Staff

Please submit your application to jobs@simonsobservatory.org.

Safety Manager

The Simons Observatory is accepting applications for the position of Safety Manager. The Safety Manager will manage the Simons Observatory Safety Office and Safety Officers.

The Safety Manager will be responsible for:

  • Assuring that the Simons Observatory site is a safe site operated following best practices
  • Managing the safety officer and working with the safety officer to always have an on-site safety presence.
  • Working with the site engineers to ensure regulatory compliance in installed systems.
  • Ensuring labor regulatory compliance on-site
  • Maintaining and developing safety policy and best practices documents
  • Working with the instrument teams to review all instrument installation and maintenance procedures from a safety perspective

Skills & Experience

Required: prevencionista certification

  • Required: experience in safety policy development
  • Required: working knowledge of Chilean Norms and Regulations around power generation, electrical power distribution, safety equipment placement, and work at high elevation
  • Preferred: experience in safety management
  • Preferred: experience at high elevation

The Safety Manager will be expected to work a standard 9×5 shift schedule, being located in San Pedro and on-call during their shift. Housing in San Pedro can be provided if necessary.

Salary will be competitive and commensurate with experience. 

We are looking to fill the position as soon as possible, and will be accepting applications until the position is filled.

Small Aperture Telescope (SAT) Instrumentation Engineer

The Simons Observatory Small Aperture Telescope (SAT) instrumentation engineer will be responsible for the delivery and successful commissioning of the SAT telescopes currently under construction for the Simons Observatory. The SAT instrumentation engineer will work with a team of leading scientists and other engineers in the development and testing of these important science instruments.

The work will include participating in the technical activities of the instrument team working on the first SAT at the University of California, San Diego in the United States. These activities include laboratory integration and testing, completion of supporting technical elements such as electrical and electronics enclosures, temperature monitoring and control, and installation of TES bolometer focal plane arrays. The integration and test phase will conclude with acceptance testing to verify that the instrument meets all of the performance and implementation requirements. Once the instrument has passed these tests it will be shipped to the Observatory site in Chile. The instrumentation engineer will work at the site to lead the installation of the instrument and will work with the compliance systems engineer to commission the instrument for science operations. During and after this period the instrumentation engineer will also lead the activities related to completion of the second and third SATs and oversee their installation at the Observatory site.

The SAT instrumentation engineer will be part of the Observatory’s project office and will report to the Observatory’s lead systems engineer. They will collaborate with the compliance systems engineer on the acceptance testing in the laboratory and also support the compliance systems engineer and other Observatory staff in the commissioning of the instrument and the handover to operations.

Required Qualifications

  • A master’s degree or equivalent experience in mechanical or electrical engineering
  • At least 5 years hands on experience in the development of cryogenic instruments or systems
  • Proficiency in SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD software at the level of professional certification
  • Clear and concise written and oral communications skills
  • Professional level design and fabrication experience in mechanical and electrical/electronic systems and components
  • Working knowledge of finite element analysis, thermal modeling, and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing
  • Fluency in Spanish

Desirable Qualifications

  • Experience with microwave instrumentation for astronomy including a working knowledge of microwave optics and RF systems
  • Experience with servo controls and motion control systems, especially for telescopes and/or large antennas
  • Experience with assembly and troubleshooting of electrical and electronic systems
  • Experience with the operation and troubleshooting of high vacuum cryogenic systems including pulse tube coolers and dilution refrigerators
  • Experience with TES bolometer detectors and detector arrays
  • Experience in acceptance testing including test design and execution, data analysis and reporting

Term

This is a salaried, term limited appointment of 24 months with a possible extension. There will be a three month probationary period.

Location

The position will be located at the University of California, San Diego for approximately one year. After that the position will require significant time at the Observatory site in Chile with occasional travel to collaborator sites in the United States.