Summary of the Position
With two 8.4m mirrors on a common mount that can be combined to form an interferometer with an effective aperture of 23m, complemented with adaptive secondary mirrors, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) is the largest optical telescope in operation. Providing unprecedented ground-based resolution at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths, the LBT is a forerunner of the Extremely Large Telescopes. With a suite of state of the art instruments nearing completion, the observatory is moving to full operation while adding new capabilities such as ground-layer AO and new AO-fed instrumentation.
The LBT Observatory (LBTO) is headquartered on the Tucson campus of the University of Arizona and the telescope itself is located on Mt Graham (3200m), a 3.5-hour drive from campus.
LBTO is seeking a Manager/ Software Scientist who will lead the LBTO Software and Systems Administration Group at the observatory. As the principal of this group, the successful candidate will serve as a member of the LBTO management team and Observatory Council.
The main responsibility of the Manager/ Software Scientist is to create, guide, and manage the vision for software/ IT support at the observatory. This involves collaborative coordination with multi-disciplinary teams, to include Engineering, Mountain Support, Science Operations, Business Office, and the Director. It includes full life-cycle development, performance related monitoring and enhancements, and support for new instrument developments at the observatory. The Manager/ Software Scientist will manage day-to-day software/IT development and operations functions, and perform regular planning, scheduling, and budget oversight for the group.
This group consists of approximately 7 dedicated software developers and 2 systems administrators. Software development and maintenance support for Telescope Control System (TCS), Adaptive Optics (AO) software, facility instrument software, and Operations Support tools are all included. IT maintenance and troubleshooting support includes responsibilities for the Tucson office environment and two computer rooms at the telescope facility on Mt Graham.
The TCS is an object-oriented, distributed system written in C++ and consisting of a number of autonomous subsystems running on Linux platforms.
Facility Instrument software has been written in C/C++, Java, and Python by observatory partner institutions. This software has subsequently been delivered to the observatory for long term maintenance and enhancement by the software group. Also included in this category is Adaptive Optics software and Laser Guide Star subsystem software.
Coordination with external instrument and adaptive optics software teams is required. Preparation of software group annual budgets requests and budget monitoring is part of the job.
It is an organizational goal to maintain and further develop a professional software development environment at the observatory. This includes interface control, documentation, build and configuration control, requirements management, and a formal release process. The incumbent will be expected to actively promote best-practice software standards, tools, and methods at the observatory.
While the position is based in Tucson, significant amounts of work will occur at the LBTO site on Mt. Graham at an elevation of 10,470 ft.
The Manager of the Software Group reports directly to the Director, is a key participant in the management of the observatory, and a member of the Observatory Council.
Duties and Responsibilities
Minimum Qualifications
Preferred Qualifications
More information on the UA Employee Benefits:
http://www.hr.arizona.edu/benefits
Resources for UA Prospective Employees: http://employment.arizona.edu/
With two 8.4m mirrors on a common mount that can be combined to form an interferometer with an effective aperture of 23m, complemented with adaptive secondary mirrors, the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) is the largest optical telescope in operation. Providing unprecedented ground-based resolution at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths, the LBT is a forerunner of the Extremely Large Telescopes. With a suite of state of the art instruments nearing completion, the observatory is moving to full operation while adding new capabilities such as ground-layer AO and new AO-fed instrumentation.
The LBT Observatory (LBTO) is headquartered on the Tucson campus of the University of Arizona and the telescope itself is located on Mt Graham (3200m), a 3.5-hour drive from campus.
LBTO is seeking a Manager/ Software Scientist who will lead the LBTO Software and Systems Administration Group at the observatory. As the principal of this group, the successful candidate will serve as a member of the LBTO management team and Observatory Council.
The main responsibility of the Manager/ Software Scientist is to create, guide, and manage the vision for software/ IT support at the observatory. This involves collaborative coordination with multi-disciplinary teams, to include Engineering, Mountain Support, Science Operations, Business Office, and the Director. It includes full life-cycle development, performance related monitoring and enhancements, and support for new instrument developments at the observatory. The Manager/ Software Scientist will manage day-to-day software/IT development and operations functions, and perform regular planning, scheduling, and budget oversight for the group.
This group consists of approximately 7 dedicated software developers and 2 systems administrators. Software development and maintenance support for Telescope Control System (TCS), Adaptive Optics (AO) software, facility instrument software, and Operations Support tools are all included. IT maintenance and troubleshooting support includes responsibilities for the Tucson office environment and two computer rooms at the telescope facility on Mt Graham.
The TCS is an object-oriented, distributed system written in C++ and consisting of a number of autonomous subsystems running on Linux platforms.
Facility Instrument software has been written in C/C++, Java, and Python by observatory partner institutions. This software has subsequently been delivered to the observatory for long term maintenance and enhancement by the software group. Also included in this category is Adaptive Optics software and Laser Guide Star subsystem software.
Coordination with external instrument and adaptive optics software teams is required. Preparation of software group annual budgets requests and budget monitoring is part of the job.
It is an organizational goal to maintain and further develop a professional software development environment at the observatory. This includes interface control, documentation, build and configuration control, requirements management, and a formal release process. The incumbent will be expected to actively promote best-practice software standards, tools, and methods at the observatory.
While the position is based in Tucson, significant amounts of work will occur at the LBTO site on Mt. Graham at an elevation of 10,470 ft.
The Manager of the Software Group reports directly to the Director, is a key participant in the management of the observatory, and a member of the Observatory Council.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Supervision of a team of professional software developers, directing the evolution of the team as the LBTO moves deeper into science operations with responsibilities for newly added facility instruments and performance related improvements.
- Supervision of network, LInux and Windows system administrators, to include planning for maintenance and upgrades of network and computer hardware.
- Provide leadership for maintenance, testing, and documentation, and upgrades for the TCS.
- Maintenance and enhancement/upgrade of the inherited LBTO instrument control software packages. This involves building and maintaining productive relationships with the software groups of the various LBTO partner instrument teams.
- Maintain and actively promote existing software and hardware standards.
- Extract software development requirements from high-level functional and performance requirements.
Minimum Qualifications
- B.S. degree in Computer Science, Astronomy or a related field.
- At least seven (7) years of experience in large telescope projects or similar scientific facilities.
- Experience with project planning, including both development and management of budgets and schedules.
- Experience with distributed software development, with a good understanding of configuration management and quality control procedures.
- Experience creating written documents and reports, and oral presentations as required by management.
- Ability to think and work at 10,500-foot altitude and lift 50 lbs.
- Ability to drive according to the University Fleet Safety Policy.
Preferred Qualifications
- M.S. or PhD degree in Computer Science, Astronomy, or related field.
- Fifteen (15) years, or more, of experience with large telescope projects or similar scientific facilities.
- Experience and capability in recruiting skilled software developers.
More information on the UA Employee Benefits:
http://www.hr.arizona.edu/benefits
Resources for UA Prospective Employees: http://employment.arizona.edu/