mfisher87

About NSIDC: The mission of the National Snow and Ice Data Center is to make fundamental contributions to cryospheric science and excel in managing data and disseminating information in order to advance understanding of the Earth system. NSIDC is a trusted source of cryospheric data and services, and is a leader in research and development within this field. We enjoy a broad stable funding base which collectively supports our infrastructure and provides growth in numerous technical fields.

We are, and have been for the last 25 years, a NASA Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) responsible for archival and stewardship of cryospheric data. We also provide data access tools, documentation, processing services, and cryospheric expertise to the public.

This job: This is a new role at NSIDC intended to bridge between our Software Development, Operations, and System Administrations groups. You'll be expected to help evolve our infrastructure, including automated software deployment, software/system monitoring, and operations. Problems you might tackle include: Evolving a centralized logging/visualization infrastructure, positioning the software group for a shift towards processing and data storage in the cloud (a NASA goal), building out a local container orchestration platform, evolving our CI/CD infrastucture, and much more. Our software stack is mostly Python, Javascript, and Ruby. We deploy to vSphere VMs using Puppet, and most new software deployments today are done with Docker.

Personal pitch: Because we are part of a university, we know private industry can offer you a higher salary. However, we offer a starting benefits package that we feel stands out. The university 401(a) plan contributes 10% of gross pay. 22 vacation days, 15 sick days, and 10 holidays a year. UC Boulder insurance benefits are excellent. UC Boulder offers a significant tuition benefit for faculty (that's you), and a smaller benefit for your dependents. Come work here and get your Master's/PhD! Paychecks come once a month, which may be unusual for some. Top of the bill, for me, is the office environment and people. Our current location is dog-friendly, we have shared offices (usually 2-3 in an office) with openable windows (!), and you'll be surrounded with people who care about the work, the overall mission of NSIDC, and learning in general. Our developer group is usually running a book club (currently reading about Elm and just finished "Kanban in Action"), and anyone interested is welcome. You'll likely work directly with people who go to Antarctica every year. Finally, Boulder is beautiful. We have so many trails, everyone loves dogs, and we're about 2 hours from world-class skiing.