Computational Physicist
National Institute of Standards and Technology is hiring for the position of Computational Physicist in Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States. It is listed as a full-time position.
DGJ summary of this job
Our own short read of this listing, built only from the facts it gives. The employer’s original text follows further down.
National Institute of Standards and Technology is hiring for the position of Computational Physicist in Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States. It is listed as a full-time position.
The advert names Linux as a skill for this role.
The listing gives the pay as $85,447 - $133,142 per year.
The advert does not mention visa sponsorship. If you would move to United States for this job, check the official work permit route first (DGJ Insight lists it where we have it).
Dev Global Jobs found this job on USAJobs on Nov 4, 2026; applications close on Nov 10, 2026.
- Employer
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Location
- Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States
- Job type
- Full-time
- Pay
- $85,447 - $133,142 per year
- Found
- Nov 4, 2026 on USAJobs
- Closes
- Nov 10, 2026
- Employer text
- 402 words, about 2 min to read
- Apply only on the official page (usajobs.gov). Dev Global Jobs is not the employer and never asks for a fee.
- Mirror the skills the advert names (Linux) in your CV where you really have them; applicant tracking systems look for these words.
- Plan to apply before Nov 10, 2026.
- Read the employer’s full text below (about 2 min) before you apply.
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DGJ Insight
Our own data about this role and place, from official statistics and our live job index.
This job's listed pay is 26% above the benchmark.
Source: OECD Average annual wages, 2025
- H-1B specialty occupation: Employer petition, bachelor's degree or higher in the specialty; annual cap and lottery
- L-1 intracompany transferee: Employees of a related company abroad transferring to a US office
- O-1 extraordinary ability: Evidence of extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics
Official routes: USCIS
About the role
Full text from the employer, as published on USAJobs, arranged into sections. Nothing added or removed.
01Basic Requirements
Degree: physics; or related degree that included at least 24 semester hours in physics. OR Combination of education and experience: Courses equivalent to a major in physics totaling at least 24 semester hours, plus appropriate experience or additional education. AND In addition to the basic requirements: Applicants must also have 1 year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 (ZP-II at NIST) level.
Specialized experience is defined as experience in Linux system administration, HPC cluster operations and resource management. OR 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. OR A combination of graduate education and specialized experience as defined in the additional requirements.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
The qualification requirements in this vacancy announcement are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook. If requesting reconsideration of your qualification determination, please refer to the following site: Applicant Reconsideration
The primary purpose of this position is to provide operational administration and technical support for high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure across the Material Measurement Laboratory (MML). The Computational Physicist works closely with senior staff and researchers to optimize computing environments, implement performance-enhancing strategies, and maintain alignment with institutional IT policies.
Major duties include: HPC Infrastructure Support: Assisting in the deployment, configuration, and maintenance of both CPU and GPU high-performance computing resources across the laboratory. Operational Administration: Serving as an operational administrator for the NIST Center for Theoretical and Computational Materials Science (CTCMS) to provide technical support for computational projects.
Workflow Optimization: Implementing and testing technical strategies aimed at improving the performance and reproducibility of computational materials science workflows. Data and System Management: Providing technical assistance for the operation of data management systems, including executing data migration activities to new computing platforms.
Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborating directly with senior staff to ensure all HPC infrastructure and resources are configured to meet the specific research needs of MML scientists. Policy Compliance: Maintaining the technical alignment of all managed computational and data systems with NIST-wide IT and security policies.
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