Port in your contract to Pinaka for a simpler and more transparent experience. We also have some exciting limited time offers on top of the incredible margins we offer.

BETTER TOGETHER ™

Our referral program for people who introduce strong candidates to us.

Refer a friend - Earn $1/hr per successful referral as long as you both with us. Refer as many friends as you want; no caps.