Radio Spectrum Scientist

A unique opportunity for an experienced radio scientist to join a multicultural, international team.

The Role

The Radio Spectrum Scientist will form part of the Spectrum Management group of the SKAO, working in the Mission Assurance area. The Radio Spectrum Scientist will be responsible for the scientific aspects of spectrum management and support the Spectrum Manager in policy and scientific meetings, being expected to advocate for the protection of SKAO’s access to the radio spectrum.

Spectrum Management is a discipline that requires a mixture of radio frequency engineering and international policy knowledge (like the ITU's Radio Regulations), together with a good understanding of the scientific needs of radio astronomy. The Radio Spectrum Scientist of the Spectrum Management office will collaborate in the development of such technical studies, bringing in the scientific view of the use of the radio spectrum.

The Radio Spectrum Scientist will collaborate in the activities of the new IAU Centre for the Protection of Dark and Quiet Skies, regarding radio astronomy, in the areas of "policy development" and "education and outreach".

The Radio Spectrum Scientist will also support the Spectrum Manager in policy meetings, being expected to present and defend documents submitted by the SKAO Spectrum Management office and to review and comment on submissions by other spectrum users.

Within the SKAO, the Radio Spectrum Scientist will report to the SKAO Spectrum Manager and will collaborate with the Engineering and Science teams in assessing the impact of external radio frequency interference (RFI) into the SKA telescopes and defining mitigation strategies.

In line with our Flexible Working Policy, flexibility around working hours may be accommodated in agreement with the Line Manager where operationally viable, ensuring telescope delivery is not impacted.

Key Responsibilities, Accountabilities and Duties

• Collaborate in compatibility studies between a wide range of radio systems and radio telescopes for spectrum management purposes, providing the scientific input from the radio astronomy perspective to SKAO compatibility studies.
• Coordinate the work of radio astronomy collaborators to conduct radio observations for the new IAU Centre for the Protection of Dark and Quiet Skies from Satellite Constellations (D&QS).
• Contribute to the radio aspects of the ”policy” and "education and outreach" areas of the new IAU Centre for D&QS.
• Prepare input documents to policy and spectrum management forums such as ITU-R and UN COPUOS.
• Represent the SKAO Spectrum Management office in policy and scientific meetings (virtual and in-person), presenting SKAO’s own documents and reviewing third party ones on issues that can affect radio astronomical access to the radio spectrum.
• Interact, at scientific and policy level, with a wide range of stakeholders regarding the protection of the radio spectrum for radio astronomy (like-minded radio astronomy groups, radio observatories, industry, national administrations).
• Collaborate with SKAO’s Science and Engineering teams in identifying risks and mitigation measures to protect the SKA radio telescopes and its science goals from external sources of radio frequency interference.
• Contribute to the SKAO RFI gitLab repository containing code for compatibility studies and RFI impact assessment of a variety of cases (from satellite systems to terrestrial mobiles).

Mandatory Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Degree in Radio Astronomy or a closely related scientific discipline
• Experience (typically at least four years) in a similar or related role e.g. within the public, military, scientific or commercial sectors
• Experience in conducting observations with radio telescopes
• Experience in RFI impact assessment in science cases for radio astronomy
• Excellent organisational skills to collect and organise the work of a wide community of researchers and engineers
• Knowledge of spectrum management and ITU-R methods of working, multilateral policy making
• Knowledge of the RAS ITU-R protected radio frequency bands and their importance for radio astronomy
• Excellent communication skills in English, comfortable with making presentations to international audiences and able to communicate science to wider audiences
• Knowledge of Python programming
• General computer literacy – routine use of MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) combined with excellent writing skills for formal emails, reports, documentation
• A flexible team player who is adaptable to change and also able to work independently as required
• Ability and willingness to undertake foreign travel as required and work with multinational and multicultural teams

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Knowledge of:

• Ongoing work for the protection of Dark and Quiet Skies
• Space policy forums such as UN COPUOS
• Electromagnetic propagation as applicable to interference calculations
• Software development for radio astronomy
• RFI detection and mitigation in radio astronomy observations