CanDIAPL Scientific Software Developer at McGill

Position summary:

We invite applications for a postdoctoral Scientific Software Developer to work with the Canadian Data Intensive Astrophysics Platform (CanDIAPL, pronounced “candy apple”) under the direction of Co-Investigator Professor Daryl Haggard at McGill University (Montreal, Canada), in close collaboration with the CanDIAPL Project Manager and Lead Software Developers at University of Toronto and University of Alberta. CanDIAPL is a major nationwide scientific project funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to convert the enormous raw data streams from next-generation optical, radio, and multi-messenger facilities (e.g., Rubin, SKA, and LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA) into sophisticated digital databases that astronomers can use to make new discoveries. The successful candidate will act as a developer for CanDIAPL’s “Multi-messenger Portal/Community Alert Broker” and “Real-time Analysis/Multi-messenger Alert Broker”. This is a two-year term position with the possibility of renewal/extension. 

CanDIAPL involves software development activities across six Canadian universities and partners, including McGill University, University of Toronto, Queen’s University, Western University, University of Alberta, and University of British Columbia. McGill’s developer(s) will work within the Physics Department and the Trottier Space Institute at McGill (TSI), an interdisciplinary research centre consisting of 20 affiliated faculty members from the Departments of Physics, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, and Natural Resource Sciences (see http://tsi.mcgill.ca).

Major Duties and Responsibilities will include:

• Analyzing, recommending, and designing highly complex software architecture;
• Reconciling project requirements with information architecture needs for system integration;
• Developing a uniform codebase through a central repository;
• Ensuring that all components of the codebase are interoperable and meet scientific and technical specifications;
• Developing project schedules including milestones, critical path, timelines, feature requests and bug reports, deliverables and reporting;
• Coordinating tasks for projects and other strategic initiatives with stakeholders;
• Serving as an expert resource to a group of professionals with domain expertise.

 Essential Qualifications will include:

• PhD in Physics, Astronomy, Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering or an equivalent combination of acceptable education and experience
  • Minimum three (3) years of recent and related experience in software development and software product management.
• Experience collaborating with and offering technical advice to a team of software developers.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to articulate and explain technical issues to non-technical users in a clear and precise manner.
• Fluency with Linux, Unix or Apple OSX.
• Advanced advanced programming skills in Python and C++.
• Strong debugging/bug-tracking/code review/documentation experience, e.g., with Git or a similar version control system.
• Excellent software project management skills.
• Superior problem-solving and analytical ability.
• Experience with relational database design and maintenance.
• Ability to interpret raw data streams from radio and optical telescopes or similar data.
• Experience in high-performance computing, especially involving massively parallel applications.
• Knowledge of cluster computing and job scheduling systems (e.g. Slurm, HTCondor), containerisation (e.g. Docker, Kubernetes) and cloud infrastructures (e.g. OpenStack, AWS).

Leadership Skills, Knowledge, and Attributes — to be successful in this role you will:

• Have a positive, professional personality and a genuine interest in leveraging large astronomical datasets;
• Be a dynamic, quick-learner who can deal easily with the rapidly changing demands and possibilities of computational and data science, IT technology, and researcher needs;
• Be able to build strong relationships and engage with the Canadian research community;
• Have strong verbal, written, and organizational skills;
• Be self-directed and have the ability to advocate for the effective use of technology within the research community;
• Demonstrate a teamwork-oriented problem-solving attitude.

McGill University is committed to diversity and equity within its community. We welcome applications from all suitable candidates including women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, racialized people/visible minorities, ethnic minorities, 2SLGBTQIA* people (sexual orientation and/or gender identity minorities), and others who may contribute to diversification.