Astronomical Data Scientist II

$86,000 - $106,000/Yr

Space Telescope Science Institute - Baltimore, MD

Full-time - Mid Level

Hybrid - Baltimore, MD

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations

About the position

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is a multi-mission science operations center for finding stars and galaxies in the universe. Our world-class astronomical research center is based on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus in Baltimore, Maryland. The Data Management Division (DMD) at STScI is seeking an astronomical data scientist to support the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). MAST is the public data archive for more than 20 missions spanning more than 30 years. The DMD is responsible for a multi-petabyte astronomical data archive that maintains Hubble Space Telescope (HST), James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Kepler, GALEX, TESS, and the future Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) Mission data. This candidate will lead archive activities and science data exploration related to large scale astronomical dataset, provide scientific guidance on catalog development efforts and support the MAST data products, tools, and interfaces. This position can support hybrid work. Candidates must reside in or be willing to relocate to our local market (MD, DE, VA, PA, DC & WV). Relocation assistance provided. This position requires US Citizenship or Permanent Residence in order to meet ITAR requirements.

Responsibilities

• Participate in the design and development of cloud-based solutions for storing, processing and managing astronomical catalogs and services that support community usage of catalogs
• Maintain and support mission source catalogs such as Roman Source Catalog(s) to ensure the integrity, accessibility, and security of astronomical datasets
• Participate in cloud tool development for massive catalog dataset exploration
• Support catalog data searching across multiple archive centers
• Answer help desk questions from scientific users, especially for those related to astronomical catalogs

Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years' experience in astronomy or astrophysics
• Expertise (minimum of three years or equivalent knowledge level) in the scientific use of catalogs
• Experience in Python scripting, including the use of common Python-based astronomy packages
• Familiarity with AWS Cloud related tools/services
• Effective communication skills and the ability to describe astronomical data to a broad science community
• Ability to maintain effective working relationships with other scientific, technical, and administrative staff
• Ability to analyze and solve problems independently, as well as work collaboratively and communicate effectively with multi-disciplinary teams and leadership

Nice-to-haves

• Expertise in one (or both) of the following fields of study: Extragalactic astrophysics, Time domain and multi-messenger (TDAMM) astrophysics
• Experience working with and analyzing/processing massive catalogs
• Experience with Git or other similar software version control tools
• Experience applying machine learning algorithms/tools to produce/analyze astronomical catalogs
• Experience with database SQL scripts

Benefits

• Employer retirement contribution - direct STScI contribution of 10% of your salary from your first day
• 12 days sick leave, up to 24 days' vacation, and 10 paid holidays
• Flexible work schedule with healthy work/life balance
• Comprehensive medical/dental/vision/prescription plans, and more!