Software Project Manager II-IV (5027)

Position Description:

Position Summary

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a diverse, exciting, and prestigious research facility that plays a vital role in the study of the universe. The Observatory operates a variety of radio telescopes that span the globe, including the famous Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. These telescopes are among the most advanced in the world, allowing astronomers to explore the universe in unprecedented detail.

We are hiring an experienced project manager to join our growing Program Management Department. The selected candidate will provide project management leadership for scientific software projects in support of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU).

One focus of this position is the Radio Astronomy Data Processing System (RADPS) program is currently being initiated within NRAO to design and develop a next-generation suite of tools, infrastructure and interfaces to support ALMA WSU (as well as the upcoming Next Generation VLA Telescope). Over the next decade, our software infrastructure is expected to evolve to support 2-3 orders of magnitude greater processing capability with scalable high performance and high throughput data reduction workflows for radio interferometry.

You will have the opportunity to share your talents in project management and scientific software development with engineering and science teams to bring these large-scale ALMA software initiatives to successful completion while learning new skills and technologies.

This project manager role will be in person at our headquarters located on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA or Socorro, NM.  Part-time telework may be considered after a 6-month initial appointment.

What You Will be Doing

• Successfully leading project management tasks, including supporting proposal development, building and maintaining project schedules, tracking project spend against budget, managing project acquisitions, tracking project reporting
• Writing effective, clear technical and programmatic reports
• Working with leaders in the software department to establish and promote agile development practices
• Collaborating with technical managers to optimize resources among assigned projects, determine scheduling priorities, and otherwise coordinate project components for best overall outcome
• Providing written periodic progress reports to the observatory including KPIs, milestones, and other progress metrics
• Effectively coordinating with project teams, management, stakeholders, and contractors
• Improving internal processes through lessons learned and incorporating experience from previous roles and NRAO projects
• Working with amazing, geographically distributed teams

Work Environment

Work is typically performed in an office environment. The role will require standing and sitting. Occasional domestic travel will be required.

Who You Are:

• You have at least a bachelor's degree in a physical science, computer science, software engineering, or have significant comparable and relevant work experience
• You have at least three years of experience as a project manager actively leading scientific data processing and software development projects
• You have demonstrated experience with core project management responsibilities, including scheduling and running effective meetings with geographically disbursed teams; risk management, project scheduling, reporting, acquisition, budgeting
• You have experience with agile development methodologies and understand the appropriate intersections between project management and agile processes.
• You can apply agile hybrid project management techniques to translate agile development metrics into reports for different audiences, including management and funders.
• You effectively influence projects in tandem with project directors, software engineers, and scientists
• You enjoy technical writing and supporting engaging collaboration sites (using Confluence and Jira) for project teams
• You strive to communicate project pr