Overview

Lynker, a Federal Government Contractor, is seeking a talented Operational Applications and Infrastructure Developer to fill a full-time position supporting the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). SWPC operates 24/7 to monitor and forecast conditions in the space environment that affect the performance and reliability of critical technologies on Earth and in space. SWPC supports national security, transportation, power grid resilience, emergency management, commercial space operations, and international aviation services.

The Operational Applications and Infrastructure Developer will support the design, development, testing, deployment, and sustainment of scientific applications and supporting infrastructure used by the Space Weather Forecast Office and related SWPC operational teams. This position is focused on operational application development, AWS integration, database management, containerization, and Python-based software engineering. The incumbent will work across the full software development lifecycle, translating forecaster needs into reliable, maintainable, secure, and operational applications.

Responsibilities

Duties of the Operational Applications and Infrastructure Developer will include the following:

 

• Design, develop, test, deploy, and sustain operational scientific applications supporting SWPC forecast operations, data integration, product generation, workflow automation, and mission support functions.
• Develop and maintain Python-based applications, backend services, APIs, data processing workflows, and automation scripts supporting operational space weather applications and infrastructure.
• Develop, maintain, and support containerized applications and services using Docker or equivalent technologies to improve reproducibility, portability, scalability, cloud readiness, and operational maintainability.
• Develop and support infrastructure-as-code, configuration management, deployment automation, CI/CD workflows, and cloud-ready application patterns that align with SWPC modernization and agency cloud strategy objectives.
• Integrate operational applications with AWS services, cloud-native infrastructure, data storage platforms, monitoring tools, and deployment pipelines.
• Design, develop, maintain, and optimize relational and non-relational database solutions, including SQL-based databases and platforms such as PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, MongoDB, or equivalent systems.
• Integrate scientific datasets, model outputs, observational data streams, forecast products, and time-series information into operational applications using scalable and maintainable delivery methods.
• Support transition of applications from development or prototype environments into operational production environments, ensuring traceability, version control, configuration management, testing, documentation, and stakeholder acceptance.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex operational application issues, including data flow interruptions, database problems, API failures, container issues, deployment defects, performance degradation, and integration failures.
• Provide Tier 3 on-call or escalation support, as required, for database and operational scientific applications, including technical assessment, root-cause analysis, and coordination needed to sustain operational continuity.

Qualifications

The Operational Applications and Infrastructure Developer selected should have the following:

 

At least a Master’s degree in atmospheric science, space physics, geophysics, engineering, computer science, mathematics, information systems, or a related STEM discipline, and at least 10 years of experience in related areas.

Knowledge, Skills, and Requirements

• Strong proficiency in Python application development, including backend services, data processing, automation, API development, testing, and maintainable code design.
• Experience developing and supporting containerized applications using Docker or equivalent technologies.
• Experience with AWS cloud services, cloud-native application patterns, infrastructure automation, deployment pipelines, and operational cloud integration.
• Experience designing, querying, maintaining, and troubleshooting relational databases, including SQL and PostgreSQL or equivalent platforms.
• Familiarity with non-relational or document/key-value databases such as DynamoDB, MongoDB, or equivalent systems.

 

 

The Ideal Operational Applications and Infrastructure Developer will have the following:

 

• Experience supporting operational forecasting, scientific computing, environmental prediction, space weather, weather, aviation, emergency management, or other mission-critical operational environments.
• Experience modernizing legacy applications through refactoring, database migration, containerization, API development, or cloud integration.
• Experience with Agile SCRUM, Kanban, GitLab, Jira, or equivalent development and project tracking platforms.
• Experience supporting applications in high-availability or 24/7 operational environments where reliability, maintainability, documentation, and rapid troubleshooting are essential.