Cloud Data Engineer

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), a key NASA science and flight operations center, is hiring a Cloud Data Engineer to join our Catalog Science Branch. We’re looking for a talented and experienced professional to help manage the large scale data infrastructure and processing for our advanced astronomical data archive, the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), serving missions such as HST, JWST, Roman, Kepler, and TESS (Click here to learn more about our missions). If you're passionate about utilizing big data tools and cloud technologies in a dynamic, mission-driven environment, this could be the perfect opportunity for you.

This position can support hybrid work and is currently work from home. Candidates must reside in or be willing to relocate to our local market. (MD, DE, VA, PA, DC & WV).

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.

• The annual salary range for a Senior Cloud Data Cloud Engineer role (8+ years industrial working experience) is $130,000 - $150,000.
• The annual salary range for a Cloud Data Cloud Engineer II role (5+ years industrial working experience) is $115,000- $125,000.

This position requires US Citizenship or Permanent Residence in order to meet ITAR requirements.

Cloud Data Engineer

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Cloud Data Engineer to join our talented Data Management Division (DMD) to help advance our state-of-the-art, astronomical data archive, 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, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Kepler, GALEX, TESS and the future Nancy Grace Roman (Roman) mission data.

The ideal candidate will be responsible for designing, building, and optimizing the scientific data solution and data pipeline architectures.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, construct, install, test, and maintain highly scalable cloud-based data management systems
• Develop and maintain scalable data pipelines and build out new API integrations to support increasing mission data volume and complexity.
• Ensure systems meet mission requirements and industry software development best practices.
• Demonstrate proficiency in the design, installation, deployment, and support of hybrid environments with mixture of legacy and modern astronomical data
• Collaborate with the application engineers, archive scientists and data architects along with storage and networking engineering on projects, architectural design, implementation strategy as well as scripting
• Ensure scientific data quality and consistency across various catalog sources.
  
  

Experience, Skills and Qualifications:

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field. Senior level with a minimum of 8 years industrial working experience and Level II with a minimum of 5 years industrial working experience in an AWS Cloud environment and experience in data engineering, data management with a focus on cloud-based solutions.

• Proficiency in SQL and experience with cloud-based SQL databases such as Amazon PostgreSQL RDS
• Strong experience with ETL processes and data warehousing solutions
• Familiarity with big data tools and frameworks
• Knowledge of data modeling, data architecture, and data governance
• Familiarity with Data and Database Security
• SQL and database level performance tuning skills required
• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., Amazon Web Services) and related applications/tools
• Experience with Amazon Web Services with building and deploying using various cloud applications to automate data processes
• Experience with cloud data storage and data access strategy
• Strong programming skills in languages such as SQL, Python
• Experience with containerization and orchestration tools (e.g. Docker, Kubernetes).
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail
• Strong communication and collaboration skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Massive Parallel Processing technology-based database clusters
• Experience in one or more of the following areas: machine learning, advanced analytics, database architecture
• Experience with continuous integration and continuous deployment, adopting the modern practices of IaC (Infrastructure as Code)

TO APPLY: Share your experience by uploading a resume and completing an online application. Applications received by May 30, 2025 will receive full consideration. Applications received after this date will be considered until the position is filled.

Direct link - Cloud Data Engineer

Our excellent benefits include:

• Employer retirement contribution – direct STScI contribution of 10% of your salary from your first day
• 12 days sick leave, 24 days of vacation, and 10 paid holidays
• Comprehensive medical/dental/vision/prescription plans, and more!

Individuals needing assistance with the employment process can contact us at careers@stsci.edu.

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