Software Group Lead: CASA Pipeline
Company: National Radio Astronomy
Location: Charlottesville
Posted on: January 26, 2023
Job Description:
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Position Description: Would you like to be part of leading and
developing mission-critical software for some of the largest
scientific endeavors on the planet? Would you like to be part of a
highly skilled international team of engineers and scientists
pushing the boundaries of humankinds knowledge of the universe?The
National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is seeking a full-time
Pipeline Software Group Lead who will be responsible for the short-
and long-term planning, management, and development activities for
a radio interferometer data reduction and analysis pipeline. The
Pipeline Group is responsible for the CASA pipelines, which provide
heuristic-based automated processing for calibration and imaging.
These software products have the primary responsibility of
supporting the data post-processing needs of NRAOs current
generation of radio astronomical telescopes, ALMA and the VLA. The
Pipeline can process both interferometric and single dish data, and
is developed by an international consortium of scientists and
developers based at the National Radio Astronomical Observatory
(NRAO), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National
Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), under the guidance of
NRAO.The CASA pipelines provide a layer of telescope specific
heuristics, using CASA and implemented in python, connected to
observatory systems to allow automated data calibration and
imaging.Over the next decade, our software infrastructure will
evolve to enable several orders of magnitude greater performance
scaling to support the upcoming Next Generation VLA (ngVLA)
telescope and ALMAs wideband sensitivity upgrade. The successful
candidate will have the opportunity to participate in and guide the
early stages of the software infrastructure design and development
towards these goals.The position can be based at our headquarters
in Charlottesville, VA; at the Science Operations Center in
Socorro, NM; at a satellite office in Albuquerque, NM; or at the
Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia. A remote work arrangement
within the continental United States may be possible for highly
qualified applicants.In addition to competitive pay, NRAO provides
excellent paid time off benefits (vacation and sick leave).
Medical, dental and vision plans are effective first day of
employment. NRAOs retirement benefit contributes an amount equal to
10 percent of a qualified participants base pay. No contribution is
required of the employee; we also offer an optional supplemental,
tax-deferred plan for employee retirement contributions.Job Duties
Summary:The Pipeline Lead is responsible for the international CASA
Pipeline development team including development teams in other
regions, and is responsible for the overall personnel and technical
management of the extended team. The successful candidate will also
take responsibility for regular reporting on management status and
compliance with deadlines to senior management at NRAO and other
participating organizations, and may be asked to present that
status to other stakeholders or advisory bodies in formal or
informal reviews. Personnel management involves building and
maintaining a culture of trust, mutual collaboration,
accountability, and excellence within the department/division and
with the Stakeholders. This includes:
- Seeking to increase the diversity and inclusion of the group
through robust recruiting and onboarding practices.
- Reviewing timesheets and periodic performance reviews,
including interacting with the Human Resources and Business
departments of the Observatory when necessary.
- With guidance from the Observatory Human Resource Department
coordinates and advises on personnel matters, ensuring compliance
with applicable policies such as affirmative action.
- Advises staff on technical and operational matters, instructs
and orients new employees as necessary.
- Interprets, implements, develops and/or recommends changes to
rules, regulations, policies and procedures set forth by the
Observatory.
- Proactive compliance with NRAO and government safety policies
and procedures in own work area is expected.Programmatic management
involves oversight of all aspects of the lifecycle of software for
which the group is responsible, including:
- Gathering of requirements, planning development, assigning
tasks, tracking progress, coordinating integration, testing,
acceptance, and release while fulfilling high standards of
quality.
- Managing stakeholder relationships, establishing priorities
based on stakeholder needs, and maintaining effective
communications.Technical management involves interacting directly
with all group members:
- Developing the pipeline infrastructure to support retrieval of
data from the archive, generation of pipeline processing requests,
standard pipeline recipes, creation of final data products, and
final ingestion of products into the archive.
- Guiding the integration of pipeline components, tasks,
heuristics, quality assessment, and logs into the pipeline
system.
- Maintaining a consistent view and quality of implementation
across all of the software.
- Approving technical direction within the team.
- Interacting with a team of expert developers and improving on
present practices whenever and wherever appropriate, in agreement
with the CASA Group Lead where necessary.As the leader of an
international development project, experience in achieving results
indirectly, e.g., in collaborations or through people in other
organizations is a key to success in this position.Work
EnvironmentWork is typically performed in a research and
development office environment. Occasional travel (domestic and
international) may be required.Position Requirements: Minimum
EducationBachelors degree in computer science, physics, astronomy,
or related field. Advanced degree preferred.Minimum ExperienceAt
least seven years of experience in software development, with at
least three or more years of experience leading a software group of
three or more people. Equivalent relevant experience will be
considered.Preferred EducationAn advanced degree in a closely
related fieldPreferred ExperienceRelevant experience with radio
astronomy data reduction and analysis software and procedures is
preferred.Knowledge of radio interferometric theory and practice
would be valuable. Demonstrated leadership in complex environments
and experience leading larger and geographically distributed
software teams is preferred.Additional skills & Abilities:
- Strong interpersonal and group communications skills, oral and
written.
- Familiarity with a wide variety of technologies, such as C,
C++, Python, testing frameworks, threading, parallelization.
- Ability to translate science requirements into software
requirements.
- Understanding of software architecture and the implications it
has for development.
- Must possess strong leadership and delegation capabilities.
Ability to maintain and develop productive collaborations across
organizations, anticipate and mitigate political and technical
issues.
- Demonstrated strong initiative in refining and clarifying
requirements, defining and implementing QA processes, plan
definition and monitoring, defining technical direction, and
facilitating alignment.
- Ability to learn new areas and apply learning.
- Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving abilities.
- Familiarity with project management concepts and
techniques.Competency SummaryThe Pipeline Lead is expected to have
demonstrated experience leading software development groups,
preferably within the domain of astronomy. The successful candidate
shall also have experience in leading a distributed team of
developers and be familiar with management, planning, and reporting
aspects. The candidate should be prepared to deal with already
ongoing activities, while also having the ability to formulate a
long-term direction. Candidates should have experience balancing
the maintenance, improvement, and enhancement of operational
software. Planning skills and appropriate management of a team of
expert developers and scientists are essential. Competency and
experience dealing with the development process from requirements
gathering, to development, testing and the formalism needed to
achieve an orderly process is also expected. Must be able to build
strong and productive relationships with stakeholders who have
complex and sometimes conflicting requirements, such as scientists,
development partners, and operations organizations. Strong
decision-making, consensus building, and communication skills are
essential.Additional RequirementThe Observatory has determined that
all employees who intend to be physically present in the facilities
and employees who work in safety sensitive positions are required
to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in accordance with our AUI
vaccine policy and provide proof of full vaccination prior to your
start date. A selected applicant may request consideration for an
accommodation for a disability or a sincerely held religious
belief.Application Instructions: Select the Apply button. You will
need to be prepared to upload your current resume and a cover
letter describing interest and suitability for the position.Equal
Opportunity Employer Statement: AUI is an equal opportunity
employer. Women, Minorities, Vietnam-Era Veterans, Disabled
Veterans, Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities are encouraged
to apply. To view our complete statement, please visit
http://jobs.jobvite.com/nrao/jobs. If you require reasonable
accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process due
to a disability, you may submit your request by sending an email to
resumes@nrao.edu.The NRAO is an equal opportunity employer
(M/F/D/V)
Please see job description
PI200105866
Keywords: National Radio Astronomy, Charlottesville , Software Group Lead: CASA Pipeline, IT / Software / Systems , Charlottesville, Virginia
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