Job Details
Number:
110126-02
Title:
Software Engineer - Distributed Systems
Closing Date:
Open until the position is filled.
Description:
Type: Full time, professional.
Location: GMT Project Office, Pasadena CA
Background:
The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) Project is a collaboration of major US and international educational and research institutions constructing a next-generation extremely large optical/infrared telescope for scientific astronomical research. GMT will have a segmented primary mirror 25 meters in diameter, 2.5 times larger than any current generation optical/IR telescope. The telescope is being designed with adaptive optics and an advanced suite of instruments to support a diverse program of key scientific investigations. The telescope will be located at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The Project is currently preparing for the Preliminary Design Review.
The GMTO Corporation (GMTO) has been formed to construct and operate the GMT Observatory. The GMTO members include Carnegie Institution for Science, Harvard University, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), Smithsonian Institution, University of Chicago, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, the Australian National University, Astronomy Australia Ltd (AAL), and the University of Arizona. The project office is located in Pasadena, California.
GMT website: www.gmto.org
Job Summary:
The Software Engineer will be part of the engineering team building the GMT Control System. She/he will be responsible for specifying, designing, implementing, testing and integrating key pieces of the GMT Control System infrastructure. She/he will participate in the overall architectural design of the GMT Control System. She/he will report to the Software and Controls Group Lead.
The GMT Software and Controls system includes the hardware and software for controlling the different GMT optomechanical subsystems, the distributed software and services that coordinate all those subsystems, the observatory software to assist in the planning and execution of observations and engineering operations and the software to process and manage the scientific data. The Software and Controls system will be designed, manufactured, and integrated by the Software and Controls Group, working closely with groups at the GMT partner institutions and commercial firms.
Applicants will focus on designing, implementing and testing key pieces of the system infrastructure software and will have hands on experience building modern distributed controls systems.
He/she will be called upon to write technical reports and make presentations of the Software and Controls System design at project reviews and conferences.
Job Duties:
The Software Engineer will be responsible for:
- Specifying, designing, implementing, testing and integrating key infrastructure distributed software and services.
- Designing, implementing and testing distributed object-oriented frameworks to be used by GMT partner institutions in their corresponding software effort.
- Participating in the overall architectural design of the Software and Controls System.
- Generating software engineering deliverables (e.g. models, test procedures, documentation.)
- Supporting our partners and community on support forums, mailing lists, wikis, etc.
- Preparing and delivering presentations at partner meetings, technical reviews and conferences.
The Software Engineer will work closely with others to:
- Develop design requirements and interface specifications for the Software and Control Subsystems.
- Develop procedures for Software and Controls system integration, testing, and operation.
- Integrate and test the GMT Software and Controls system.
Minimum Requirements:
- A M.S. degree in software engineering or a related discipline.
- At least 5 years post-degree experience in distributed software systems.
- Willingness and ability to travel to foreign and domestic vendor, partner, and observatory locations as the need arises.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Strong understanding of distributed control systems.
- Experience using distributed middleware like CORBA, ICE, DDS, rabbitMQ.
- Applicants should have solid hands on experience designing and developing large scale distributed systems.
- Good knowledge of C/C++.
- Knowledge of modern languages and frameworks like Ruby, Rails, Sinatra, node JS, Erlang, Spring, Django, Scala is a plus.
- Experience using modern storage an infrastructure services like Hadoop, mongo DB, CouchDB, rabbitMQ.
- Good knowledge of Linux and UNIX.
- Open source community experience is a plus.
- Experience with telescope control systems is a plus.
- Experience participating in agile development in a software environment.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
- Demonstrated ability to work in a team environment.
Compensation:
GMTO Corporation offers a competitive compensation package including medical and retirement benefits. The level of compensation will depend on the experience of the applicant.
Applying:
Applicants should send a Letter of Interest and a Resume to careers[at]gmto.org. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Please refer to the Job Number in the letter and in the email subject line. GMTO is an equal opportunity employer.
