Python Engineer (Computational Astronomy / Jyotish Verification)

Job Description

Gramian Consultancy is a boutique consultancy specializing in IT professional services and engineering talent solutions. With a strong background in software engineering and leadership, we help companies build high-performing teams by matching them with professionals who truly fit their needs.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Python Engineer with strong foundations in computational astronomy and an interest in Vedic Astrology (Jyotish). In this role, you will build programmatic verification tools that compute planetary positions, ascendants, and calendrical elements using high-precision astronomical libraries.

Your work will serve as the ground-truth engine behind evaluation datasets, ensuring that horoscope and Panchang calculations are algorithmically validated and reproducible.

This is a highly analytical role combining software engineering, astronomy, and traditional sidereal calculation systems. You should be equally comfortable debugging an ephemeris library call as discussing the difference between tropical and sidereal coordinate systems.

Responsibilities:

• Write Python scripts using pyswisseph, Skyfield, or similar astronomical libraries to compute and verify planetary longitudes for any given date, time, and location
• Implement Nirayana longitude calculations by applying specified Ayanamsa systems (Lahiri, Krishnamurti, Raman, etc.)
• Compute Ascendant (Lagna) degrees based on birth data inputs
• Implement house cusp calculations using systems such as Equal, Placidus, Koch, or Whole Sign
• Determine Nakshatra and Pada from computed planetary longitude
• Calculate sunrise and sunset times for specified coordinates and dates
• Build automated verification harnesses that validate batches of Kundali computation problems against ephemeris-derived ground truth
• Generate 10–15 code-verified evaluation problems per month with algorithmically produced ground-truth outputs
• Document discrepancies between different ephemeris sources and Ayanamsa systems, including quantified error margins
• Develop utility scripts for Panchang element computation including Tithi, Nakshatra, Yoga, and Karana
• Create verification pipelines that allow non-technical team members to spot-check manually created problems
• Translate traditional Jyotish calculation approaches into reproducible computational logic
• Identify edge cases in astronomical calculations, coordinate transformations, and sidereal conversions
• Maintain clear, reproducible documentation and annotated notebooks explaining both astronomical and astrological computation steps
• Collaborate with domain experts and scholars to formalize calculation rules and validate implementation accuracy

Commitments Required: 8 hours per day with an overlap of 4 hours with PST.

Employment type: Contractor assignment (no medical/paid leave)

Duration of contract: 6-8 weeks

Location: India

Requirements

• Minimum 3 years of professional Python development experience
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Physics, Astronomy, or Mathematics
• Demonstrated proficiency with at least one of the following astronomical computation libraries: pyswisseph (Python extension to the Swiss Ephemeris — github.com/astrorigin/pyswisseph)
• Provides high-precision planetary position computation, house cusp calculation, Ayanamsa application, eclipse computation, and all major coordinate transformations used in both Western and Vedic astrology.
• Must understand functions like swe_calc_ut(), swe_houses(), swe_set_sid_mode() for sidereal/Nirayana calculations; Skyfield (Elegant astronomy for Python — github.com/skyfielders/python-skyfield):
• Modern Pythonic library for high-accuracy positional astronomy using JPL ephemeris data.
• Must understand loading ephemeris files (de421.bsp), computing planetary positions, coordinate transforms (ecliptic, equatorial), and time scale handling (UT1, TDB, TT)
• Understanding of the conceptual difference between Sayana (tropical) and Nirayana (sidereal) coordinate systems and how Ayanamsa bridges them
• Familiarity with astronomical time systems (UT, UTC, IST, Julian Date) and coordinate systems (ecliptic longitude/latitude, right ascension/declination)