Software Engineer, Adaptive Optics Instrument (Steward Observatory) (Multiple Positions)
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ · Posted November 6, 2026
Just laid off? Start here: a plan for the first weeks
More in Arizona job market · Software Engineer jobs in Arizona (18) · All Software Engineer jobs (2,099) · Education & EdTech · Engineering jobs
More roles at University of Arizona
- Senior Director of University Compliance · Tucson, AZ
- Senior Director, Research Strategy and Operations, Research Office (COM-P) · Phoenix, AZ
- Assistant/Associate Professor of Music (Choral Conducting/Director of Choral Activities) (T/TE) · Tucson, AZ
- Division Chief, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of OBGYN (Assoc/Full Prof) (NTE/TE/T) · Tucson, AZ
- Senior Director, CAIO Office and Institutes · Tucson, AZ
- Dean, College of Information Science · Tucson, AZ
Similar jobs
- Software Engineer, Growth Data Platform · Omni · San Francisco, CA
- Staff Engineer, Full Stack (US, Canada, SF) · Short Story · San Francisco, CA
- Software Engineer, Senior · Parsons · Aberdeen, MD
- Member of Technical Staff - Engineering Lead, Compute Platform · Reflection AI · San Francisco, CA
- Software Engineer · Parsons · Las Cruces, NM
- Senior Software Engineer, Trading Infrastructure · Aptos · Palo Alto, CA
Where Tucson, AZ ranks
Where Tucson, AZ placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #4Best cities for aerospace and defense jobs320 openings · of 67
- #6Best cities for software and engineering jobs in the Southwest307 openings · of 33
- #8Best cities for pay after cost of living in the Southwest$125k · of 15
- #13Cities with the most jobs that do not need a four-year degree in the Southwest56 jobs · of 38
- #13Best all-round cities for AI careers in the Southwest21 / 100 · of 15
- #15Best all-round cities for new graduates in the Southwest30 / 100 · of 15
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
Pay compared with the market
This listing does not state pay. Across 475 open software engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $159,500 to $238,500 and the median is $197,500.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among software developers, AI is already used for some of the tasks. Measured exposure for software developers: 29% (some).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
About the job
Implement spacecraft and observatory interfaces to enable high-speed communications between multiple pieces of the AO hardware system including: writing protocol libraries, controls interfaces, and test protocol libraries. This includes serial, network, and any other form of hardware communication. Develop applications for space- and ground-based control systems, including telemetry management, data visualizations and dashboards, and scripting engines. Develop embedded software for the control of various hardware components of the AO instrument systems including high-speed sensors, heaters, fast steering mirrors, etc. This includes ensuring that the hardware integrates into overall control logic of scientific operations. Contribute to architecture decisions for automated network management and support for missions with distributed computing architecture. Developed software must be robust enough to be deployed in remote mountain sites and space based missions. Develop framework to ensure consistency across project requirements, budgets and simulation configurations while producing automated system engineering metrics for tracking and reporting. Oversee new features for a mature, instrument codebase through the entire software development lifecycle. Communicate clearly with various scientists, mission operators, engineers, students, and other colleagues and stakeholders.