Research Software Scientist in Survey Astronomy

This is an exciting opportunity to join a team of researchers at the University of Southampton, working towards delivering new science with the state-of-the-art Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space Time (LSST). LSST will be the largest and most comprehensive ground-based optical survey ever undertaken, delivering a petabyte scale dataset of billions of astronomical objects that will open up unprecedented new discovery space. You will be the lead Research Software Scientist delivering one of the UK's accepted software infrastructure contributions to the Rubin project - the LSST-VISTA Fusion Dataset. Our leadership of near infra-red astronomical surveys, specifically those conducted with the ESO VISTA Telescope, provides a unique value-added contribution to Rubin. The combined LSST-VISTA dataset will allow studies of the most distant, obscured and red astronomical sources thus widening the LSST discovery space. 

You will work within the research team led by Dr. Manda Banerji but interact widely with the rest of the Astronomy Group and the LSST:UK and International Collaborations. You will be responsible for developing the LSST-VISTA joint data analysis pipeline and scientifically validating the resulting data products for extragalactic astronomy applications. You will liaise closely with the Rubin Project and Data Management teams and the LSST Galaxies and AGN Science Collaborations. There will be training and networking opportunities as part of a team of Research Software Engineers who are delivering the UK's software contributions to Rubin. The wider Astronomy group at Southampton is leading other software infrastructure contributions to Rubin and also working on a number of related surveys (e.g. DES, VISTA, 4MOST, MOONS). The position therefore presents a unique opportunity to establish yourself at the forefront of modern ground-based survey astronomy. 

To be successful you will have a PhD in Astronomy, Astrophysics or a closely related field. Experience with software development for astronomy, high-performance computing and/or large astronomical surveys and databases will be considered an asset. 

Please  supply a CV and brief research statement detailing your relevant experience in this area (2 pages  maximum) as a single PDF along with the details of two referees by the application deadline. The post is initially available for 2.5 years due to funding restrictions but with prospects for renewal. The application deadline is Sunday 26th Feb 2023