About the roleMuon seeks a Senior Instrument Calibration Scientist to join our team in Mountain View, CA with a focus on calibration of infrared remote sensing instruments. The ideal candidate is a self-motivated engineer or scientist with a versatile skill set who is comfortable working across many layers of technical depth. This role will be a key member of the instrument team, establishing scalable calibration hardware infrastructure and processes to ensure delivery of science-grade radiometric and geometric calibration artifacts to the data team. Previous experience developing and operating infrared electro-optical systems, remote sensing instruments, and test infrastructure in fast-paced and small-team environments is preferred.
This position is hybrid and requires working on-site in our Mountain View, CA office three days per week.
Responsibilities- Own radiometric and geometric calibration standards across multiple instrument programs, developing best practices and ensuring adherence to defined processes.
- Lead the design and development of scalable calibration test hardware infrastructure.
- Lead the planning and execution of pre-launch radiometric and geometric calibration campaigns to establish baseline sensor performance models.
- Support definition and tracking of metrics to monitor the performance of instruments from ground to orbit.
- Collaborate and communicate effectively with instrument and spacecraft systems engineers, data scientists, mission operations engineers, and program managers.
- This position participates in a 24/7 on-call rotation to support on-orbit anomaly resolution. The on-call rotation is approximately one week per month.
Qualifications - Ph.D. and 3+ years of experience developing imaging systems and infrared remote sensing instruments within a multi-disciplinary environment; or M.S. and 6+ years industry experience; or B.S. and 8+ years industry experience.
- Software skills in one or more languages (e.g. Python, Julia, C++).
- Experience working hands-on with precision optical equipment for instrument characterization and calibration.
- Experience with root cause analysis efforts including data analysis and testing.
- Experience performing data analysis, post-processing, and test report generation.
- Excellent communication, presentation, and organization skills.
- Excited to work in a fast-paced environment with new challenges each week.
Nice-to-have Skills- Experience supporting business development including technical contributions to proposals.
- Experience translating mission and science requirements into technical requirements.
- Experience developing instrument concept of operations (ConOps).
- Experience working in cleanroom environments.
- Experience supporting environmental testing (thermal stress screening, TVAC, random vibration), integrated spacecraft testing, and launch campaigns.
SalaryThe salary range for this role is $184,000 - $223,000 plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process
