Staff Astronomer 1

Explore the Universe from One of the World's Leading Astronomical Observatories

• Stewardship – We care for our people, facilities, environment, and community with integrity and long-term responsibility. 
• Service – We prioritize collective impact, supporting one another, the global astronomy community, and our local Hawaiʻi community to achieve shared goals. 
• Collaboration & Inclusion – We work across disciplines and perspectives to solve complex challenges and advance discovery together. 
• Excellence & Safety – We deliver high-quality work while maintaining a strong commitment to operational excellence and safety in everything we do. 

• Competitive starting salary ranging from $83,686 to $100,374 annually.
• Generous benefits package, including four (4) weeks of annual paid vacation.
• A robust 8% 403(b) employer contribution (with a 4% employee contribution)
• Dependent Tuition Assistance.
• Comprehensive, fully-paid employee health insurance.
• Join a dedicated team working on the frontiers of astronomy.

• Instruct observers in the use of WMKO’s instruments and telescopes
• Provide pre- and post-observing inquiries and support (both onsite and at remote mainland sites).
• Offer afternoon and night-time support for observers during their runs.

• Maintain, calibrate, and develop scientific instruments and related software.
• Provide night-time engineering support.
• Collaborate with engineers and technicians to maintain, repair, and improve instruments.

• Lead the care of that instrument or capability.
• Take primary responsibility for the instrument, ensuring its proper function and performance.

• Participate in the development of new instruments or capabilities, including adaptive optics.
• Contribute to major upgrades of existing instruments

• Contribute to the development, maintenance, and support of data reduction packages.

• Conduct scientific research related to field of expertise or interest with the expectation that the research will lead to published technical and peer-reviewed papers. Collaboration with colleagues is encouraged.
• This position allocates 20% of work time specifically for research activities. 

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or equivalent degree in astronomy, physics, or engineering; relevant professional experience may be substituted for a degree.

• Interest and/or experience with scientific instrumentation
• With astronomical observing and/or working at an astronomical observatory.

• Ability to prioritize tasks, plan activities, and meet deadlines
• Microsoft Office Proficiency.
• Ability to effectively deliver impactful presentations to a technical and non-technical audience. 

• Ability to interpret complex data, solve problems, and make predictions based on empirical evidence.
• Proficiency in programming languages for data analysis and simulations (e.g., Python, C/C++, IDL, R, Bash/Shell scripting).
• Ability to create or use data processing pipelines to handle large volumes of data, including calibration, cleaning, and extraction of useful information.
• Knowledge of cloud computing and data storage solutions to manage large datasets.
• Ability to write scientific papers and produce technical documentation.