Applications Developer

Caltech is a world-renowned science and engineering institute that marshals some of the world's brightest minds and most innovative tools to address fundamental scientific questions. We thrive on finding and cultivating dedicated people who are passionate about what they do. Join us and be a part of the diverse Caltech community.

Job Summary

IPAC at the California Institute of Technology invites applications for a Web and Applications Developer who will participate in the development of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and Near Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor programs. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a NASA observatory designed to address key questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics. NEO Surveyor is a NASA Planetary Defense infrared space telescope that will be optimized to detect, track, and characterize near earth objects that may pose a hazard to the Earth and to detect more distant small bodies in the solar system. Both missions are scheduled to launch in the mid-2020’s.

Essential Job Duties

• Develop graphical web user interfaces, and/or interactive data analysis tools
• Work with the engineering and scientific team members on tasks that include developing astrophysics data processing
• Work with scientific team members to organize and visualize large data sets for data quality analysis
• Help the team interpret and implement project requirements and document the work that you’ve accomplished
• Develop and improve tools to help scientists combine, extract, visualize and exploit information from archived datasets
• Perform other related duties as assigned

Basic Qualifications

If you have the following in your background, then we want to hear about your interest in joining our team:

• Bachelor’s or equivalent degree in a Computer Science, Engineering, or Physical Science Discipline or another related field
• Experience with front and back-end web development
• Familiarity with software configuration management principles and tools, source code version control (e.g. Git/GitHub) and issue/bug tracking systems (e.g. Jira)
• Experience with creating and maintaining software documentation

Preferred Qualifications

Beyond these basic qualifications, there are a set of skills and experiences that will add to your ability to contribute to the roles and responsibilities of Applications Developer. The following might give you a head-start here, but even if these do not describe you or your experience, we would still like to hear from you:

• Demonstrated ability with Ruby on Rails, and related web technologies such as HTML5, JSON, and CSS
• Ability to query or examine the contents of a relational database
• Experience working with scientific data sets and use cases
• Python, Perl and C programming
• Understanding of software development lifecycle
• Ability to work within a small team, and at times, work independently to ensure deliveries to meet project timelines

Required Documents

• Cover Letter
• Curriculum Vitae

Life at IPAC

IPAC is located on the campus of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California by the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Caltech is small, but has an extraordinary science impact, with 41 Nobel Prizes awarded to faculty and alumni. Caltech manages the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA, the leading US center for the robotic exploration of the Solar System. Caltech also operates large-scale research facilities such as the Palomar and Keck Observatories, and LIGO, which in 2016 observed gravitational waves from colliding blackholes for the first time.

Pasadena is a city known for its contributions to science and technology, and its rich history, cultural treasures, scenic beauty, and year-round comfortable weather create a desirable environment for life and ideas to thrive.

People choose to work at IPAC for many reasons, and the casual, employee-centric culture often leads to fulfilling, long-term careers and positive relationships. Caltech’s benefits program offers a quality, competitive benefits package that is affordable for you and the Institute. We also offer a 403(b) defined contribution plan to eligible staff as well as a Voluntary Retirement Savings (TDA) Plan. IPAC staff have access to the Institute’s facilities, including the athletic center, libraries, on-site daycare, professional development and enrichment classes, and Athenaeum club membership.

MORE DETAILS ON THE POSITION AND APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS MAY BE FOUND ON THE CALTECH CAREER CENTER