Rubin Observatory Systems Integration, Test and Commissioning (SIT-Com) Developer

Submission Information
Publish Date: 
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Archive Date: 
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Job Summary
Job Category: 
Science Engineering
Institution Classification/Type: 
Other
Institution/Company: 
AURA/Rubin Observatory
City: 
Tucson, Hilo, La Serena
State/Province: 
AZ, HI, Chile
Country: 
United States of America
Announcement
Job Announcement Text: 

To achieve the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) primary scientific goals, a detailed understanding of the integrated as-built system performance of the Rubin observatory, telescope, camera, image processing and their relation to final derived data products is required. 

The Systems Integration, Test and Commissioning (SIT-Com) Developer is responsible for the design, code, support applications and software infrastructure for Rubin. 

This position can be based in La Serena, Chile or Tucson, AZ; or it can be fully remote in the US states of AZ, CA, CO, DC, HI, FL, MD, NM, PA, VA, and WA. The position is expected to last through construction (concluding 2025 with the expectation to extend the position through 1-2 years of early Operations. 

Essential Functions: 

  • Designs and implements summit databases (postgres and/or ingres). 
  • Including developing the REST and/or other APIs used by the application code. 
  • Supporting the use of these databases by Rubin scientists and engineers  
  • Develops programs in Python to control and orchestrate the observatory using an existing (in-house) framework, based on the use of Python's async library ("SAL"). 
  • Designs and implements tools generating reports, collating information and logs from disparate sources. 
  • Designs and implements source selection strategies for rapid analysis of incoming images. 
  • Designs and implements visible alerts to observing staff when calculated parameters are out of specification. 
  • Designs and implements tools to recognize potentially out of specification system states and performs automated analyses to debug them. 
  • Participates in analysis of performance of Rubin hardware and/or operational and pipeline software. 
  • Integrates new hardware such as anemometers into the summit environment. 
  • Installs new releases of the Rubin environment on the summit. 
  • Supports Rubin observing and commissioning team's day-to-day issues and troubleshoot/debug problems. 

Other Functions: 

  • Other duties as assigned by supervisor. 

Required Education/Experience/Skills/Abilities: 

  • Bachelor's degree in Astronomy, Physics, Computer Sciences or related field and 5 years of relevant experience; or a PhD with some relevant ground-based telescope commissioning/operational experience.  
  • Ability to work effectively in a team environment with excellent organizational and communication skills in English. 
  • Understanding of distributed compute and storage systems. 
  • Proficiency in one or more programming languages (python or javascript preferred). 
  • Expertise with modern development tools (e.g. git) and methodologies (e.g. scrum, CI/CD). 
  • Ability and willingness to learn and establish best practices. 
  • Must have a valid Driver’s License; clean driving record; ability to drive a 4-wheel drive vehicle. 

Preferred Education/Experience/Skills/Abilities: 

  • Experience with python-based data science libraries such as numpy, pandas, jupyter, bokeh, parquet, dask. 
  • Production development and management experience with container technologies (docker, singularity, containerd, CRI-O) and orchestration (kubernetes (k8s)), plus k8s help charts, and ArgoCD. 
  • Proficiency with configuration management and infrastructure as code technologies (ansible, Terraform, Github Actions, GitLab CI, ArgoCD). 
  • Experience with HPC cluster software (e.g. HTCondor, SLURM) 
  • Experience with common software infrastructure software such as but not limited to postgres/mysql, nginx, apache, etc. 
  • Experience with Rubin data reduction pipeline software or similar. 
  • Experience with InfluxDB and SAL messages. 
  • Web development skills including python, javascript, FastAPI, React, and ideally Flutter/Dart and UI/UX design skills. 
  • Rubin data database skills including including python, Redis, web sockets, kafka, postgres, SQL, and influxDB. 
  • Proficiency with communication and issue tracking tools - Slack, Confluence and Jira. 

Physical Requirements: 

The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.  

  • While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and talk or hear. 
  • The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms and stoop; kneel; crouch; or crawl. 
  • The employee must regularly lift and /or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. 
  • Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. 
  • Must possess - sufficient mobility, strength, or dexterity in both arms and hands and both legs to a) reach upward, sideways, downward to work with paper files; b) sufficient mobility and dexterity to utilize computer systems, fax machines, copiers, and other office machines. 
  • Must possess: 1) ability to read and understand instructions, drawings, safety guides, and other written materials necessary to perform job; 2) sufficient visual capacity to perform the applicable functions without assistance of visual aids other than eye contacts or eye glasses; 3) sufficient spoken aural capacity to hear and understand instructions, warning bells, fire alarms, or shouted instructions without assistance of auditory aids other than a hearing aid; and 4) ability to impart information orally so that others understand and can respond appropriately. 
  • Work at high elevation summit sites may be required (summit elevations range from 6,800 feet to 14,000 feet).   
  • For summit positions, consider: 1) Cerro Tololo: Able to climb stairs and work at 2,225 mts altitude; 2) Cerro Pachón: Ability to work at 2,713 meters altitude, sometimes during inclement weather. 
  • Required to pass medical examination (post offer and potentially at specified intervals while employed, if medically necessary). 

Compensation: For US locations $85,300-$113,410. The final salary will depend on skills, qualifications, experience and location. 

The position will remain open until it is filled. To be considered in the first round of reviews, please submit your application by February 15, 2023.

Please submit a cover letter and a CV or resume in English, PDF files preferred. Please name any attachments with the following format: Lastname Docname. 

  • Application documents that are not uploaded as part of the application may be sent to [email protected]
  • Please enter 3 professional references in your application (references will only be contacted later in the recruitment process). 

Veterans, disabled individuals or wounded warriors needing assistance with the employment process should request assistance at [email protected] 

AURA offers an excellent benefits package including paid time off and retirement plan contributions, competitive salary commensurate with experience, and a very attractive work environment. Details on benefits can be found at https://hr.aura-astronomy.org/employee-benefits-guide/ 

Application Deadline: 
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Current Status of Position: 
Accepting Applicants
Apply to Job
Attention To: 
AURA Human Resources
Institution/Company Job ID or Reference Code: 
FULLS004770