Telescope Operator, McDonald Observatory

Job Posting Title:

Telescope Operator, McDonald Observatory

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Hiring Department:

McDonald Observatory

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Position Open To:

All Applicants

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Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

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FLSA Status:

Exempt

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Earliest Start Date:

Immediately

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Position Duration:

Expected to Continue

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Location:

MCDONALD OBSERVATORY

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Job Details:

General Notes

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) is one of the world’s largest optical telescopes, featuring a 10-meter primary mirror. It is primarily designed for spectroscopy, which involves decoding the light from stars and galaxies to understand their properties. This makes it ideal for searching for planets around other stars, studying distant galaxies, exploding stars, black holes, and other celestial phenomena. The HET is a collaborative project between The University of Texas at Austin, The Pennsylvania State University, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. See https://mcdonald.utexas.edu/research-facilities/HET.

The HET operates 24/7/365 and is located at McDonald Observatory, 16 miles from Ft Davis, Texas, which is 440 miles west of the UT Austin campus. Frequent night, weekend, and holiday duties are required, along with occasional on-call duties. Residence within the Observatory's residential community is available and may be required. This position may require "call-back" as an essential employee for emergencies or critical responses. 

You must be eligible to work in the U.S. full-time and permanently for any employer without needing sponsorship from the employer.

UT Austin, recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Large Employers, provides outstanding employee benefits and total rewards packages that include:

• Competitive health benefits (employee premiums covered at 100%, family premiums at 50%).

• Voluntary Vision, Dental, Life, and Disability insurance options.

• Paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays.

• Teachers Retirement System of Texas, a defined benefit retirement plan with employer-matching contributions.

• Additional Voluntary Retirement Programs: Tax Sheltered Annuity 403(b) and a Deferred Compensation program 457(b).

• Flexible spending account options for medical and childcare expenses. 

Responsibilities 

• Telescope Operations. Conduct nighttime operations from sunset to sunrise at the request of the resident astronomer or visiting staff. Safely operate the telescope, instruments, and computer systems, and perform queue observing. This includes mirror alignment, setting up and maintaining configurations on science targets, detecting and reporting technical issues, preventing, diagnosing, and recovering from these issues, monitoring weather and facility conditions, and coordinating with resident astronomers and engineers to efficiently achieve observational and engineering goals. Maintain accurate, professional, and clear night reports. Contribute to a productive and efficient working environment.

• Nighttime Operations. Support nighttime operations, including attending general and operations staff meetings (usually during the day); communicating with the outgoing telescope operator before the shift; developing familiarity with instrument configurations and setups to provide backup; collaborating with other telescope operators, the supervisor, and the administrative associate to keep an up-to-date work schedule; and working on projects to support operations (sometimes during the day). Projects may include theoretical work, documentation, hardware, and/or software tasks depending on your skill set.

• Daytime Operations. Support daytime operations, including providing ops engineering and reviewing and commenting on changes to facility operations.

• Facility Support and Additional Duties. Perform other duties as assigned to meet business needs. Maintain accurate and up-to-date timesheets and complete all required training and paperwork. Staff living on-site in the residential community are considered essential employees as determined by the HET Facility Manager and the Observatory Superintendent. They will be required to serve on the Observatory Emergency Response team, “ERT,” and perform tasks to help respond to emergencies such as fire, medical issues, hazardous materials, or other emergencies that threaten or interfere with the facility's normal operations.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Astronomy, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field involving engineering and/or scientific equipment typically used in college laboratory work, with two years of relevant experience, or a Master's Degree in a related field involving engineering and/or scientific equipment typically used in college laboratory work, and no experience. 

• Demonstrated ability to work efficiently, productively, and cooperatively in a small team environment during time-critical science operations, including listening, seeking clarification, and taking feedback. Able to work independently and is self-motivated.

• Proficient computer skills and the ability to work in front of a Linux/Unix computer console.

• Demonstrated good manual dexterity with fine motor skills using hand tools.

• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.

• Self-driven individual with keen technical ability, accuracy, and a systematic and detail-oriented approach.

• Ability to take initiative, organize, and prioritize work and to meet deadlines and expectations.

• Ability to be adaptable, work independently, and be an integral member of a project team.

• Demonstrated sound judgment, work ethic, and drive to maximize the scientific output of the telescope. 

• Competencies include accuracy and attention to detail, decision-making and critical thinking, effective communication, initiative, interpersonal relationships, problem-solving, and service excellence.

• Relevant education and experience may be substituted on a case-by-case basis.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in STEM fields and/or one or more years of experience with the operation of a 1+ meter telescope. 

• Understanding of observational astronomical terminology.

• Experience with developing and adapting to changes in complex procedures for repetitive and time-critical tasks.

• Experience with quickly troubleshooting, documenting, and working through faults in complex hardware and software systems.

• Experience working in a Linux or Unix environment through both command-line interfaces and graphical user interface (GUIs). 

Driving Required

This job requires a class "C" operator's driver's license. The applicant selected must provide a current three-year driving record from the current state of residence. If not currently a Texas resident, a Texas driver's license must be obtained within 30 days of becoming a Texas resident.

Salary Range

$50,000 + depending on qualifications

Working Conditions

• Position is located at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, McDonald Observatory, Ft. Davis, Texas. If you do not live in the surrounding areas, you will need to relocate.

• May work in all weather conditions and extreme temperatures. The McDonald Observatory is located at approximately 6900 ft. above sea level. Environmental conditions can be unpredictable; temperatures can range from -10˚F to +95˚F. Inclement winter weather can be expected, which requires comfortable driving in wintry conditions on mountain grades.

• Work in standard office conditions, using a computer and a keyboard repetitively at a workstation.

• May work around chemicals and chemical fumes, as well as cryogenic liquids.

• May work around electrical and mechanical hazards.

• Use of manual, mechanical hand tools and fine-motor dexterity.

• Climbing of ladders and stairs, free climbing on/around heavy equipment, and lifting and moving up to 35 pounds.

• As a 24/7 operation, this position may be expected to work at all hours of the day or night, including weekends and holidays (when needed and within limits), to serve the needs of the Observatory and specifically the HET.

• Staff living on-site in the residential community serve as essential employees and participate as members of the McDonald Observatory's Emergency Response Team, responding to fires, medical emergencies, and other incidents that threaten or interfere with normal operations.

Working Shift

• Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET), which is a 24/7 operation

• Sunrise to sunset schedule

• Occasionally expected to respond to failures on the telescope outside normal work hours (nights, weekends, and holidays)

Required Materials

• Resume/CV

• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor

• Letter of interest

Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, and then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (e.g., letter of interest, references) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to select multiple files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded. Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply through Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left-hand navigation menu, and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled into your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above.

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Employment Eligibility:

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

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Retirement Plan Eligibility:

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

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Background Checks:

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

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Equal Opportunity Employer:

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

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Pay Transparency:

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

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Employment Eligibility Verification:

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form.  You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States.  Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment.  Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

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E-Verify:

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:

• E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

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Compliance:

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.