diff --git a/.buildkite/clima_server_test/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/clima_server_test/pipeline.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d711c824
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.buildkite/clima_server_test/pipeline.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+agents:
+  queue: clima
+  modules: julia/1.10.0 cuda/julia-pref openmpi/4.1.5-mpitrampoline nsight-systems/2024.2.1
+
+env:
+  JULIA_MPI_HAS_CUDA: "true"
+  JULIA_NVTX_CALLBACKS: gc
+  JULIA_MAX_NUM_PRECOMPILE_FILES: 100
+  OPENBLAS_NUM_THREADS: 1
+  OMPI_MCA_opal_warn_on_missing_libcuda: 0
+  SLURM_KILL_BAD_EXIT: 1
+  SLURM_GRES_FLAGS: "allow-task-sharing"
+  JULIA_DEPOT_PATH: "${BUILDKITE_BUILD_PATH}/${BUILDKITE_PIPELINE_SLUG}/depot/default"
+
+steps:
+  - label: "init :computer:"
+    key: "init_cpu_env"
+    command:
+      - echo "--- Instantiate SurfaceFluxes calibration project"
+      - julia --project=experiments/surface_fluxes_perfect_model -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.precompile()'
+
+  - wait
+  - label: "SurfaceFluxes perfect model calibration"
+    command: julia --project=experiments/surface_fluxes_perfect_model test/slurm_backend_e2e.jl
+    artifact_paths: output/surface_fluxes_perfect_model/*
+    
+  - label: "Slurm job controller unit tests"
+    command: julia --project=experiments/surface_fluxes_perfect_model test/slurm_unit_tests.jl
diff --git a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
index b196ad06..e5b54a93 100644
--- a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ steps:
 
   - wait
   - label: "SurfaceFluxes perfect model calibration"
-    command: julia --project=experiments/surface_fluxes_perfect_model test/caltech_hpc_e2e.jl
+    command: julia --project=experiments/surface_fluxes_perfect_model test/slurm_backend_e2e.jl
     artifact_paths: output/surface_fluxes_perfect_model/*
     
   - label: "Slurm job controller unit tests"
diff --git a/src/backends.jl b/src/backends.jl
index 992fd9d6..6c9bfa3a 100644
--- a/src/backends.jl
+++ b/src/backends.jl
@@ -12,15 +12,17 @@ Get ideal backend for deploying forward model runs.
 Each backend is found via `gethostname()`. Defaults to JuliaBackend if none is found.
 """
 function get_backend()
-    hostname = gethostname()
-    if occursin(r"^hpc-(\d\d)-(\d\d).cm.cluster$", hostname) ||
-       occursin(r"^login[1-4].cm.cluster$match", hostname)
-        return CaltechHPCBackend
-    elseif hostname == "clima.gps.caltech.edu"
-        return ClimaGPUBackend
-    else
-        return JuliaBackend
+    HOSTNAMES = [
+        (r"^clima.gps.caltech.edu$", ClimaGPUBackend),
+        (r"^login[1-4].cm.cluster$", CaltechHPCBackend),
+        (r"^hpc-(\d\d)-(\d\d).cm.cluster$", CaltechHPCBackend),
+    ]
+
+    for (pattern, backend) in HOSTNAMES
+        !isnothing(match(pattern, gethostname())) && return backend
     end
+
+    return JuliaBackend
 end
 
 """
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ end
 
 function module_load_string(::Type{ClimaGPUBackend})
     return """module purge
-    modules load julia/1.10.0 cuda/julia-pref openmpi/4.1.5-mpitrampoline"""
+    module load julia/1.10.0 cuda/julia-pref openmpi/4.1.5-mpitrampoline"""
 end
 
 """
diff --git a/src/ekp_interface.jl b/src/ekp_interface.jl
index 59ebd822..bd1c811e 100644
--- a/src/ekp_interface.jl
+++ b/src/ekp_interface.jl
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ function initialize(
     param_dict = get_param_dict(prior)
 
     save_parameter_ensemble(
-        EKP.get_u_final(eki), # constraints applied when saving
+        EKP.get_u_final(eki),  # constraints applied when saving
         prior,
         param_dict,
         output_dir,
diff --git a/src/slurm.jl b/src/slurm.jl
index 22d5b587..77074487 100644
--- a/src/slurm.jl
+++ b/src/slurm.jl
@@ -28,13 +28,12 @@ function generate_sbatch_script(
     slurm_directives = map(collect(slurm_kwargs)) do (k, v)
         "#SBATCH --$(replace(string(k), "_" => "-"))=$(replace(string(v), "_" => "-"))"
     end
-    slurm_directives_str = join(slurm_directives, "\n")
 
     sbatch_contents = """
     #!/bin/bash
     #SBATCH --job-name=run_$(iter)_$(member)
     #SBATCH --output=$member_log
-    $slurm_directives_str
+    $(join(slurm_directives, "\n"))
     $module_load_str
 
     srun --output=$member_log --open-mode=append julia --project=$experiment_dir -e '
@@ -188,33 +187,38 @@ function report_iteration_status(statuses, output_dir, iter)
     end
 end
 
-function submit_sbatch_job(sbatch_filepath; debug = false, env = ENV)
+function submit_sbatch_job(sbatch_filepath; debug = false, env = deepcopy(ENV))
+    unset_env_vars =
+        ("SLURM_MEM_PER_CPU", "SLURM_MEM_PER_GPU", "SLURM_MEM_PER_NODE")
+    for k in unset_env_vars
+        haskey(env, k) && delete!(env, k)
+    end
     jobid = readchomp(setenv(`sbatch --parsable $sbatch_filepath`, env))
     debug || rm(sbatch_filepath)
     return parse(Int, jobid)
 end
 
