Job description
Join the LumenSky Institute of Astrophysics in Pasadena, CA as a Senior Astronomy Data Scientist. You will lead data-intensive research from telescope archives, develop scalable data pipelines, and collaborate with astronomers to translate observations into breakthrough insights.
We are seeking a motivated, collaborative professional with a passion for astrophysics, statistics, and software engineering to advance our mission of expanding humanity's understanding of the universe.
As a key member of our Scientific Computing team, you will leverage cutting-edge tools, open science practices, and cross-disciplinary collaboration to accelerate discoveries.
Responsibility
- Lead development of end-to-end data pipelines for raw telescope data to processed products
- Design and implement data models, metadata frameworks, and QA processes
- Collaborate with astronomers to define analysis strategies, experiments, and publications
- Apply machine learning and statistical methods to time-series, imaging, and spectral data
- Maintain and optimize high-performance computing workflows and cloud resources
- Document software, ensure reproducibility, and contribute to open science initiatives
- Mentor junior scientists and contribute to grant-writing and proposal development
Qualification
- Master's or PhD in astronomy, astrophysics, data science, or a related field
- 5+ years of experience in astronomical data analysis or related domains
- Strong Python skills and experience with libraries such as Astropy, NumPy, SciPy, and scikit-learn
- Experience with SQL/noSQL databases, data pipelines, and version control (Git)
- Proficiency with Linux/Unix environments and HPC/cloud computing (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
- Strong statistical literacy and ability to translate science goals into actionable software tasks
- Excellent communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills
- Publication track record or demonstrated contributions to astronomical projects is a plus