Director of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC)

The Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) seeks a creative, innovative individual with strong teamwork and leadership skills to serve as Director of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC). This will be a permanent civil servant position.

HEASARC is the primary NASA archive for high energy astrophysics, obtaining data at extreme ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths, and data from the cosmic microwave background and other areas of cosmological importance at radio, infrared, and other wavelengths. The HEASARC provides data from all of NASA’s current and historical high-energy astronomy missions, multi-mission software and analysis, and in addition supports the use of astrophysics data through Guest Observer programs, multi-mission standards, and archive access.

The HEASARC Director’s duties include:

- Lead and guide on the strategic direction, scientific and technical priorities, administrative supervision, and resources management of the HEASARC; lead staff and other meetings as necessary; and manage the HEASARC’s day-to-day activities.

- Ensure that the astronomical community has timely and effective access to HEASARC data.

- Enable new astronomical research by developing future capabilities in astrophysics data archiving.

- Lead the development of mechanisms to federate collections of data and make available new data products, and visualization tools and mechanisms for the analysis of large datasets.

- Lead a team of scientists and programmers who maintain data integrity and provide flexible and powerful interfaces for data access, including the growing HEASARC presence in the NASA Cloud.

- Originate and establish unique methods and applications that provide innovative solutions to complex physical science issues.

- Address computer and archive security and technology issues, ensuring that the HEASARC remains operational and secure, and that its data holdings maintain integrity.

- Oversee the development of future capabilities in astrophysics data archiving and combining extremely large datasets.

This position requires a Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate field of Physical Science or Mathematics. A Ph.D. degree of equivalent experience in the above fields is highly desirable. This position also requires substantive experience in physics or astrophysics, and mastery of the field of high-energy astrophysics so that the incumbent can develop research efforts in X-ray astronomy and closely related fields. Ability to identify research topics, analyze information, and apply principles to find solutions is essential. Prior expertise in overseeing or developing data archives, astronomical analysis software, and/or applicable cloud-based technologies is also strongly desirable: the specialized knowledge required is both scientific and technical, as the continued development of the archive requires state-of-the-art techniques in order to be practical and cost-effective. Skill to conduct astronomical research by developing mechanisms to federate collections of data, publish new collections, access images, allow statistical exploration of parameter space, and perform image and statistical analyses that require processing of large volumes of data. Skill in working with astrophysics data archiving and combining extremely large datasets. The abilities to plan and organize work, and to communicate it verbally and in writing, are essential.

The successful candidate is expected to carry a productive research program for ~20% FTE.

The position will reside at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, a suburb of Washington, DC.  

This is a 2-step process. The first phase, through 9/30/2024, is this announcement which provides the heads-up for the upcoming job ad. The second phase will be a USAJobs posting, anticipated for October 2024. Note that phase 1 is the “heads-up” phase and phase 2 is the proper application phase.

US citizenship is required at the time of the Phase 2/USAJobs application.  Those who are expecting U.S. citizenship by the time of the Phase 2 opportunity are encouraged to submit materials during Phase 1, even if they do not yet have their U.S. citizenship. This position would be at the GS-15 level.

Interested applicants should contact Crystal Hogue (crystal.m.hogue@nasa.gov) by September 30, 2024, to be notified when the USAJOBS opportunity opens.  Please use the subject line “HEASARC Director position”.  Inquiries about the position may be addressed to Dr. Robert Petre at robert.petre-1@nasa.gov.  Application material will be required in Phase 2 at a later date via the USAJOBS website.

NASA GSFC is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we encourage expressions of interest from members of under-represented communities.