-job_running(status) = status == "RUNNING"
-job_success(status) = status == "COMPLETED"
-job_failed(status) = status == "FAILED"
+job_running(status) = status == :RUNNING
+job_success(status) = status == :COMPLETED
+job_failed(status) = status == :FAILED
 job_completed(status) = job_failed(status) || job_success(status)
 
 """
     job_status(jobid)
 
-Parse the slurm jobid's state and return one of three status strings: "COMPLETED", "FAILED", or "RUNNING"
+Parse the slurm jobid's state and return one of three status symbols: :COMPLETED, :FAILED, or :RUNNING.
 """
-function job_status(jobid)
+function job_status(jobid::Int)
     failure_statuses = ("FAILED", "CANCELLED+", "CANCELLED")
     output = readchomp(`sacct -j $jobid --format=State --noheader`)
     # Jobs usually have multiple statuses
     statuses = strip.(split(output, "\n"))
     if all(s -> s == "COMPLETED", statuses)
-        return "COMPLETED"
+        return :COMPLETED
     elseif any(s -> s in failure_statuses, statuses)
-        return "FAILED"
+        return :FAILED
     else
-        return "RUNNING"
+        return :RUNNING
     end
 end
 
diff --git a/test/caltech_hpc_e2e.jl b/test/slurm_backend_e2e.jl
similarity index 88%
rename from test/caltech_hpc_e2e.jl
rename to test/slurm_backend_e2e.jl
index 169b00a1..3cef7c92 100644
--- a/test/caltech_hpc_e2e.jl
+++ b/test/slurm_backend_e2e.jl
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
 # To run, open the REPL: julia --project=experiments/surface_fluxes_perfect_model test/caltech
 # And include this file
 
-import ClimaCalibrate:
-    get_backend, CaltechHPCBackend, JuliaBackend, calibrate, get_prior, kwargs
+import ClimaCalibrate: get_backend, JuliaBackend, calibrate, get_prior, kwargs
 using Test
 import EnsembleKalmanProcesses: get_ϕ_mean_final, get_g_mean_final
 
@@ -33,12 +32,9 @@ function test_sf_calibration_output(eki, prior)
     end
 end
 
-# Test Caltech HPC backend
-backend = get_backend()
-@test backend == CaltechHPCBackend
+@assert get_backend() != JuliaBackend
 
 eki = calibrate(
-    backend,
     experiment_dir;
     model_interface,
     slurm_kwargs = kwargs(time = 5),
@@ -46,7 +42,7 @@ eki = calibrate(
 )
 test_sf_calibration_output(eki, prior)
 
-# Pure Julia Backend
+# Pure Julia calibration, this should run anywhere
 eki = calibrate(JuliaBackend, experiment_dir)
 test_sf_calibration_output(eki, prior)
 
diff --git a/test/slurm_unit_tests.jl b/test/slurm_unit_tests.jl
index b7fe3b17..7e45b649 100644
--- a/test/slurm_unit_tests.jl
+++ b/test/slurm_unit_tests.jl
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ const ITER = 1
 const MEMBER = 1
 const TIME_LIMIT = 90
 const NTASKS = 1
-const PARTITION = "expansion"
 const CPUS_PER_TASK = 16
 const GPUS_PER_TASK = 1
 const EXPERIMENT_DIR = "exp/dir"
@@ -15,7 +14,6 @@ const MODEL_INTERFACE = "model_interface.jl"
 const MODULE_LOAD_STR = CAL.module_load_string(CAL.CaltechHPCBackend)
 const slurm_kwargs = CAL.kwargs(
     time = TIME_LIMIT,
-    partition = PARTITION,
     cpus_per_task = CPUS_PER_TASK,
     gpus_per_task = GPUS_PER_TASK,
 )
@@ -41,7 +39,6 @@ expected_sbatch_contents = """
 #!/bin/bash
 #SBATCH --job-name=run_1_1
 #SBATCH --output=test/iteration_001/member_001/model_log.txt
-#SBATCH --partition=expansion
 #SBATCH --gpus-per-task=1
 #SBATCH --cpus-per-task=16
 #SBATCH --time=01:30:00
@@ -77,16 +74,15 @@ end
 test_cmd = """
 #!/bin/bash
 #SBATCH --time=00:00:10
-#SBATCH --partition=expansion
 sleep 10
 """
 
 jobid = submit_cmd_helper(test_cmd)
-@test CAL.job_status(jobid) == "RUNNING"
+@test CAL.job_status(jobid) == :RUNNING
 @test CAL.job_running(CAL.job_status(jobid))
 
 sleep(180)  # Ensure job finishes. To debug, lower sleep time or comment out the code block
-@test CAL.job_status(jobid) == "COMPLETED"
+@test CAL.job_status(jobid) == :COMPLETED
 @test CAL.job_completed(CAL.job_status(jobid))
 @test CAL.job_success(CAL.job_status(jobid))
 
@@ -94,7 +90,7 @@ sleep(180)  # Ensure job finishes. To debug, lower sleep time or comment out the
 jobid = submit_cmd_helper(test_cmd)
 CAL.kill_slurm_job(jobid)
 sleep(1)
-@test CAL.job_status(jobid) == "FAILED"
+@test CAL.job_status(jobid) == :FAILED
 @test CAL.job_completed(CAL.job_status(jobid)) &&
       CAL.job_failed(CAL.job_status(jobid))