SKA Organisation

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a global project to build a multi-purpose radio telescope that will play a major role in answering key questions in modern astrophysics and cosmology. Thirteen countries are now participating in the project, with others engaged in discussions regarding possible membership. Facilities for the new telescope will be located in South Africa and Australia, with our headquarters in a purpose-built building at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, UK. SKA HQ currently houses around 90 staff but has just undergone a major expansion to accommodate up to 150 staff as the project moves towards construction and operation of the SKA telescopes. Negotiations between the governments of SKA member countries to establish the SKA Observatory as an Inter-Governmental Organisation (IGO) have recently concluded; the IGO is expected to be established in late 2020. The SKA software is being designed and developed by a number of teams that are located world-wide. In order to ensure software is developed, tested, and integrated coherently and smoothly, the SKA Organisation must clearly define our expectations with a well-defined set of processes and tools. This activity will be supported by a small team at the SKA Organisation, acting as part of the SAFe System Team, developing and maintaining the Continuous Integration and Delivery platform used by agile development teams.