ESA/AURA Astronomer Opportunities

These astronomer positions are three-year term contracts, renewable, and are eligible for hybrid work with required on-site presence in the Baltimore office. Salaries and benefits are commensurate with those of AURA employees at STScI.

About the role

Astronomers spend 50% of their time providing functional support to the ESA-NASA partnered missions at STScI, and 50% of their time on personal research. The successful candidates are expected to maintain an active program of research in astronomy, in addition to carrying out functional tasks related to the HST mission support within STScI for ESA.

The ESA/AURA astronomers generally provide functional support to all major aspects of science operations. Functional duties usually encompass all activities associated with support of the suite of active instruments currently on board HST, including but not limited to:

• Support of the calibration, data reduction, and analysis of HST data
• On-orbit performance verification and monitoring of the health of the scientific instruments
• Direct support to the user community during the preparation, implementation, and execution of the observing programs
• Documentation

Efforts are made to suitably match the background and experience of qualified candidates to current mission needs.

Responsibilities

• Maintain an active program of research in astronomy
• Provide functional support for HST science operations, including calibration, data reduction, instrument monitoring, and user support

Requirements

• Ph.D. or equivalent degree in astronomy, physics, or a related discipline
• Strong, established record of active, independent research and scientific publications
• Excellent technical skills and demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills
• Intermediate (or higher) level coding experience in Python, including:
  • Experience working with common libraries such as astropy
  • Performing astronomical data reduction and analysis
  • Jupyter notebooks
  • Familiarity with object-oriented programming and collaborative coding practices such as GitHub

Qualifications

Candidates will be assessed based on their research impact in any area of astrophysics, their experience, and their vision and technical skills. The following experiences are considered assets:

• Previous experience in science operations of astronomical space or ground observatories
• UV or IR detector characterization and calibration
• Data reduction and analysis of UV spectroscopic data or IR imaging/spectroscopic data
• Experience with the HST ecosystem of tools and packages, such as the Astronomers Proposal Tool, Exposure Time Calculator, and the HST calibration pipeline

Applications are encouraged from both junior and senior astronomers, as the experience and accomplishment of the successful applicants will determine the level of the appointment.

Work Environment

STScI occupies multiple sites surrounding the campus of the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, MD. It maintains close connections with the JHU Physics and Astronomy Department and is a partner in both the Pan-STARRS and LSST consortia. The research environment engages, stimulates, and supports an international research staff with over 100 members. Active research areas span a wide range of topics and include collaborations with postdoctoral researchers, research instrument analysts, JHU graduate students, and researchers from other institutions.

Researchers lead the organization of annual workshops and larger-scale meetings and participate in the activities of the office of public outreach.

Pay

Salary range of $115,000–$160,000, determined by factors such as internal pay equity, scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate’s experience, education, skill, and current market conditions.

Applications received by October 12, 2026, will receive full consideration. Position inquiries may be directed to: sonnentr@stsci.edu.