Research Software EngineerNew in Glasgow

Based within the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and working closely with Research Computing as a Service (RCaaS) teams, make a leading contribution to the creation and delivery of world changing research by applying digital and scientific expertise to provide data driven solutions which can be applied to research questions and challenges. The appointed candidates will work with the researchers and the experts at the Centre for Data Science and AI and RCaaS in order to support the research projects that contribute data driven solution to the grand challenges that are aligned with the visions of the centre and within the six key Data Science and AI areas; Health and Life Sciences, Social Sciences and Economics, Engineering and Physical Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Innovation and Impact, and the Science of Data Science and AI.

Main Duties And Responsibilities

• Initiate, maintain, and co-lead collaborative research projects within the research community, acting as a scientific partner to develop and maintain high-quality, well-tested software as a research tool or output, with software development projects.
• Collaborate with Principal Investigators (PIs) to make a leading contribution to the identification of potential funding sources and to assist in the development of proposals to secure funding from internal and external bodies to support the Centre for Data Science and AI and RCaaS, and the research software engineering strategy and core research outputs of the University of Glasgow.
• Present, disseminate and explain the team’s work through presentations, reports and well-documented software packages.
• Develop and maintain relationships with research colleagues to lobby and evangelise for better software practices and play a leading role in the development of the community of practice and broadening outreach efforts for research software engineering best practices, taking distinct responsibility for leading significant strands of the community of practice.
• Develop and deliver training to research colleagues to support the development of computational and software engineering skills in the academic community.
• Undertake knowledge transfer within the team and appropriate external colleagues such as those within the University’s Shared Research Facilities and the RCaaS group in appropriate venues including training programmes, tutorials, hackathons and data study groups.
• Advise on and develop plans to enable research colleagues to use high-performance computing facilities in the Schools, College, University and wider computing centres.
• Support and contribute to open research, such as by applying FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) principles of research data and tools, within the Centre.
• Develop and enhance the profile and reputation of self, the Centre for Data Science and AI, RCaaS, and the University of Glasgow, including establishing and sustaining a track record of making a specialist contribution to publications of international quality in high profile/quality refereed journals, enhancing the research impact in terms of economic/societal benefit, and gathering indicators of esteem.
• Support the Centre for Data Science and AI, Research Software Engineering Lead and wider RCaaS group by playing a leading role in aspects of project management.
• Contribute to the enhancement of the University’s international profile in line with the University’s Strategic Plan, World Changers Together.

Knowledge/Qualifications

Essential:

• A1 Postgraduate qualification SCQF level 12(PhD) in a related Computer Science, Engineering or STEM subject or alternatively possess the equivalent in professional qualifications and experience, with experience of personal development in a similar or related role with a growing reputation in research.
• A2 Excellent knowledge of applying state-of-the-art and novel data science and AI techniques emerging from research teams and elsewhere.
• A3 Breadth and/or depth of knowledge of programming languages (including Python, R, C++, Java, Julia, C), frameworks, platforms and tools, high performance computing and cloud platforms to realise collaborators' data science and AI research at scale.
• A4 Expert knowledge of software development practices for research and innovation including environments with multiple access, version control, issue tracking, testing and documentation.
• A5 Extensive knowledge of best practice approaches to support research colleagues with the use of secure high performance computing environments for advanced research.
• A6 Knowledge of scaling and optimising software to take advantage of GPU / HPC infrastructure.

Desirable:

• B1 Knowledge of Trusted Research Environments out with or within an HPC environment.

Skills

Essential:

• C1 Excellent written and verbal communication skills including the ability to present complex or technical information, and to communicate effectively with diverse audiences.
• C2 Ability to work independently on own initiative and to strict deadlines.
• C3 Ability to work effectively both as part of a team and in cross collaboration with other teams as required by the role.
• C4 Ability to build relationships and research collaborations within an organisation and wider community.
• C5 Ability to take a proactive approach to managing stakeholders and their requirements and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
• C6 Ability to negotiate and influence others.
• C7 Ability to think strategically and lead on a particular project or area of research in collaboration with PIs.
• C8 Ability to provide technical project management and leadership for multiple concurrent projects, through workload management skills with proven ability to prioritise demands and meet deadlines.

Experience

Essential:

• E1 Substantial research experience aligned to the goals of at least one of the Centre for Data Science and AI’s with commensurate output.
• E2 Substantial experience in machine learning and AI, including experience in machine learning software development.
• E3 Experience in training deep learning models relevant in research projects at scale.
• E4 Experience of applying good software engineering practices including but not limited to devising and applying rigorous testing methods.
• E5 Evidence of high-quality publications commensurate with career stage.
• E6 Experience of collaborating with proven experience in providing technical project management and leadership for multiple research or software projects, ensuring successful research outcomes.
• E7 Experience overseeing and supervising more junior colleagues.
• E8 Extensive experience working with large datasets.
• E9 Experience of version control systems such as GitHub.
• E10 Experience in running hackathons, data study groups, software upskilling tutorials or similar events.

Desirable:

• F1 Experience of working on large software projects involving multiple developers.
• F2 Experience of providing teaching and training of computational material, including introductory-level skills to those with minimal previous exposure.

Terms and Conditions

Salary will be Grade 8, £50,253 - £58,225 per annum. This post is full time (35 hours per week) and is fixed term for up to 3 years in the first instance. Relocation assistance will be provided where appropriate. The University of Glasgow has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK. If you require a Skilled Worker visa to work in the UK, you will be required to meet the eligibility requirements of the visa route to be assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship.

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

• A warm welcoming and engaging organisational culture, where your talents are developed and nurtured, and success is celebrated and shared.
• An excellent employment package with generous terms and conditions including 41 days of leave for full time staff, pension, benefits and discount packages.
• A flexible approach to working.
• A commitment to support your health and wellbeing, including a free 6-month UofG Sport membership for all new staff joining the University.

We believe that we can only reach our full potential through the talents of all. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our values. Applications are particularly welcome from across our communities and in particular people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented within the University.

We endorse the principles of Athena Swan and hold bronze, silver and gold awards across the University. We are investing in our organisation, and we will invest in you too.