The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is a multi-mission science and operations center for NASA’s flagship observatories. The Cloud Center of Excellence at the Space Telescope Science Institute is seeking a Principal AWS Cloud DevOps engineer to join our team working on NASA flagship Space Telescope missions that are revolutionizing our understanding of the universe. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Residence for ITAR compliance.
In this role, you’ll lead the cloud security automation initiatives & leverage DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines to implement robust automation and monitoring systems using modern engineering/operations frameworks for the AWS cloud applications and environment supporting our space observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman). Roman is a survey telescope slated for launch in late 2026 and expected to generate 20 PB of data in 5 years.
The data from Roman will be mainly processed in the Cloud; in addition, a Science Platform hosted in the Cloud will enable transformational science with Roman data by providing a rich computing environment that will allow broad, low-barrier access to data, computing, and software resources.
The STScI also hosts the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) archive that contains data from more than 20 missions. In this role you will collaborate with cross-functional teams to design, deploy, and maintain secure cloud architectures, automate security processes, and ensure compliance with industry regulations and best practices. Your expertise in AWS cloud infrastructure automaton, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and DevOps principles will be vital in supporting Roman & enabling world-class scientific discoveries through these pioneering telescope programs.
This role will be part of the DevOps/Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) team responsible for helping roll out new CI/CD templates to the engineering teams and the continued improvement of these pipelines.
You will work closely with the Science, Engineering, IT, Quality Assurance, Security and Site Reliability Engineering teams to improve automation, and the adoption of CI/CD best practices.
Responsibilities include:
- Design, implement and maintain the infrastructure automation features of our AWS cloud environment.
- Provide project support for Development, Science and IT teams. Automate the configuration and monitoring of security features for projects from those teams.
- Work with peers to automate, review, optimize, and drive cloud infrastructure operations and efficiency of the code, processes
- Monitor the automated build and continuous integration processes to ensure efficient build execution and facilitate resolution of build/release failures.
- Create, maintain, and share technical documentation used by engineers and other team members across the Institute
- Design and implement DevOps best practices, establishing standards and policies for managing source code and continuous integration/delivery.
- Demonstrate excellent trouble-shooting skills and resolve deployment and environmental issues to closure Support continuous improvements to existing infrastructure, tools, and processes.
Technical Skills and abilities:
- Minimum of 15 years of relevant software development or large systems integration required with a strong background in automated code testing
- Extensive experience with AWS services such as EC2, S3, Lambda, RDS, ECS/EKS, IAM, CloudFormation, and CloudWatch. Strong understanding of networking concepts (VPC, VPN, Direct Connect, Route 53, Security Groups, NACLs). Proficiency in AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) and implementing best practices for cloud security.
- A strong understanding of the SDLC, CI/CD, and the Agile software development methodology based on Kanban, Scrum, SAFe, or other frameworks Experience with deployment automation, dark launches, feature toggle and blue-green deployment
- Experience with Git, Jenkins, GitLab CI and/or AWS developer tools required. Hands-on experience in automating deployment processes using pipelines, scripting, and configuration management tools
- Experience with AWS infrastructure and automation required including VPCs, Security Groups, IAM etc. Strong expertise in IaC tools such as Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, or CDK. Experience in building, maintaining, and scaling infrastructure using IaC principles.
- Experience with Continuous Delivery and associated rollback automation.
- Proficient in Docker, Kubernetes, and AWS ECS/EKS for container management and orchestration. Experience with containerizing applications, designing, and optimizing container-based environments.
- Scripting skills required – shell scripts, Python preferred including familiarity with CloudFormation/Terraform, JSON, YAML
- Experience with developing IaC modules for AWS multi-account framework & AWS organizations
- Experience with monitoring tools (e.g., AWS CloudWatch, Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog) and setting up proactive monitoring and alerting.
Certifications Preferred:
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional, or similar certifications.
Compensation is commensurate with education and experience. Our excellent benefits include:
- Employer retirement contribution – direct STScI contribution of 10% of your salary from your first day
- 12 days sick leave, up to 24 days’ vacation, and 10 paid holidays
- Flexible work schedule with healthy work/life balance
- Comprehensive medical/dental/vision/prescription plans, and more!
TO APPLY: https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/SPA1004AURA/JobBoard/93330e50-7b3a-4ba8-94f2-6f32360aa4e1/Opportunity/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=29802919-218b-4140-8f23-b7cc62632847
Salary range is – $160k – $180k
Applications received by 10/09/24 will receive full consideration. Applications received after this date will be considered until the position is filled.
Explore all career opportunities at www.stsci.edu/opportunities
STScI offers a flexible and welcoming workspace for all. STScI embraces the diversity of our staff as a strategic priority in creating a first-rate community. We strongly encourage women, ethnic minorities, veterans, and disabled individuals to apply for these opportunities. Veterans, disabled individuals, or wounded warriors needing assistance with the employment process can contact us at careers@stsci.edu EOE/AA/M/F/D/V.
As a leader in the astronomical community, AURA is committed to diversity and inclusion. AURA develops and supports programs that advance our organizational commitment to diversity, broaden participation, and encourage the advancement of diversity throughout the workforce www.aura-astronomy.org/diversity.asp
As a recipient of U.S. Government funding, AURA is considered a government contractor subject to Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action regulations. As an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, AURA and all of the centers do not discriminate based on race, sex, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity/gender identity expression, lawful political affiliations, veteran status, disability, and any other legally protected status under applicable federal, state, and local equal opportunity laws. The statements below, as well as the requests for self-identification, are required under these regulations. We encourage your participation in meeting these federal reporting requirements for protection and assisting us in our record-keeping and reporting. Your responses are kept strictly confidential.
