Description

Description of Work Unit

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. Expanding on this Vision, our Mission is to serve as a nexus for multi-disciplinary cooperation among CI and NOAA research scientists, University faculty, staff and students in the context of NOAA-specified research theme areas in satellite applications for weather/climate forecasting. Important bridging elements of the CI include the communication of research findings to the international scientific community, transition of applications and capabilities to NOAA operational users, education and training programs for operational user proficiency, outreach programs to K-12 education and the general public for environmental literacy, and understanding and quantifying the societal impacts of NOAA research.

Position Summary

The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University (CSU) seeks to hire a Research Associate I or II to work on the CSU Foothills Campus, located 5 miles Northwest of the CSU main campus, to design, develop, and maintain websites and databases critical to the daily operation of NOAA’s Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch (RAMMB) and the Data Processing Center (DPC) that supports NASA’s CloudSat and INCUS satellite missions. Specifically, the individual in this position will report to the CIRA IT Manager and develop and implement optimized code to support and advance data processing and the user visualization and interactive experience for high-profile research and public outreach websites such as https://www.cloudsat.cira.colostate.edu and https://rammb-slider.cira.colostate.edu. Position title of Research Associate I will apply to the finalist with a Bachelor’s Degree plus 1-2 years of experience working in web development with an emphasis on server-side and client-side programming, Python, HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS, and position title of Research Associate II will apply to the finalist with a Bachelor’s Degree plus 3 or more years of experience working in web development with an emphasis on server-side and client-side programming, Python, HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS –OR- Master’s Degree plus at least 1 year of experience working in web development with an emphasis on server-side and client-side programming, Python, HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS. The individual in this position must be able to pass a National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI, Tier 1 federal background investigation) in order to access federal computer systems. This position may allow flexible work arrangements including hybrid office/remote work.

Essential Duties

RAMMB Web Development:

• Become fully acquainted with the architecture and inner-workings of the RAMMB web services for satellite imagery display;
• Develop enhancements to existing web services to showcase current and emerging CIRA/RAMMB satellite products, providing suggestions for new ways to visualize and improve the user experience;
• Build, maintain and upgrade websites and web applications for internal use as necessary;
• Adapt and learn new technology related to web application and database development, to maintain these resources on the cutting edge of technology.

CloudSat DPC Full Stack Development:

• Develop and maintain full stack web applications for satellite data inventory, data distribution, and processing system monitoring and control.

Application Details

Colorado State University conducts background checks on all final candidates. CSU is an EO/EA/AA employer.

The full consideration deadline is June 11, 2023 at 11:59pm (MT)

To apply, please upload a cover letter that addresses the required and preferred job qualifications, a resume, and the contact information for three professional references. References will not be contacted without prior notification of candidates.

Apply at: https://jobs.colostate.edu/postings/127267

Requirements

Required Job Qualifications:

• for Research Associate I: Bachelor’s Degree plus 1-2 years of experience working in web development with an emphasis on server-side and client-side programming, Python, HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS;
• for Research Associate II: Bachelor’s Degree plus 3 or more years of experience working in web development with an emphasis on server-side and client-side programming, Python, HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS –OR- Master’s Degree plus at least 1 year of experience working in web development with an emphasis on server-side and client-side programming, Python, HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS;
• ability to pass a National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI, Tier 1 federal background investigation) in order to access federal computer systems;
• experience with SQL, designing relational database schemas, and using databases with client applications;
• excellent communications skills including experience presenting to a group of people;
• experience working independently, multitasking, and meeting specific goals and deadlines;
• UNIX/Linux skills, experience using terminal and command line utilities.

Preferred Job Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, or another scientific field;
• experience working with distributed source control such as GIT;
• familiarity with satellite remote sensing, automating satellite imagery processing, McIdas;
• familiarity with the RAMMB/SLIDER webpage and its current operation;
• experience working with PostgresSQL;
• experience working with modern web frameworks (e.g., Django, ReactJS, AngularJS, etc.);
• experience working with open source GIS such as PostGIS;
• experience working with Python programming packages such cartopy, SatPy, pyresample, pytroll;
• experience working with containerizing applications, docker;
• experience working with nginx and/or apache configuration and optimization;
• experience administrating Linux system, bash scripting.