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Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy · 2 days ago

Software Engineer II

Tucson, AZ

Full-time

Onsite

Mid Level

$93K/yr - $102K/yr

4+ years exp

The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy is seeking a Software Development Engineer II to integrate and optimize backend technologies for observatory control systems. The role involves collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to develop high-reliability services that manage telescope operations and instrumentation integration.

Non Profit

H1B Sponsor Likely

Responsibilities

Integrate and optimize backend technologies, observatory control systems and infrastructure engineering

Develop low-latency, high-reliability services that control telescope operations and manage instrumentation integration

Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams including hardware engineers, scientists and operations staff to architect, build and support software that ensures observatory uptime, scientific data integrity and operational safety

Design and maintain telescope control middleware and backend services

Develop monitoring and observability pipelines to track system health and performance

Integrate new instruments into the control ecosystem

Diagnose and resolve real-time software and system faults during observatory operations

Automate deployments and infrastructure management for robust, repeatable releases

Design, implement and maintain backend services and middleware for telescope and instrument control

Develop and operate observability tools and dashboards to monitor system telemetry and health

Collaborate with hardware and instrumentation teams to integrate software and hardware interfaces

Own the identification and resolution of critical production faults with precision and speed

Build and improve CI/CD pipelines to streamline deployment and rollback processes

Drive clarity through high-quality technical documentation and strengthen team expertise through active knowledge sharing

Provide onsite system support and maintenance at an elevation of approximately 6,800 ft

Qualification

PythonCC++Distributed systemsLinuxAPIsCI/CDProblem-solvingTechnical documentationCommunicationTeam collaboration

Required

Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science or a related technical field

4+ years of professional software engineering experience in backend or systems programming roles

Extensive, proven experience with Python, C and C++

Extensive, proven experience designing, building and maintaining distributed systems or services in a real-time or data-intensive environment

Proven high-level proficiency of software engineering fundamentals, including algorithms, data structures, concurrency, version control, CI/CD, etc

Extensive, proven experience working with APIs, network protocols or hardware integration

Proven high-level proficiency in problem-solving and debugging, including experience with live systems and production-quality software

Clear and effective communicator, adept at documenting and conveying technical information to non-technical audiences

Comfortable working with a remote, globally distributed team

Physically capable of working at the KPNO site, located at an elevation of approximately 6,800 ft

Preferred

Knowledge of telescope control systems, remote observatory operations and observatory middleware architectures

Knowledge of observatory infrastructure, software integration and data pipelines in a scientific research context

Familiarity with scientific computing workflows, observational instruments and astronomical data processing

Contributions to open-source telescope, scientific or engineering software

Background in DevOps or SRE practices for critical system reliability

Experience with Tcl/Tk programming for legacy system integration and instrumentation control

Experience with PLC programming (e.g., ladder logic) for hardware interface and motion control in telescope subsystems

Passion for astronomy, scientific software and advancing scientific research and discovery through innovative technology

Benefits

Paid time off

Retirement plan contributions

Competitive salary commensurate with experience

Very attractive work environment

Company

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy

AURA is a consortium of 40 US institutions and 6 international affiliates that operates world-class astronomical observatories.

Founded in 1957

Washington, District of Columbia, USA

1001-5000 employees

http://aura-astronomy.org

H1B Sponsorship

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)

Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship

Represents job field similar to this job

Trends of Total Sponsorships

2025 (13)

2024 (13)

2023 (9)

2022 (14)

2021 (10)

2020 (11)