Scientific Programmer/Science Data Analyst/DevOps Engineer

Submission Information
Publish Date: 
Friday, July 1, 2016
Archive Date: 
Friday, July 29, 2016
Job Summary
Job Category: 
Scientific/Technical Staff
Institution Classification/Type: 
Other
Institution/Company: 
LSST/AURA
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unknown
Announcement
Job Announcement Text: 

The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) operates several observatory centers (including the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, the National Solar Observatory, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and the Gemini Observatory) in the United States and Chile under cooperative agreements with the National Science Foundation.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope is an ambitious project, currently in active construction, to conduct a ten-year survey of the dynamic universe. LSST can map the entire visible sky in just a few nights; in the ten-year survey lifetime, LSST will map tens of billions of stars and galaxies enabling scientists to explore the structure of the Milky Way, determine the properties of dark energy and dark matter, and make discoveries that we have not yet imagined.

The Data Management subsystem of LSST is responsible for immediately analyzing images to identify objects that have change or moved: from exploding supernovae on the other side of the Universe to asteroids that might impact the Earth.

The Science Quality and Reliability Engineering (SQuaRE) team is a Data Management team that focuses in the following areas of project work: building systems for rapid ad-hoc analysis of data to determine image quality and facilitate trouble-shooting; developing tests to capture and analyze data characteristics during construction, commissioning and operations; devising and publishing metrics characterizing system performance; and supporting developers, the commissioning team and early science users in deploying, running and understanding the LSST software stack and the generated data products.

SQuaRE is a close-knit, technically vigorous team staffed by multi-skilled highly engaged generalists; we encourage an open source ethos (all our code is public on Github), an agile culture and devops engineering aesthetics in both the software and the scientific aspects of our work. We are soliciting applications for the technical areas below, which are representative of the range of our activities and scope. We are looking for excellent technical skills (engineering or scientific) and an active preference for working with detail-oriented team members in a project-driven environment. Candidates whose skills span more than one of the positions listed below and who value utilizing a variety of skills are strongly urged to apply.

These positions are located at the LSST Project Headquarters, situated on the University of Arizona Campus, in Tucson, Arizona. Assistance with relocation expenses is provided. Remote working is unlikely to be a viable option for these positions unless the successful candidate has previously collaborated with the team and is familiar with its culture.

Scientific Programmer

Areas of technical competence include, but are not limited to:

    Developing algorithms for image data processing
    Scientific/numeric Python ecosystem including NumPy, Jupyter notebooks, Astropy
    Astronomical observing and development of data reduction pipelines
    Virtual observatory protocols such as TAP, SIA
    Data-science relevant mathematical/statistic skills
    Optical astronomy survey/database science
    Improving software performance
    Developing on/for commodity cloud architectures (eg AWS, OpenStack)
    Advanced Python 3 programming skills including packaging code for external use, refactoring, etc.
    Track record of open source contributions

Research time may be available for this position if aligned with the overall LSST areas of interest.

Science Data Analysis Specialist

Areas of technical activity include, but are not limited to:

    Contributions to survey science, especially optical imaging surveys
    Astronomical observing and data reduction experience, especially in optical wavelengths
    Builder status (or equivalent) in a large astronomy or particle physics collaboration
    QA of astronomical data and/or commissioning of astronomical instrumentation
    Scientific/numeric Python ecosystem including NumPy, Jupyter notebooks, Astropy
    Data-science relevant mathematical/statistic skills
    Commissioning of astronomical instruments
    Developing algorithms for image data processing
    Programming within astronomical data reduction pipeline frameworks
    C++ programming
    Track record of open source contributions

Research time may be available for this position if aligned with the overall LSST areas of interest.

DevOps Engineer

Areas of technical activity include, but are not limited to:

    Deployment technologies such as containers (eg Docker), orchestration (eg kubernetes), automated configuration (eg puppet)
    Build/test/deploy toolchains such as continuous integration, test harnesses, dependency management, release engineering)
    Developing and deploying services on commodity cloud architectures (eg AWS, OpenStack)
    Log collection, analysis and monitoring technologies (eg ELK or similar stacks)
    Advanced Python 3 programming skills including packaging code for external use, refactoring, etc.
    Web-based front-end/visualization skills and toolchains (eg bokeh, react.js)
    Computational performance metrics and benchmarks
    Track record of open source contributions

Requirements:

All positions require some level of programming competence and enjoying solving problems through code, along with superb written communication and documentation skills.

Familiarity with Python programming is a requirement for ALL the positions; while SQuaRE does server-side development in a number of languages depending on the appropriate stack, the core science stack is written in Python and C++ and almost all the scientist-facing code is in Python. 

Successful applicants will have extensive experience in ~ 2-3 of the technical areas listed for each position; strong candidates in 4+ areas.

These positions are open until filled; to maximize your chance of being considered, please complete your online application by August 1, 2016.

Depending on the depth of the applicant pools, we may fill multiple positions in one or more of the technical areas, rather than one position in each area.

Compensation will be offered in line with experience and track record and is competitive for the field and region. Benefits provided through AURA employment include health coverage, paid time off (24 days of vacation per year, sick time and holidays) and retirement benefits.

As an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, AURA does not discriminate because of race, sex, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, lawful political affiliations, veteran status, disability, and/or any other legally protected status under applicable federal, state, and local equal opportunity laws. Preference granted to qualified Native Americans living on or near the Tohono O'odham reservation.

Included Benefits: 

No benefits information has been provided by the employer.

Application Deadline: 
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Current Status of Position: 
No Status Given (Opted Out)
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