26-123 Scientific Cloud and DevOps Developer

The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University seeks to fill a full-time Software Engineer position designed to conduct collaborative research and development with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) located at the Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) in Boulder, CO. The individual in this position will work in the NOAA/OAR/GSL Assimilation, Verification Innovation (AVID) Division’s Verification and Assessment Branch. 
 
The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University (CSU) is a multi-million-dollar research organization located on CSU's Foothills Campus in Fort Collins, Colorado. CIRA is a cooperative institute (CI) that is also a research department within CSU's College of Engineering, in partnership with the Department of Atmospheric Science. Its vision is to conduct interdisciplinary research in the atmospheric sciences by entraining skills beyond the meteorological disciplines, exploiting advances in engineering and computer science, facilitating transitional activity between pure and applied research, leveraging both national and international resources and partnerships, and assisting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), CSU, the State of Colorado, and the Nation through the application of our research to areas of societal benefit.

NOAA's Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) is a federal science and research laboratory under NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. GSL provides the National Weather Service (NWS) and the nation with environmental observation, prediction, computer, visualization, and information systems. These systems deliver data, forecasts, and predictions of weather, including severe weather events, within the next few minutes to weeks away.  GSL is a leader in the applied research, directed development, and technology transfer of environmental data, models, products, and services that enhance environmental understanding with the outcome of supporting commerce, protecting life and property, and promoting a scientifically literate public.

The individual in this position works in the Assimilation And Verification Innovation Division (AVID) at NOAA's Global Systems Laboratory (GSL).  They serve as the technical lead for a cross-functional team of software engineers and meteorologists focused on weather model verification.  They develop new software and provide a broad range of technical research, architectural design, and development activities. They also apply comprehensive, intensive, practical knowledge of software engineering principles to deliver end-to-end cloud capabilities, manage cloud infrastructure, and implement secure DevOps practices. They collaborate with colleagues in the lab's IT division on cloud implementation strategy, security, networking, and containerization.  This position will report to the Senior Software Engineer/Architect.

• Provide technical leadership for the team's transition to modern cloud infrastructure, overseeing Git integrations, automated deployments, and infrastructure as code.
• Design, implement, and maintain cloud architecture, including Kubernetes clusters and reusable Terraform modules that conform to federal security requirements.
• Implement tools & introduce practices to improve code quality and catch bugs prior to production.
• Prepare software documentation in collaboration with team members;
• Prepare status reports as required by the project sponsors and CIRA;
• Prepare and deliver technical talks and presentations as requested.

• This position requires onsite presence 3 days/week and optional telework 2 days/week because it requires significant collaboration with on-site teams.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States by the start of the position because CIRA will not sponsor any type of visa for this position now nor in the future.
• This full-time position in Boulder, CO, requires a National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI), tier 1 federal background check and a NOAA Common Access Card (CAC) ID badge for systems access. Therefore, only US citizens and lawful permanent residents with a physical USCIS “Green Card” are eligible.

The individual in this position is not expected to supervise employees.

NOTE: In the body of your cover letter, please specifically address all required qualifications when describing your work experience.  A resume that fails to specifically address the qualifications of this position may not be further considered after review by the search committee. 

Education Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Atmospheric Sciences, Physics, or a related scientific field, plus 5 years of related experience; 
• MS in Computer Science, Engineering, Atmospheric Sciences, Physics, or a related scientific field plus 2 yrs experience;
• PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Atmospheric Sciences, Physics, or a related scientific field.

Other Requirements:

• This full-time position in Boulder, CO, requires a National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI), tier 1 federal background check and a NOAA Common Access Card (CAC) ID badge for systems access. Therefore, only US citizens and lawful permanent residents with a physical USCIS “Green Card” are eligible.
• Five (5) years of experience with modern continuous integration and delivery systems.
• Five (5) years of programming experience in Python.
• Five (5) years of experience developing software in a Linux environment.
• Two (2) years of experience implementing and managing cloud computing architecture.
• Two (2) years hands-on expertise with container creation, orchestration and deployment with Kubernetes and Docker.

In the body of your resume, please specifically address all applicable preferred qualifications when describing your work experience.  A resume that fails to specifically address the qualifications of this position may not be further considered after review by the search committee. 

• Advanced knowledge of modern continuous integration and delivery systems using Github Actions.
• Experience implementing GitOps workloads with EKS in AWS.
• Experience with ETL data pipelines like Dagster/Prefect & data workflows.
• Experience with modern python frameworks like xarray and other Pangeo community projects.
• Experience with modern cloud-native data formats like Zarr and Parquet.
• Experience with meteorological datasets and formats (e.g., Numerical Weather Prediction output, grib2, netCDF).
• Experience with NoSQL databases like Couchbase.
• Experience programming in Go and with shell scripts.
• Demonstrated ability to serve as a technical lead, work independently as well as within a team-based environment, handle multiple tasks, and ensure projects meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate across teams.

Applications must be submitted via online portal. We will not accept materials sent via email or other mode. NOTE: In the body of your resume, please specifically address all required qualifications and applicable preferred qualifications when describing your work experience.  A resume that fails to address the qualifications of this position will not be further considered after review by the search committee. Likewise, an online application with a generic cover letter or missing a cover letter will not be further considered after review by the search committee.  References will be requested for finalists and will not be contacted without prior notification of candidates.  

To apply, please upload the following applicant documents. Ensure your materials fully address the required and preferred job qualifications of the position. Please note, applicants may redact information from their application materials that identifies their age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

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Colorado State University strives to provide a safe study, work, and living environment for its faculty, staff, volunteers and students. To support this environment and comply with applicable laws and regulations, CSU conducts background checks for the finalist before a final offer. The type of background check conducted varies by position and can include, but is not limited to, criminal history, sex offender registry, motor vehicle history, financial history, and/or education verification. Background checks will also be conducted when required by law or contract and when, in the discretion of the University, it is reasonable and prudent to do so.

Colorado State University (CSU) provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.