R&D Software Engineer III

The Mountain Operations group of Steward Observatory seeks to fill the position of R & D Software Engineer III. Responsibilities include software development and maintenance, with occasional operations support, for multiple subsystems/instruments for a variety of telescope sites in Southern Arizona. On a daily basis, this includes providing engineering support for CCDs, spectrographs, telescope control systems, cryogenics, high vacuum and many more technologies. Additionally, the successful candidate will provide engineering support and development in a team environment for projects such as the Arizona Robotic Telescope Network (ARTN), which is a project to enable fully autonomous observing on the 90” Bok Telescope on Kitt Peak, the 61” Kuiper Telescope on Mt. Bigelow, and the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) on Mt Graham. While most work will be performed from the U of A campus in Tucson, AZ, some will occur on Mt. Graham, Kitt Peak, and in the Santa Catalina Mountains. The successful candidate will be required to provide periodic nighttime, weekend, and holiday operations software support and incident response. Application Deadline: May 31, 2022 (open until filled).

Software engineering professionals with knowledge of Astronomy instrumentation are especially encouraged to apply. Of particular interest are enhancements to existing operational tools, improved operator control interfaces, and automation of error handling and recovery functions.

Duties & Responsibilities:

 • Extract software requirements from high-level functional and performance requirements.
 • Design, develop and test software used to automate telescopes for both classical and autonomous modes of observing.
 • Specify, design, implement, test and integrate software and upgrades for the telescopes, instruments, and observatory tools.
 • Participate in software systems maintenance, troubleshooting and operational support.
 • Participate in acceptance of deliverables and hand-over activities with our partners for new capabilities.
 • Prepare and deliver technical presentations at team meetings, reviews and conferences.
 • Must be able to provide periodic nighttime, weekend, and holiday operations software support and incident response.
 • Other duties as assigned

 Physical Requirements:

 • Must be able to think and work at 10,500-foot altitude and lift/transport 50 lbs.

 Minimum Qualifications:

 • Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related field.
 • Five years of experience developing software in a Linux or Unix environment.
 • Ability to drive according to the University Fleet Safety Policy.

 Preferred Qualifications:

 • Advanced degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field, with emphasis towards physical or mathematical sciences.
 • Seven or more years of experience developing complex engineering software in a Linux environment.
 • Telescope control systems and/or instrumentation controls experience.
 • Previous experience working within the astronomical engineering community.
 • Experience working in a scientific environment.
 • Software/Hardware interface experience.
 • Five or more years of experience with motion control and scientific programming.
 • Experience with autonomous telescope operation.
 • Experience with Linux as a development platform.
 • Experience with C/C++ and Python programming languages.
 • Experience with shell scripting, build systems, software packaging.
 • Experience with graphical user interfaces using modern web technologies HTML5/CCS3.
 • Experience with databases.
 • Experience with real-time systems programming.
 • Experience with distributed software development, with a good understanding of configuration management and quality control procedures.
 • Experience with version control systems.
 • Experience in communicating effectively, both orally and in writing, including in the preparation of comprehensive technical reports and documentation.
 • Experience working with a strong team orientation.
 • Experience being self-motivated and performing with minimal supervision.

 For more information and to apply, please click here:
R&D Software Engineer III

 **Applications are only accepted via the above website.**