Software Engineer II-IIINational Radio Astronomy Observatory

Position Description:

Position Summary

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is an exciting and prestigious research facility that plays a vital role in the study of the universe. The Observatory operates a variety of radio telescopes that span the globe, including the famous Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) across North America, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. These telescopes are among the most advanced in the world, allowing astronomers to explore the universe in unprecedented detail.

The Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) is a transformative astronomical observatory designed to deliver science-ready data products to a broad community of users. The ngVLA is in the development phase of the project lifecycle. The computing resources needed to support data processing for ngVLA operations is significantly larger and more complicated than any existing NRAO facilities. Therefore, NRAO has partnered with the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) to design and prototype the technical infrastructure and data processing software to support ngVLA operations.

At NRAO, we are recruiting an experienced Scientific Software Engineer to design, implement, optimize, and maintain scientific applications and data-processing software executed on large-scale high-performance computing (HPC) systems. This role will prototype, develop, benchmark and optimize the Radio Astronomy Data Processing Software (RADPS) in collaboration with TACC.

The role requires demonstrated proficiency in Python and C++, experience with parallel and distributed computing frameworks, and the ability to collaborate closely with domain scientists, systems engineers, and HPC support personnel. The successful candidate will contribute to the full software lifecycle -- from requirements analysis and algorithmic design through implementation, testing, optimization, and long-term maintainability -- within a performance-critical, research-driven environment.

This position ideally will be based either in Albuquerque, NM, or Socorro, NM but could also be based at our Charlottesville, VA or Green Bank, WV locations. For well qualified candidates, a remote work arrangement may be considered.

What You Will be Doing

The primary focus of this position will be prototyping, profiling and optimizing cutting edge software for RADPS within the Data Processing group. Immediate activities may include (but are not limited to):

Software Design and Development

• Develop high-performance scientific software in C++ and Python, including numerical algorithms, data-analysis pipelines, and simulation components.
• Implement scalable solutions leveraging modern parallel programming techniques (MPI, OpenMP, CUDA/HIP, OpenACC).
• Build Python interfaces, bindings, and workflow tooling around high-performance C++ cores.
• Design modular, maintainable, and testable codebases following established software engineering best practices.

Performance Engineering and Optimization

• Profile, benchmark, and optimize HPC applications for multi-core, many-core, GPU-accelerated, and distributed-memory systems.
• Improve algorithmic efficiency, memory usage, I/O patterns, and data-movement behavior to achieve target throughput and scalability.
• Work with HPC system engineers to tune application performance for specific architectures (e.g., Slurm-managed clusters or other supercomputing platforms).

Scientific Workflow and Data Pipeline Development

• Create robust, automated workflows for large-scale simulations, experiments, or data-processing tasks.
• Integrate software with HPC schedulers, containerization technologies (e.g., Singularity/Apptainer), and workflow engines.
• Implement data ingestion, transformation, and storage strategies for multi-terabyte to petabyte-scale datasets.

Collaboration and Technical Leadership

• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams—scientists, data analysts, HPC support staff, and software engineers—to translate research requirements into software designs.
• Contribute to technical roadmaps, architectural decisions, and documentation for long-term sustainability.
• Mentor junior developers and participate in code reviews, design reviews, and project planning.

Quality Assurance and DevOps

• Develop and maintain automated test suites, CI/CD pipelines, and reproducible build environments (CMake, setuptools, Conan, Spack, etc.).
• Ensure high reliability, traceability, and maintainability of code deployed at scale.
• Adhere to configuration-management processes and documentation standards.

Work Environment

The successful candidate will join a team of professionals engaged in research and development in the fields of science, engineering, software development, and education. Work is typically performed in a research or development environment. Must be able to operate a personal computer. May occasionally work at high altitudes. Must be able to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.

Who You Are:

• You have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Physics, Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or related field
• While not required, you may have an advanced degree in a related field (Ph.D. preferred for research-intensive domains).
• You have at least one or more years of experience in the development of software applications;
• While not required you may have three or more years of experience, candidates with progressively more experience will be considered for a higher-level position.

Competency Summary

• Strong proficiency in Python (scientific stack: NumPy, SciPy, pandas, xarray, etc.) and modern C++ (C++14/17/20).
• Demonstrated experience developing scientific or numerical software for HPC systems.
• Experience with parallel programming paradigms (e.g., MPI, OpenMP) and performance-profiling tools.
• Familiarity with Linux development environments, version control (Git), software build systems, and automated testing frameworks.
• Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and scientific stakeholders.
• Experience with GPU programming or other accelerator architectures.
• Prior contributions to open-source scientific computing libraries.
• Experience with workflow orchestration frameworks and HPC schedulers (e.g., Slurm, PBS, HTCondor).
• Background in numerical methods, computational physics, signal processing, or other scientific domains relevant to the organization.
• Experience with large-scale data management strategies and parallel I/O libraries (HDF5, ADIOS, NetCDF).
• Familiarity with container technologies (Singularity/Apptainer, Docker) and reproducible science practices.
• Experience with software engineering principles, working within an Agile framework, and experience in the complete product lifecycle are preferred.

Additional Requirement

Observatory employees must be authorized to work in the United States.

Total Rewards:

Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) offers a comprehensive total rewards package for this position, subject to eligibility requirements. We are committed to serving our employees and their families with an extensive and competitive compensation and benefits package that supports our employees’ overall well-being and career growth.

Compensation

AUI strives to attract and retain dedicated, highly qualified, competent, and motivated employees by offering competitive compensation and recognition for performance.

For open rank positions, the starting salary/hourly rates for each level is between:

• Position level 2 $60,000 and $92,000
• Position level 3 $79,000 and $120,000

Benefits

AUI’s benefits package addresses the needs of employees and their families with most benefits beginning on the first day of employment. AUI provides excellent paid time off (13 holidays, annual accrual of up to 24 vacation days and 15 sick days, additional time off for doctor/dentist visits, and 8 weeks of paid parental leave). Medical, dental and vision plans are effective on the first day of employment. AUI’s retirement benefit contributes an amount equal to 10 percent of a qualified participant’s base pay with no required employee contribution; we also offer an optional supplemental, tax-deferred plan for employee retirement contributions.

Application Instructions:

Select the “Apply Now” button. Please be prepared to upload your current CV/Resume and a cover letter describing interest and suitability for the position

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement:

AUI is an equal opportunity employer. To view our complete statement, please visit https://public.nrao.edu/careers/. If you require reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, you may submit your request by sending an email to resumes@nrao.edu PM20