At a Glance
- Tasks: Build innovative software to transform scientific documents into structured data.
- Company: Join Elsevier, a leader in scientific publishing and innovation.
- Benefits: Flexible hours, wellbeing initiatives, study assistance, and sabbaticals.
- Other info: Collaborative culture with excellent career growth opportunities.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on scientific knowledge sharing with cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: Proficiency in Python, Java, and cloud technologies; eager to learn.
The predicted salary is between 63000 - 77000 £ per year.
Would you like to help create products to support the sharing of scientific knowledge? Do you enjoy collaborating to solve complex technical problems?
About the team:
The Submission and Editorial platform is at the heart of Elsevier's publishing ecosystem, supporting millions of interactions between researchers, editors, reviewers, and publishers every year. Our team provides the Document Intelligence capabilities that underpin the Submission product portfolio. Using a combination of data science models and LLMs, we transform complex, unstructured documents into structured, trusted, and reusable data, enabling our products and teams to understand submitted content and use that intelligence to create smarter experiences throughout the Submission and Editorial journey.
About the role:
As a Senior Software Engineer on our team, you'll help build the Document Intelligence capabilities that enable Elsevier's Submission products to understand scientific content on a scale. You'll work on services that transform complex, unstructured manuscripts into structured, meaningful information and knowledge through document transformation, metadata extraction, content enrichment, and entity recognition. You’ll help turn this intelligence into capabilities that power smarter submission and editorial experiences, from automating traditionally manual processes to enabling content discovery and new AI-driven features across the Submission portfolio. We combine AWS, event-driven architectures, microservices, data science, and AI/LLM capabilities to build reliable, secure, and highly scalable Document Intelligence services. You’ll work at the intersection of software engineering, data engineering, and AI, solving challenging problems around understanding and processing millions of research documents within Elsevier's publishing ecosystem.
Key Responsibilities:
- Designing, developing, and deploying applications in a cloud-hosted distributed system to build our next-generation product.
- Collaborating with business stakeholders to identify requirements and gather feedback in a fast-moving environment.
- Providing input into architectural decisions to ensure stability and performance.
- Identifying and implementing enhancements to continually improve our delivery process.
- Partnering with cross-functional Agile and DevOps implementation teams.
- Taking ownership of services throughout their lifecycle, including architecture, implementation, deployment, observability, operational support, and continuous improvement.
Requirements:
- Demonstrate some proficiency in most of these technologies: Python, Java, Spring / Spring Boot, SQL, with a willingness to learn the others.
- Demonstrate proficiency in distributed and event-driven solutions using Kafka and AWS cloud services.
- Display experience with build tools, Git, and continuous integration (GitHub Actions / Jenkins).
- Enjoy collaborating with team members to create innovative solutions.
- Have experience of supporting and mentoring team members to share knowledge and upskill team members.
- Show experience with alerting, monitoring, and logging tools (New Relic, OpenSearch / Kibana, Coralogix).
- Have experience with a modern IDE (IntelliJ / VSCode) and proficiency in using the refactoring tools.
- Be open to discussing and honing approaches for our team to improve our working practices.
- Have some experience of test-driven development and mocking libraries (Jest, Mockito).
- Be familiar with collaborative documentation tools (Jira and Confluence).
- Be familiar with data-processing workflows and scalable backend architectures.
- Have some real-world experience with Agile practices and execution (Scrum, Kanban).
- Have some familiarity with how to design and develop for cloud environments (i.e., Docker, Kubernetes, AWS).
- Familiar with AI coding tools (Copilot, Claude, Codex, antigravity).
- Some experience with agentic software development is desired.
- Wanting to learn or have experience with AI-based solutions.
- Be eager to learn and grow your skills and experience.
- Be aware of industry best practices and standards.
Why Join Us?
Join our team and contribute to a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence. Work in a way that works for you. We promote a healthy work/life balance across the organization. We offer an appealing working prospect for our people. With numerous wellbeing initiatives, shared parental leave, study assistance and sabbaticals, we will help you meet your immediate responsibilities and your long-term goals. Working flexible hours - flexing the times when you work in the day to help you fit everything in and work when you are most productive.
Senior Software Engineer I (Java & Python) in Oxford employer: Relx Plc
At RX Global, we pride ourselves on fostering a dynamic and inclusive work culture that empowers our employees to thrive. As a Cloud DevOps Engineer in Richmond, London, you will enjoy flexible working hours, opportunities for professional growth, and the chance to work with cutting-edge AI automation technologies. Our commitment to innovation and collaboration ensures that you will be part of a team that values your contributions and supports your career development.
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We think this is how you could land Senior Software Engineer I (Java & Python) in Oxford
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We think you need these skills to ace Senior Software Engineer I (Java & Python) in Oxford
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Relx Plc.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Relx Plc and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
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How to prepare for a job interview at Relx Plc
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Relx Plc uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
