Scientific Software Developer- Contract Basis

NumFOCUS is seeking a Scientific Software Developer to support the SunPy project. SunPy is a Python-based open source scientific software package supporting solar physics data analysis. 

The successful applicant will work on constructing practical example scientific workflows and analyses that demonstrate SunPy’s interaction and interoperability with other parts of the scientific Python ecosystem, and improving the foundations of SunPy. There are four main tasks:

  • Create example code snippets and Jupyter notebooks that use SunPy and packages from the Python in Heliophysics Community; these examples will be shared via the Python in Heliophysics Community.
  • Report on the state of the SunPy codebase by analyzing output from code coverage and API inspection tools, etc, identifying areas in the existing codebase that need more coverage, can be consolidated or removed.  
  • Provide the ability to read spectroscopic data into a spectral data object, thereby enabling its later scientific analysis.  
  • Implement three new heliophysical coordinate systems using the existing SunPy and Astropy-based coordinate system framework.  

The successful applicant will be expected to adhere to the SunPy and Python in Heliophysics community guidelines, and interact constructively with the SunPy and Python in Heliophysics communities.

Required Experience:

  • 1-2 years scientific Python software development.

Desired Experience:

  • Python in a scientific environment
  • Software version control systems (e.g. Git/GitHub).
  •  Astrophysics research
  • SunPy, Astropy

Education: 

Bachelor’s degree in Physical Sciences, Computer Science, or Engineering.

Compensation:

$42.00 per hour, not to exceed $27,000.00 for the duration of the contract.

Duration:

Up to 16 weeks full-time or 32 weeks of part-time work (642 hours) may be completed. Work must be completed within the one-year.

How to Apply:

Please email your resume to with the subject line “SunPy Scientific Software Developer”