Java, Postgres developer job. Location? The South Pole | Hacker News Reader

Java, Postgres developer job. Location? The South Pole

icecube.wisc.edu

54 pointsrandliu26 comments

Best quote about working in Antarctica and it's psychological toll:

  The first time you come down for the adventure. 
  The second time for the money. 
  And the third time because you can't function anywhere else anymore.

http://60south.com/about/faq.htm

I hear the South Pole is the Silicon Valley of Antarctica.

The salary seems a little low for asking someone to work in the middle of nowhere, away from family, friends and civilization. I know "regular" developers who make more than that.

That is a typical UW "minimum" salary for listing and classification purposes. Based on personal experience, the actual offer would be commensurate with experience (modulo what a University can actually pay developers which goes far above 55k but not as high as a Silicon Valley job).

Putting aside how this is such a unique opportunity and just looking at the financial compensation aspects of being asked to live in a remote facility: wouldn't this be an awesome way to save up money for a few years? All living expenses are paid while you are down there and there is nowhere to spend money.

The unique location is the big plus, especially considering that the absence of geostationary satellites over the poles means this is likely the ONLY developer job on the planet that can't be done offsite, until they run fiber to Antarctica.

Were the Iridium/Globalstar satellites de-orbited? That would be such a shame: to have a true global wireless communications network deployed and to let it decay...

They are still alive and in-use. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_(satellite) )

Thanks. That's great news. I heard something along the lines of de-orbiting them, but wasn't sure if that was avoided.

I also couldn't check Wikipedia at that moment ;-) Now I can.

With a 86.4° inclination, Iridium satellites should be above the horizon. Some data communication should then be possible (interestingly, the article says they weren't designed for that). Neither Globalstar nor Orbcomm appear to operate at those latitudes.

Anyway, it seems putting a clever human close to the equipment is a good idea.

It's an honor and privilege to be chosen to go to Antarctica. Especially if you can actually participate in your field of study. My guess is whoever gets hired is already coding for a similar astronomy or physics project. I've heard of some IT jobs in the past but this is the first programming job.

I've known a number of people who have worked in Antarctica on and off over the past decade. I knew a post doc in physics who went down there and was taxiing people around during his first season. Whoever ends up with this job doesn't care about the money. They have probably been looking to go to Antarctica for a while. My guess is they already travel extensively and their family and friends are used to it. As for civilization... they are probably looking to get away from it.

But there is still a limited civilization in Antarctica and there are some benefits to being a member of it: a unique/rare experience, a cool culture, interesting people. I can't be the only one that thinks it would be cool to be a programmer in Antarctica hacking on a new $275 million neutrino observatory.

While this is not as cool (no pun intended) as working in space, I bet there are a lot of people willing to pay to get this job.

Heck... I would if it weren't to program using Java...

Note that it's probably $55K + food + lodging + flights/transport

And it's at the South Pole!! No-one really wants to work on an Oil Rig - so they pay lots. Lots of people would love to go visit Antarctica - so they don't need to offer up the big bucks

I was thinking the same thing. Are experienced Java developers really that plentiful?

My thought is that they know that a lot of people are willing to do it because it's at the south pole. To those folk, it being at one of the most remote spots on the planet isn't a detriment, it's a non-financial bonus, making the job more attractive, and thus requiring less pay.

Amusing: "Must be authorized to work in the United States."

Very funny. The Australia Australian Antarctic Territory isn't recognized by the USA. Something about the legitimacy of the claims, and possible mineral rights.

You have to be careful of all those undocumented guys on street-corners, parkas draped over their arms...

It'd be cool (no pun intended) to see a "Condition 1" storm there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz2SeEzxMuE

I wonder what they use in the North Pole

In midsummer ... high temperatures at the South Pole average around −25 °C (−12 °F)... - wikipedia

Well, it's too late to apply.

I am both an alumni of the UW and former employee, and have been keeping an eye on the UW job posts for a long while now.

This gig, or gigs very similar, have been posted for years now. I believe the expiration date of the job post is just a limitation of the UW's recruitment system/process; you could quite likely still apply.

yeah, although I wonder what is the reason for "Last modified: January 15, 2010",

It's not at the south pole, but is a job providing support to research being conducted there.

> The successful candidate will need to be physically qualified and willing to work at Polar and high altitude sites during the Austral Summer.

> and willing to work at...

Well, that depends. Inside or outside?

TOO MANY QUESTIONS! NO JOB FOR YOU! =)

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