Software Engineer (618-500)

Submission Information
Publish Date: 
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Archive Date: 
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Job Summary
Job Category: 
Science Engineering
Institution Classification/Type: 
Industry
Institution/Company: 
Universities Space Research Association
City: 
Moffett Field
State/Province: 
California
Zip/Postal: 
94035
Country: 
United States of America
Announcement
Job Announcement Text: 

USRA is an independent, nonprofit research corporation where the combined efforts of in-house talent and university-based expertise merge to advance space science and technology. USRA works across disciplines including biomedicine, planetary science, astrophysics, and engineering and integrates those competencies into applications ranging from fundamental research to facility management and operations. USRA engages the creativity and authoritative expertise of the research community to develop and deliver sophisticated, forward-looking solutions to Federal agencies and other customers - on schedule and within budget.

The Software Engineer is responsible for designing, developing, analyzing, modifying and maintaining scientific data processing pipelines and associated software tools. The pipeline software engineer will also support manual reduction of data, quality assurance assessments of the pipeline products, and archiving of the data products. The pipeline engineer will work under the direction of the DPS software development lead, who assigns tasks in coordination with the AD of Scientific Data.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

  • Independently conceptualize and design pipeline solutions including new algorithms, bug fixes, and improvements / upgrades to meet needs of SOFIA program.
  • Build, deploy, and verify the pipelines solutions in production and test environments; support the pipeline and instrument scientists during verification and validation activities.
  • Integrate and test pipelines within the DPS architecture; support any design, implementation, and testing activities for upgrades to the DPS pipeline Architecture.
  • Document system builds and application configurations; maintain and update documentation as needed.
  • Maintain pipeline software and pipeline algorithms.
  • Support and test the pipelines and pipeline algorithms, manual reduction of data, quality assurance assessments, and archiving of the data.
  • Support pipeline scientists using the data processing database for calibration and re-processing activities.
  • Follow team software development methodology.
  • May also serve as project leader and mentor other software engineers.
  • Ensure the protection of NASA and USRA intellectual property with respect to commercial and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) concerns through disclosures, patent applications, and adherence to NASA’s scientific and technical information dissemination guidelines.
  • Support efforts by USRA Management to ensure that USRA conducts its business operations in an effective, cost-competitive, and professional manner.
  • Complete required trainings as scheduled.
  • Other job related duties as assigned.

Required Skills:

Education:   

  • Bachelor’s degree in software engineering, computer science, physics/astronomy, or a related science/engineering field or equivalent, or combination of education and relevant experience.
  • Degree in Physics / Astronomy highly desired.

Experience:  

  • Experience with Python and / or IDL required. Experience with UNIX shell scripting, and Java is a plus.
  • At least 2 years of software development experience in science applications or related area.
  • Experience in astronomy related software position highly desired.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:  

  • Expertise in designing, developing, testing, and deploying applications.
  • Proficiency with application design and data modeling.
  • Strong technical knowledge of Python and / or IDL with an ability to select, adapt, and effectively use a variety of programming methods.
  • Ability to define and solve logical problems for highly technical applications.
  • Ability to independently develop schedules with detailed milestones and complete projects as assigned on schedule.
  • Ability to work effectively and professionally in a team environment (co-workers, customers, and supervisors).
  • Excellent written and verbal communication in English is required with an ability to write routine reports and correspondence, speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization.
  • Ability to lead activities on structured team development projects.
  • Ability to effectively utilize MS Office suite: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

 

Applicants should apply to the posting at https://usracareers.silkroad.com/ and include a letter of interest, resume, or curriculum vita.  Review of candidates will begin immediately.  Additional information on USRA can be found at www.usra.edu

 

USRA is an Equal Opportunity Employer Minorities/Females/Protected Veterans/Disabled/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

Application Deadline: 
Monday, November 6, 2017
Current Status of Position: 
No Status Given (Opted Out)
Apply to Job
Attention To: 
Ben Tanis
Title: 
Talent Recruiter
Institution/Company: 
Universities Space Research Association
Street Line 1: 
7178 Columbia Gateway Drive
City: 
Columbia
State/Province: 
Maryland
Zip/Postal Code: 
21046
Inquiries About Job
Attention To: 
Ben Tanis