As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.

UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.

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 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.

The software team that you will be part of will begin by developing software for direct and immediate scientific application to data from existing surveys, scaling up to the data volume and complexity of LSST in 3 years. As a Principal 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, incorporating software best practices and configurations such as peer code review, to produce secure, testable, maintainable, and extensible code. You will participate in the hiring process and mentorship of other technical staff - improving their skills, their knowledge of your software, and their ability to get things done.

The Principal Software Engineer will be a vital part of a new endeavor to create a collegial, creative team, collaborating with researchers and software engineers at the University of Washington and at Carnegie Mellon University to improve efficiency and reproducibility of research outcomes. The position reports to the Sr. Principal Research Scientist/Engineer.

The duties and responsibilities include:
Design and Implement Applications:

Design and implement applications/systems (web and non-web) that offer a wide range of functionalities to the user population. Advance innovative and unique approaches and methods of software development.

Create content and contribute to initiatives and other deliverables as designed by LINCC leadership.

Exhibit versatility, working with researchers on multiple and shifting platforms. Tailor systems to the research’s specific needs, and manage the products end to end.

Collaborate with research design:

Build internal code design and development guides for future contributors.

Collaborate with researchers and technical staff in the design, planning, and implementation software that enriches research productivity and reliability.

Build understanding of research activities through regular engagements.

Guide investigators toward sustainable software goals.

Problem Resolution/Project Tasks:

Manage the correction of application issues and process challenges. Identify and implement improvement initiatives to meet the needs and changing mission of the environment.

Manage and maintain issue tracking, internally and with researchers.

Mentor others on the team toward completion of goals and assignments.

Provide routine status reports to the directors and Vice Provost for Data Science.

Lead, mentor, coach teammates:

Provide major input to creating and staffing of project teams.

Foster and support a creative, open environment for vibrant research development.

Assist junior colleagues with documentation, communication, and time management.

Share in 24/7 on-call duties with other team members as required.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.

A minimum of 6 years of experience in software engineering.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

Experience with large-scale systems design.

Experience in cloud computing or HPC.

Demonstrated ability to think independently, be flexible, and juggle multiple priorities.

Experience cultivating positive and productive professional relationships with individuals from diverse social, cultural, and political contexts and ability to build rapport quickly.

DESIRED:

Proven success leading dynamic teams.

Ability to drive innovation and excitement to learn about new technologies and science applications.

Strong understanding of software development or lifecycle.

Application Process:
The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process.  These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others.  Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.