<p>Support NASA missions!</p> <p>The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), is NASA's science operations center for missions including the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes. STScI leads observation planning, data analysis, public engagement, and data archiving for flagship missions. Our staff spans astronomy, engineering, education, IT, communications, and administration-working together to bring space science to the world. STScI is located on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus in Baltimore, Maryland. Click here to learn more about our missions</p> <p>The Data Management Division at the STScI is hiring a Software Engineer II, to help advance our data analysis tools for our NASA flagship missions primarily in areas of data visualization. This position can support hybrid work onsite and at home. Candidates must reside in or be willing to relocate to our local market. (MD, DE, VA, PA, DC & WV).</p> <p>This position requires U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residence to meet ITAR requirements.</p> <p>The salary range is $110,000 - $125,000. The posted salary range represents a general guideline; however, STScI considers a number of factors when determining salary offers, such as internal pay equity, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's experience, education, and skill, and current market conditions.</p> <p>Software Engineer II Role</p> <p>Your primary role will be to support the development and enhancement of our scientific data pipelines, analysis tools, and Python-based notebook environments for NASA's flagship missions. STScI has been a major contributor to the open-source scientific Python ecosystem - including NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, and Astropy - and you will help develop tools that integrate with and extend these libraries. Your work will include building and improving capabilities for data visualization, incorporating Jupyter notebooks into data-analysis applications, and developing and supporting cloud-based JupyterLab environments. In addition to hands-on software development, you will contribute to algorithm design, user support, training, and ongoing improvements to our software engineering practices.</p> <p>Responsibilities include:</p> <ul> <li>Designing, developing, testing, and deploying software to support astronomers in analyzing astronomical data. </li><li>Collaborating closely with STScI's technical and scientific staff. </li><li>Maintaining and extending existing software packages, as well as developing new ones. </li><li>Engaging with the open-source community through platforms such as GitHub and contributing to scientific and technical papers and conference presentations. </li><li>Providing technical and scientific development for Python notebooks that focus on scientific use cases. </li></ul> <p>Qualifications:</p> <ul> <li>Intermediate Python experience: experience with a compiled language such as C or C++ is a plus. </li><li>You have worked with astronomical data and understand user needs from a pipeline and data analysis perspective. Experience with HST and JWST data is a plus. </li><li>Python experience in multiprocessing, multithreading, or optimizing performance of Python code for large datasets is a plus. </li><li>You are comfortable with writing unit tests and with test-driven development. </li></ul> <p>Education:</p> <ul> <li>Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Physics, Astronomy, Software Engineering or a comparable degree, with 2+ years of experience as a software engineer </li><li>Education or professional background in astronomy, or software development in a research environment, is helpful </li></ul> <p>The substitution of additional relevant education and/or experience for stated qualifications may be considered. Compensation is commensurate with education and experience.</p> <p>Our excellent benefits include:</p> <ul> <li>Employer retirement contribution - direct STScI contribution of 10% of your salary from your first day </li><li>12 days of sick leave, up to 24 days of vacation, and 10 paid holidays </li><li>Flexible work schedule with work/life balance </li><li>Comprehensive medical/dental/vision/prescription plans, and more! </li></ul> <p>TO APPLY: Please complete an online application and upload a resume and cover letter in one PDF document. Applications received by March 18, 2026 will receive full consideration. Applications received after this date will be considered until the position is filled. Reference #0015733</p> <p>Individuals needing assistance with the employment process can contact us at careers@stsci.edu.</p> <p>#LIHYBRID</p>