Job Description

Benefits: UCAR affirms its continuing commitment to developing, providing, and administering its employee benefit programs with due consideration for equal employment opportunity and diversity guidelines. UCAR's rich package of employee benefits includes medical, dental, vision, education assistance, retirement, and life insurance. UCAR offers a variety of programs designed to assist with work-life balance including flexible work alternatives, paid time off and 14 weeks of paid parental leave.

Vaccination Requirement: All employees hired by UCAR must comply with UCAR’s Covid-19 Vaccination Policy and safety protocols.

Where You Will Work:

The Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) is one of the seven laboratories of NCAR, the National Science Foundation’s Federally Funded Research and Development Center. The mission of EOL is to provide leadership in observing facilities, field project support, observational research and data services needed to advance the scientific understanding of the Earth system. 

EOL manages the majority of NSF’s Lower Atmosphere Observing Facilities (LAOF) and deploys them in support of observational field campaigns, ranging from single investigator projects to large complex campaigns that involve multiple investigators, agencies, and platforms, nationally and internationally. EOL deploys its systems for research by scientists from universities, NCAR, and government agencies. An integral part of EOL’s mission is to develop the next generation of LAOF and to provide management and archive of data from past supported campaigns.

To ensure progress in the atmospheric sciences, EOL supports a wide range of research areas within the Earth system science, ranging from microscale to mesoscale to climate process studies, and deploys LAOF platforms and systems that reach from the surface of the Earth to the lower stratosphere and beyond.

What You Will Do:

As an Engineer III in the Earth Observing Laboratory’s (EOL) Remote Sensing Facility (RSF), this position is responsible for designing, developing, testing, upgrading, and fielding microwave and millimeter wave remote sensing radars in support of atmospheric research.

Responsibilities:

Designs new remote sensing instrumentation and upgrades existing remote sensing instrumentation. This includes design and specification at the system, module and circuit level. Specific equipment may include antennas, RF receiver/exciters, pulsed transmitters, high speed digitizers, and digital and DSP interfaces.
Prepares instrumentation for deployment in field projects. Calibrates and supports instrumentation in the field during field operations.
Supervises technical staff in the implementation of new systems, maintenance and upgrade of existing systems, and field preparation of instruments.
Creates and maintains professional engineering documentation for all projects.
Analyzes data from instruments to evaluate system performance.
Works with the scientific community to implement instrumentation for scientific research programs.

What You Will Need:

Education And Years of Experience

Bachelor's degree in engineering and at least six years of engineering experience; or a Master's degree in Engineering and at least four years of experience; or a Ph.D. degree and at least two years of experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Experience should be in leading engineering projects.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

REQUIRED

Experience specifying and using microwave and millimeter wave components.

Ability to conceive and implement system and hardware design of electronic instrumentation.

Experience with computer aided design software for electronics, including schematic capture and printed circuit board layout.

Experience with MATLAB, IDL or other high level programming languages.

Skilled in using test and measurement equipment including oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, and microwave network analyzers.

Able to operate personal computers running Windows, Mac OS, or Linux, and use word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software.

Management skills to plan project schedules and direct technical staff.

Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Knowledge of current technical trends and developments.

DESIRED BUT NOT REQUIRED

Knowledge of microwave and millimeter wave remote sensing radar theory.
Experience designing microwave and/or millimeter wave radar.
Experience with polarimetric radar.
Knowledge of engineering theory and techniques in digital signal processing hardware and software and digital design.

Other Requirements:

Willingness to travel up to approximately 90 days per year, but typically not more than 30 days per trip to support field projects.

Willingness to fly on research aircraft.

Must be able to lift 50 lbs and occasionally assist in mechanical and outdoor work.

Must have or be able to obtain a valid U.S. driver’s license.

Applicant Notes:

A Cover letter is required.

An Inclusion Statement will be required for all applicants moving forward to the interview stage. This statement should address past efforts, as well as future vision and plans to advocate for and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the organization and/or field of work.

A pre-employment screening is conducted in conjunction with an offer for employment. This screening may involve verifying or reviewing any of the following relevant information: restricted parties screening, employment verification, performance records of internal candidates, education verification, reference checks, verification of professional licenses, certifications, and Motor Vehicle Records.  UCAR complies with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Please note that while the position description details both minimum requirements as well as desired skills and experience, we want to remind applicants that you do not need to have all the desired skills and experience to be considered for this role. If you have the passion for the work along with experience in a related field, you are encouraged to apply. We can provide on-the-job training for the rest.