Optical Scientist

SETI Institute • Mountain View, CA

18h • $85,000 - $110,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

The NASA Ames Exoplanet Technology Group is seeking candidates with innovative ideas to develop solutions for challenging problems and contribute to NASA's future missions focused on directly imaging and spectrally characterizing exoplanets. This includes work on the Roman space telescope (coronagraphic instrument) and the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). The role may involve participation in NASA’s Great Observatory Maturation Program (GOMAP) for HWO, as well as planning, conducting, and proposing astronomical observations, including supporting a contributed mode for the Roman coronagraphic instrument. The optical scientist will primarily support the Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) Vortex Coronagraph Project, with approximately 25% of their time dedicated to other projects. The position is primarily on-site at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA, with some flexibility for hybrid work. The successful applicant should have a strong interest in the listed responsibilities and relevant experience.

Requirements

• MS or PhD in Optical Science, Astronomy, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or related field.
• 1-4 years of experience in high-contrast imaging laboratories, performing precision alignment of optical elements, and conducting lab demonstrations (including MS/PhD work).
• Experience with coronagraph modeling, data acquisition and analysis, wavefront control, and astronomy using Python and/or MATLAB.
• Must be a US Person as defined under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) (22 CFR § 120.62), as an individual who is a lawful U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder), or a protected individual, such as a refugee or asylee.
• Experience in working in a team environment, ability to work synergistically in collaboration with other researchers/scientists.
• Excellent communications skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) and/or Vortex coronagraphs.
• Experience with Ansys Zemax OpticStudio.
• Experience with instruments and/or missions that have flown is a significant plus.

Responsibilities

• Innovate and invent techniques to improve performance and/or accelerate the maturation of high contrast imaging technologies, initially focusing on the PIAA-Vortex coronagraph project, with opportunities to contribute to other projects and invent new ones.
• Computational modeling of instruments and missions (preferably in Python, MATLAB, and/or other scientific programming languages), including optical propagation, wavefront control, and expected science.
• Design and conduct laboratory experiments to characterize the performance of high-contrast imaging systems and components, including throughput, aberration sensitivity, and contrast, both on in-air and vacuum testbeds.
• Write and contribute to scientific papers.
• Present results at scientific workshops and conferences.
• Write and contribute to grant proposals.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level