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Job Summary IPAC at Caltech invites applications for a Software Developer to join the team that is developing the Survey Data System for NASA's Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission. As a Software Developer, you will build and maintain the software that will prepare, reformat, and package the NEO Surveyor Survey Data Systems (NSDS) data products for routine ingestion into the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA).
IPAC, part of the Physics, Math, and Astronomy Division at Caltech, is a dedicated team of scientists, engineers, and administrative personnel who provide science operations, user support, data and archive services, and scientific vision to maximize discovery with observatories both in space and on the ground. NEO Surveyor is a NASA Planetary Defense mission, scheduled to launch in 2027, that is optimized to detect, track, and characterize solar system small bodies that pose a potential risk to the Earth. NEO Surveyor consists of a passively cooled 50 cm telescope located at Sun-Earth L1 equipped with a wide-field camera that will image the sky simultaneously in two mid-infrared bands. NEO Surveyor will detect approximately 100,000 Main Belt asteroids, NEOs, and comets each day against a background of tens of millions of distant stars and galaxies.
IPAC is building the NSDS that ingests imaging and engineering data from the flight system, processes those data into calibrated image and source detection products, performs automated searches for moving solar system objects, assesses the quality of the survey data, and distributes data products to NASA archives and the user community. The NSDS operations system generates image data with accompanying metadata and quality metrics and lists of extracted sources from those images.
Essential Job Duties As Software Developer, you will work with the NSDS Archive Scientist, NSDS Lead System Architect, and IRSA Team to:
- Develop software to identify and collect data product files from the NSDS operations filesystem and prepare them for copying to the archive.
- Develop software to parse lists of extracted source measurements generated from the NSDS image data and reformat these into database-load files to facilitate ingestion into the archive's relational databases.
- Develop scripts to query the NSDS Operations Databases for metadata and quality metrics accompanying the file products and reformat this information into archive-database-load files.
- Perform integrity checks to verify data accountability, correctness, content, and formatting following archive-ingestion.
- Write and maintain documentation on procedures and recipes for executing and maintaining all archive product preparation tools.
Basic Qualifications - Bachelor's degree (or equivalent combination of education and experience) in Information Technology, Software Applications Development, Physical and/or Mathematical Sciences, or related discipline.
- At least 3 years of relevant work experience in developing software.
- Experience with scripting and programming languages.
- Ability to write and maintain documentation for executing and managing software.
Preferred Qualifications Besides these basic qualifications, there are a set of skills and experience that will enhance your contributions to this role. The following might give you a head start, but even if these don't describe you or your experience, we would still like to hear from you.
- Experience querying relational databases using SQL or some variant thereof.
- Experience managing extremely large datasets.
- Experience with data-integrity checking tools and hashing algorithms, for example, generating and verifying checksums.
- Scientific programming skills, preferably pertaining to physics and/or astronomy.
Required Documents - Cover Letter
- Resume
- Names and Contact information of 3 professional references
Application Deadline: January 6, 2025.
People choose to work at IPAC for many reasons, and the casual, employee-centric culture often leads to fulfilling, long-term careers and lasting professional relationships. Caltech's benefits program offers a quality, competitive benefits package that is affordable for you and the Institute. The program provides a strong base of coverage for you and your dependents, and the ability to choose the plan and the level of coverage that best meet your needs. 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.
