Systems Administrator, Security & Compliance, Research Computing

Systems Administrator, Security & Compliance About Empire AI

Empire AI is establishing New York as the national leader in responsible artificial intelligence. Backed by a consortium of top academic and research institutions including Columbia University, Cornell University, NYU, CUNY, RPI, SUNY, University of Rochester, RIT, Mount Sinai, and Flatiron Institute.

By leveraging the state's rich academic resources and research institutions, Empire AI is driving innovation in fields like medicine, education, energy, and climate change—all while giving New York's researchers access to computing resources that are often prohibitively expensive and only available to big tech companies, fueling statewide innovation, driving economic growth, and preparing a future-ready AI workforce to tackle society's most complex challenges.

The initiative is funded by $500+ million in public and private investments, State Capital Grant, Academic Institutions, Simons Foundation, Flatiron Institute, and Tom Secunda (Co-Founder of Bloomberg).

The Systems Administrator, Security & Compliance will implement, maintain, and enforce security controls across Empire AI's high-performance computing infrastructure, ensuring compliance with healthcare and research data protection regulations including HIPAA, NIST 800-171, and NIH Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) policies.

Reporting to the Manager, AI/ML Systems Administration, this role is responsible for securing HPC systems that span multiple academic and research institutions. The Systems Administrator, Security & Compliance ensures that cutting edge AI workloads operate within compliant, hardened environments while enabling researchers to work efficiently with sensitive and regulated datasets.

• Implement and maintain security controls for Empire AI's shared and distributed HPC environments in alignment with HIPAA Security Rule requirements (Administrative, Physical, and Technical Safeguards)
• Deploy and manage secure enclave configurations for regulated data workflows, including PHI and controlled access genomic data
• Implement encryption solutions for data at rest and in transit across heterogeneous storage platforms

• Ensure platform compliance with HIPAA, NIST 800-171, NIH GDS, and institutional IRB requirements
• Develop and maintain security policies, procedures, and standards documentation aligned with regulatory frameworks
• Conduct regular security assessments, vulnerability scans, and risk analyses; coordinate remediation efforts
• Prepare for and support internal and external audits; maintain evidence of compliance controls
• Partner with institutional compliance, legal, and privacy officers on data use agreements
• Track and report on security metrics, incidents, and compliance posture to leadership
• Deploy and manage SIEM solutions, log aggregation, and security monitoring across HPC clusters and research infrastructure
• Develop and execute incident response procedures for security events and potential data breaches
• Investigate security incidents, document findings, and implement corrective actions
• Ensure audit log retention and integrity in accordance with HIPAA and institutional requirements

• Harden Linux-based HPC clusters and GPU computing environments
• Manage patch management processes and ensure timely remediation of vulnerabilities across infrastructure
• Secure containerized and virtualized research environments (Apptainer, Docker, Kubernetes)
• Consult with research teams on secure handling of sensitive data, including PHI, PII, and controlled access datasets
• Develop and deliver security awareness training for researchers and staff, with emphasis on HIPAA requirements and secure computing practices
• Translate user feedback and researcher needs into security configurations that balance protection with usability
• Partner with the AI/ML Systems Administration team to ensure security is integrated into system design and workload orchestration
• Maintain clear security documentation, configuration guides, and compliance runbooks
• Contribute to technical reports, grant…