The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), which will be carried out by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, is the US flagship ground-based astronomical survey of the 2020s. We are looking for seasoned and experienced full-stack Principal Lead Systems Software Engineers to work at the intersection of state of the art computer science and cutting edge astrophysics. The engineers will design and build an analysis framework, run on the cloud or high-performance computing (HPC) systems, that can store, search, analyze and annotate data of the volume and complexity of the LSST data. This framework will provide an interface for the astronomical community to run real time and batch analyses (e.g. to search for one-in-a-million events in continuous streams of data). You will shape, drive and execute this vision to build one of the first scalable science platforms, possibly with long-term consequences for the future of astronomical software.

With an estimated start date in 2024, LSST will generate the deepest-ever, multi-color, 10-year-long movie of the southern sky, detecting 30 billion stars and galaxies and amassing 100 PB of imaging and catalog data. This is part of a trend of ever larger and more complex astronomical imaging surveys: science is at an inflection point where the volume of data and the software infrastructure we use to analyze it can fundamentally change our understanding of the universe. The scientific reach of the LSST will be extraordinary, addressing questions such as: how did the Solar System form; what governs the birth and death of stars; how does dark matter sculpt the shape of our Galaxy; will an asteroid devastate the Earth in the next century; what is the nature of the dark energy that drives the expansion of our Universe? At the same time, the data volumes will push the limits of current algorithms and computer science technologies. The software team that you will be part of will begin by developing software for direct and immediate scientific application to astronomical data from existing surveys, scaling up to the data volume and complexity of LSST in 3 years.

As a Principal Lead Software Engineer you will work with full-stack engineering teams at the University of Washington and Carnegie Mellon University. You will develop new cloud-based and HPC software platforms built on JupyterHub that will use cutting edge computer science techniques to enable the analysis of time series and static data from the LSST. You will work with astronomers and scientists to integrate their analysis code into these scalable analysis frameworks utilizing tools such as Spark and Dask. Development will be undertaken in an agile/Scrum environment to deliver high quality software. It will incorporate software best practices such as peer code review, to produce secure, testable, maintainable, and extensible code. You will participate in the hiring process and mentor others - improving their skills, their knowledge of your software, and their ability to get things done.

Responsibilities:

• Provide technical leadership to other members of the engineering team.
• Function within cross-domain teams, learn new skills and technologies as necessary, and solve meaningful problems through technical innovation.
• Design and implement software that offers a range of functionalities to the user population, including complex systems with rigorous specifications to enable scientific discovery, synthesizing input from key stakeholders.
• Perform analysis and troubleshooting for software issues and process challenges.
• Contribute as part of a team to discussions aimed at advancing the team's goals.
• Develop and maintain system documentation, and proactively maintain systems.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree, computer science or related field.
• 5-8 years of experience in systems/software development and engineering and systems programming.
• Programming experience with at least one modern language such as Python, Java, C++ including object-oriented design.

CMU's COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements: As a condition of employment, Carnegie Mellon University requires all staff and faculty working in the United States to be fully vaccinated, including a booster when eligible, against COVID-19. Prior to commencement of employment, new hires in the United States must provide proof of vaccination or obtain an approved exemption. (Exemptions may be requested for medical reasons or for religious or strong moral or ethical conviction.) Those granted an exemption must comply with all applicable COVID-19 mitigation requirements, including use of facial coverings, daily self-assessment and weekly Tartan Testing.

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