Software Engineer I

Position Overview

Support NASA missions with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), NASA’s science operations center for flagship observatories like the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes. Operated by AURA, STScI leads observation planning, data analysis, public engagement, and data archiving. Our Data Management Division is seeking a Software Engineer I to advance scientific data pipelines, Python‑based notebook environments, and data visualization tools for NASA missions. This position offers a Schedule: Hybrid (onsite and remote) work arrangement and requires candidates to reside in or be willing to relocate to our local market (Location: MD, DE, VA, PA, DC & WV). Additionally, please note that U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residence is required to meet ITAR requirements.

Salary: $80,000 - $95,000
Compensation: Commensurate With Education And Experience

Key Responsibilities

• Responsibilities: Design, develop, test, and deploy software to support astronomers analyzing astronomical data.
• Collaborate closely with STScI’s technical and scientific staff.
• Maintain and extend existing software packages while developing new ones.
• Engage with the open‑source community through GitHub and contribute to scientific publications and conference presentations.
• Develop and support cloud‑based JupyterLab environments and Python‑based notebooks focused on scientific use cases.

Required Qualifications

• Qualifications: Intermediate Python experience; familiarity with a compiled language such as C or C++ is a plus.
• Experience working with astronomical data and understanding user requirements from a pipeline and data analysis perspective. Experience with HST and JWST data is a plus.
• Experience in multiprocessing, multithreading, or optimizing Python code for large datasets is a plus.
• Comfortable with writing unit tests and employing test-driven development practices.
• Experience Required: 2+ years as a software engineer.

Preferred Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Physics, Astronomy, Software Engineering or a comparable field.
• Background in astronomy or software development in a research environment is beneficial.

Benefits & Perks

• Benefits: Employer retirement contribution – direct STScI contribution of 10% of your salary from day one.
• 12 days of sick leave, up to 24 days of vacation, and 10 paid holidays.
• Flexible work schedule that supports work/life balance.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and prescription plans, among other perks.