Jobs at Mars Science Laboratory

Provide broad administrative and analyst support for a guidance and control section, handling finance, workforce planning, reporting, facilities, safety, acquisitions, SharePoint/web communications, process improvement, and special projects. Produce financial analyses, dashboards and automated reports, liaise with stakeholders and acquisitions, ensure compliance with policies/regulations, and serve as a trusted advisor to management to improve organizational efficiency.

Develop and execute integrated internal communications to inform and engage JPL employees. Provide strategic counsel to leadership, produce multi-channel content (articles, video, graphics, presentations), manage workflows and internal platforms, measure effectiveness using analytics, and support organizational change and employee engagement initiatives.

Design, analyze, tolerate, align, test, and calibrate telescopes, cameras, and imaging spectrometers. Perform ray tracing (CODE V or Zemax), hardware integration, optical alignment, and measurement. Contribute to optical system architecture, error budgets, and present engineering results while collaborating across teams.

Postdoctoral researcher will characterize lunar sample textures and mineral chemistry, measure volatile abundances (minerals and glasses) using microbeam techniques, interpret results in petrogenetic context, collaborate with external scientists, lead conference presentations and publications, and pursue independent complementary research.

Support lifecycle management of complex Caltech‑NASA task orders: assist with modifications, funding actions, compliance, stakeholder coordination, contractual interpretation, risk mitigation, documentation, and cross‑functional issue resolution under senior guidance.

Perform FP&A modeling, forecasting, and data-driven analysis to support Lab-wide budgeting and workforce planning. Create executive-ready presentations, maintain data integrity for monthly reporting, troubleshoot variances, collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders as a financial advisor, and support process and system improvements across the Financial Strategy, Planning & Analysis organization.

Provide administrative and analyst support for an Earth Science section, including budget development, financial planning and reporting, workforce analysis, procurement and property management. Develop automated reports and dashboards, drive process improvements, coordinate procedures, support safety and facilities, and act as a trusted liaison and advisor to internal stakeholders.

Provide strategic business support to the Financial and Business Operations Directorate, including budgeting, forecasting, financial and workforce analysis, process improvement, and day-to-day administrative leadership. Partner with leaders to deliver data-driven insights, standardize tools and procedures, manage special projects, and ensure compliance with Laboratory and NASA policies.

Provide project cost, pricing, and resource planning support across the project lifecycle. Maintain institutional reporting and tracking systems, support task order management and proposal cost estimates (including ProPricer and ad-hoc reporting), interface with NASA and stakeholders, and deliver analysis to inform funding, forecasting, and program cost controls.

Develop and validate data-analysis pipelines and noise-reduction algorithms for LISA, integrate instrument and astrophysical systematics into statistical frameworks, advance waveform and population models, collaborate across JPL/Caltech and NASA partners, and help shape long-term space-based gravitational-wave mission and ground-segment capabilities.

Lead development and maintenance of the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS), analyze schedule integrity and metrics, validate credibility using DCMA 14-Point, and support cost/schedule integration and change control. Produce schedule reports, identify/mitigate schedule anomalies, support monthly reviews and IBRs, mentor team members, and champion institutional scheduling best practices for flight projects.

Build, maintain, analyze, and report project schedules and related metrics using MS Project Server. Identify schedule anomalies, analyze critical path and logic, support change control, produce summary reports and "what-if" scenarios, and present schedule impact analyses to program stakeholders.

Support design, deployment, and maintenance of enterprise identity and directory solutions. Manage Active Directory, GPOs, AD migrations, authentication (Kerberos, NTLM, PIV), SSO/ADFS integrations, PKI, and related services. Develop PowerShell/Visual Basic scripts, troubleshoot directory/authentication issues, perform functional testing, document processes, and collaborate with internal teams and developers to capture requirements and deliver IAM solutions.

Lead and manage the Ethics and Business Conduct Program: advise on complex ethics issues, investigate violations, evaluate conflicts of interest, develop training and policies, coordinate with Legal/HR/Security, maintain records and reports, and use IT tools for data retrieval and analysis.

Lead development of detailed cost and price estimates for complex proposals and task orders using JPL pricing tools and published rates. Conduct cost analysis, audits, and compliance reviews; review basis of estimates and subcontractor pricing; train staff; lead multidisciplinary teams and peer reviews; support engineering and business functions to ensure complete estimating for labor, materials, and subcontracts.

Design and research embedded-system security mechanisms for authentication, encryption, and anti-tamper protection. Develop and integrate FPGA-based security for high-performance networking and accelerators, analyze interactions among security technologies, and perform large-scale telemetry and algorithmic analysis to strengthen mission-critical systems.

Administer and enhance Workday across Core HCM, Benefits, Talent, Recruiting, Absence, Payroll, and Compensation. Configure business processes, build custom reports/dashboards, ensure data quality, support releases and testing, maintain payroll settings, and serve as Workday SME while partnering with stakeholders.

Design and analyze optical systems (telescopes, cameras, imaging spectrometers) for space and ground instruments. Perform optical design trades, detailed ray-trace analysis, create and maintain performance error budgets, and support alignment, testing, calibration, and hardware development through delivery.

Perform technical QA/QC reviews of electrical design and construction for facilities projects to ensure compliance with NEC/CEC and JPL standards; evaluate load studies, grounding, lighting, power distribution, constructability, and compatibility with existing infrastructure; produce written review comments in Bluebeam, verify corrections, maintain QA/QC records, participate in design reviews, and support continuous improvement.

Lead R&D and technical tasks in advanced communications and signal processing for RF, optical, and quantum links. Drive proposals, strategy, and technical leadership across channel coding, data compression, modulation, receivers, arraying, synchronization, PNT, ranging, and machine learning for space communications.