Geophysical Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

At the University of California, Berkeley, we are dedicated to fostering a community where everyone feels welcome and can thrive. Our culture of openness, freedom and belonging make it a special place for students, faculty and staff.
As a world-leading institution, Berkeley is known for its academic and research excellence, public mission, diverse student body, and commitment to equity and social justice. Since our founding in 1868, we have driven innovation, creating global intellectual, economic and social value.
We are looking for applicants who reflect California's diversity and want to be part of an inclusive, equity-focused community that views education as a matter of social justice. Please consider whether your values align with our Guiding Values and Principles , Principles of Community , and Strategic Plan .
At UC Berkeley, we believe that learning is a fundamental part of working, and provide space for supportive colleague communities via numerous employee resource groups (staff organizations). Our goal is for everyone on the Berkeley campus to feel supported and equipped to realize their full potential. We actively support this by providing all of our full-time staff employees with at least 80 hours (10 days) of paid time per year to engage in professional development activities. Find out more about how you can grow your career at UC Berkeley.
Departmental Overview
The Berkeley Seismological Laboratory conducts essential research on earthquakes and solid earth processes while collecting and delivering high quality geophysical data. It provides robust earthquake and hazard information including real-time alerts to the public, in collaboration with our partners. It also enables the broad consumption of earthquake information by everyone while educating and training students at all levels and from all backgrounds.
BSL operates a large network of seismic and geodetic stations as well as DAS systems across northern California. These stations/systems stream data in real time to our data center on Campus, where data is processed, analyzed and archived for the purposes of earthquake monitoring, earthquake early warning and scientific research. The BSL also operates the MyShake application, which provides earthquake early warning alerts to the public in the West Coast of the US. This is a geophysical software engineer position for the real-time processing and archiving of geophysical data as well as the delivery of real-time earthquakes products.
Application Review Date
The First Review Date for this job is: May 26, 2026 - Open Until Filled
Responsibilities
20% Plans, designs, integrates, develops, tests, deploys, configures, operates, maintains and documents advanced geophysical data (e.g. seismic, geodetic, DAS) processing and archiving software, including in containerized and scalable cloud environments. Addresses integration issues with other state and national partners. Locally develops software components and sub-components to achieve fully integrated implementation.
20% Leads analyses of state-of-the-art solutions for geophysical data processing, including machine-learning-based approaches. Identifies, evaluates, recommends and leads implementation changes to existing software, or new software needed, researches and coordinates with internal and external stakeholders to identify solutions.
20% Develops and maintains continuous integration and deployment (CICD) pipelines for the maintained software. This includes maintaining and updating the build environment, tests, configuration, documentation and automatic notification system of build and testing issues. This also includes the development of extensive unit, integration, functional and end-to-end tests.
20% Plans, designs, integrates, develops, tests, deploys, configures, operates, maintains and documents state-of-health monitoring and alerting tools across multiple systems. Actively uses these tools to monitor in real time the performance of these systems including the timely production and delivery of earthquake products, troubleshooting and identification of metric issues and system optimization with the overarching goal of delivering timely and high quality products to our partners and data users. This also includes investigating complex performance anomalies, conducting root-cause analysis across interconnected components, and collaborating with external agency partners on system interoperability.
10% Manages and updates system configurations, performs system components upgrades and support operating system migrations.
10% Leads and participates in technical collaboration teams and working groups on geophysical data processing and archiving systems, data format exchange system interconnectivity concepts, design, and testing requirements.
Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in geophysics / computer science and / or equivalent experience.
• Advanced knowledge on the design, development, testing, integration, configuration, operation and maintenance of complex geophysical processing, archiving and state-of-health monitoring software.
• Experience with containerized and scalable cloud environments.
• Knowledge of seismic processing pipeline components, SeisComP and machine learning algorithms.
• Experience with CICD infrastructure.
• Knowledge of Python and of C++ (desirable) programming languages and environments.
• Demonstrated ability to develop migration and system implementation plans.
• Experience with complex system troubleshooting.
• Demonstrated ability to understand functional needs of the organization and how systems can support those needs.
• Demonstrated ability to interface with technical and non-technical management on a regular basis.
• Experience researching and evaluating new technology and solutions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Geophysics, Computer Science or related field

Salary & Benefits
For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University, please visit the University of California's Compensation & Benefits website.
Under California law, the University of California, Berkeley is required to provide a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role and should not offer a salary outside of the range posted in this job announcement. This range takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, analysis of internal equity, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be offered a salary at or near the top of the range for a position. Salary offers are determined based on final candidate qualifications and experience.
The budgeted salary or hourly range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position is $101,600 to $140,000 yearly ($8,466.67 to $11,666.67 monthly); the full salary range for this title is $101,600 to $189,800 yearly. This is a 100% FTE career position eligible for full benefits. This position is FLSA Exempt and paid monthly.
Other Information
This position is governed by the terms and conditions in the agreement for the Technical Unit (TX) between the University of California and the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE). The current bargaining agreement manual can be found at: http://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/labor/bargaining-units/tx/index.html
Conviction History Background
This is a designated position requiring fingerprinting and a background check due to the nature of the job responsibilities. Berkeley does hire people with conviction histories and reviews information received in the context of the job responsibilities. The University reserves the right to make employment contingent upon successful completion of the background check.
Misconduct Disclosure
As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts a conditional offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; received notice of any allegations or are currently the subject of any administrative or disciplinary proceedings involving misconduct; have left a position after receiving notice of allegations or while under investigation in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding involving misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of misconduct with a previous employer.
Misconduct means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC's policies addressing some forms of misconduct:
UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
Abusive Conduct in the Workplace
Equal Employment Opportunity
The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.