Element Manager, Wavefront Sensing & Control

Element Manager, Wavefront Sensing & Control

Deputy Element Manager, Wavefront Sensing & Control

The Giant Magellan Telescope is one of the most powerful ground-based telescopes ever engineered. It is designed to push the boundaries of human knowledge and explore the unknown. Now under construction at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the premier locations on Earth for astronomy, the telescope will deliver the highest-performing combination of image quality, field of view, and light sensitivity ever achieved.

From this southern hemisphere location, the Giant Magellan Telescope will use seven of the world’s largest mirrors to uncover the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, investigate the origins of chemical elements, and search for signs of life on distant exoplanets.

When complete in the 2030s, the Giant Magellan Telescope will be one of the largest public-private funded science projects in history. It is the work of the GMTO Corporation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and international research consortium, founded by 16 universities and research institutions from the United States, Chile, Australia, Brazil, Israel, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Our culture is impactful, inclusive, and fearlessly innovative. We tackle the most complex engineering challenges and scientific questions alongside talented individuals who share a passion for advancing humanity’s understanding of the Universe.

We invite you to join our team and leave your mark on the future of astronomy and beyond.

Wavefront Sensing & Control

Wavefront Sensing & Control Manager

The Element Manager of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) Wavefront Sensing & Control (WFSC) Element will assume a leadership role in bringing the WFSC subsystems design to full maturity and planning their final integration, test and delivery. The current phase of GMT’s WFSC development is opportunity-rich for creative solutions and significant contributions to the detailed design of a cutting edge Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) on the frontiers of astronomy.

The WFSC Element Manager will be responsible for oversight of the team responsible for technical work while reporting to the GMT Project Manager. The EM will provide leadership in the execution and coordination of technical scope and schedule.

The WFSC Element Manager’s responsibilities include management and technical oversight of the AO system engineering and the design of the WFSC hardware subsystems under development both internally and by GMTO partner institutions and industrial vendors. The WFSC Element Manager will lead completion of the final designs of the seven hardware subsystems. The EM will also provide oversight of the testbed operations, allocation of resources across subsystems and systems engineering activities, planning and tracking of cost, schedule, risks and reporting of earned value to senior management.

The WFSC final design phase includes review and update of subsystem requirements as well as maturation of the conceptual plans for assembly, integration, test (AIT) and performance verification of these subsystems and the AO control algorithms in the Adaptive Optics labs in Italy and at GMTO Las Campanas Observatory site.

The Element Manager of WFSC will:

• Lead the WFSC team and collaborate with System Engineering to ensure technical designs are traceable to system-level requirements.
• Work with theWFSC Senior Project Coordinator to plan, manage and track tasks, resources, and deliverables related to AO subsystem development.
• Provide technical leadership and oversight of GMTO partner institutions and subcontractors responsible for executing GMTO’s outsourced designs, testbeds and prototypes.
• Plan, convene and coordinate…