Software mb3HYqSY - Front-End Web Applications — United States

About the Company

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a research and development organization dedicated to advancing the study of the universe. It is managed and operated by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), a nonprofit organization, under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.

NRAO operates advanced radio telescope facilities used by the international scientific community. Its work has contributed to research on black holes, galaxies, and the early universe. The Observatory also develops and maintains software that supports astronomers in proposing, planning, scheduling, and analyzing telescope observations.

About the Role

NRAO is seeking a mid-level Software Engineer with strong front-end web development skills to join the Archive Team within the Science User Applications Group (SUA). The team develops and maintains the NRAO Science Archive, one of the Observatory's primary user-facing applications.

The initial focus of this position will be improving the Science Archive web application by modernizing its interface, developing new features, and enhancing performance, accessibility, and test coverage. You will work closely with other engineers and scientific users to understand their needs, design key system components, and deliver tools that support current telescope facilities and the next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA).

The position is based in Albuquerque or Socorro, New Mexico; Charlottesville, Virginia; or Green Bank, West Virginia. A remote work arrangement may be considered for well-qualified candidates.

Key Responsibilities

• Modernize and streamline the NRAO Science Archive interface to improve the user experience.

• Build front-end features and components that help scientists find and work with radio astronomy data.

• Improve front-end performance, accessibility, and test coverage.

• Collaborate with backend developers to design and consume APIs and improve overall system performance.

• Design and deliver key components of the application in collaboration with teammates and scientific users.

• Maintain and upgrade existing software applications.

• Develop new tools that support the Observatory's evolving observing methods and scientific requirements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field; highly relevant experience may be considered in place of a bachelor's degree. An advanced degree is welcome but not required.

• At least one year of experience in software application development.

• Familiarity with standard software engineering concepts, practices, and procedures through academic training or internship experience.

• Professional experience building front-end web applications using Angular and TypeScript.

• Strong knowledge of HTML, CSS/Sass, and JavaScript, with experience using Bootstrap or similar frameworks.

• Experience with build and bundling tools such as webpack.

• Experience consuming and designing RESTful APIs.

• Experience with version control, front-end testing methodologies, including unit and end-to-end testing, and CI/CD.

• Ability to debug and profile web applications, including browser performance.

• Understanding of object-oriented design and the ability to develop maintainable, well-structured software.

• Ability to learn and apply new programming languages and frameworks.

• Strong verbal and written communication skills.

• Ability and interest in working collaboratively as part of a Scrum team.

Preferred Qualifications

• At least three years of professional web application development experience, with a significant focus on front-end development.

• Experience with Python or Java and backend development sufficient to work effectively across the stack.

• Familiarity with relational databases and object-relational mapping tools such as SQLAlchemy.

• Familiarity with messaging systems such as RabbitMQ.

• Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker, Docker Compose, Docker Swarm, or Kubernetes.

• Experience with accessibility standards and responsive design.

• Familiarity with basic astronomical principles and data reduction.

Work Environment

You will join a team of professionals working across research, development, science, engineering, software development, and education. Work is typically performed in a research or development environment.

Work Authorization

Observatory employees must be authorized to work in the United States. The Observatory is currently unable to sponsor new H-1B visas for this position.

Salary & Benefits

Starting Salary: $96,588–$120,000 per year.

Starting pay may depend on education, experience, skills, competencies, other qualifications, internal equity, and labor market conditions.

Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) offers a comprehensive benefits package for eligible employees, with most benefits beginning on the first day of employment.

Paid time off includes 13 holidays and annual vacation accrual of up to 24 days.

Medical, dental, and vision plans are effective on the first day of employment.

AUI provides a retirement benefit equal to 10% of a qualified participant's base pay, with no required employee contribution.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants who require reasonable accommodation during any part of the application or hiring process may submit a request by emailing ••••••••.