Research Software Engineering Lead

The Research Computing as a Service (RCaaS) Research Software Engineering (RSE) lead is responsible for the development and delivery of software engineering services for the University’s research communities, ensuring the highest standards of quality, sustainability and security are maintained. A software engineering technical expert with deep understanding of technical challenges associated with research across multiple disciplines, the postholder will be responsible for shaping, expanding and delivering the RCaaS RSE service. Adopting a research-driven approach the postholder will establish close collaborative relationships with PIs to understand and respond to requirements, be proactive in the co-creation of research design and funding proposals and provide an enabling function that facilitates research creativity, collaboration and innovation. The postholder will deliver a service with the potential to support research in multiple ways. This may include (although is not limited to) implementing research in software, facilitating analysis in intuitive, readable and reproducible ways; publishing and amplifying the impact of research through interactive technical showcases and visualisations; and scaling and optimising data science and AI research to leverage HPC and GPU infrastructure.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide leadership of software engineering services managed and delivered by Research Computing as a Service (RCaaS), planning, managing and delivering technical services to facilitate the outcomes of University of Glasgow’s world changing research agenda.
• Develop and refine a strategic vision and operational plans, including policies and procedures, for the delivery of RCaaS research software engineering services.
• Apply and direct the use of state-of-the-art novel software engineering (including data science and artificial intelligence) techniques to address challenges faced by University of Glasgow researchers.
• Collaborate closely with academic colleagues to develop and maintain high quality, well-tested software that reflects and enhances research outputs.
• Present, disseminate and explain the work of the RCaaS RSE service via presentations, reports and well-documented software packages.
• Leading contribution towards shaping culture and capability within the RCaaS RSE service and with researchers and research software engineering postholders across the University by specifying and delivering training and facilitating community of practice collaboration activities.
• Establish and maintain metrics and produce concise reporting that demonstrates performance and uptake of RCaaS research software engineering services, working with relevant University finance colleagues to ensure these support charging and/or cost recovery.
• Support research colleagues to access and make the most of University of Glasgow’s research computing infrastructure services including provisions for high-performance computing and research data management services.
• Make a significant expert contribution to major funding bids, internal business cases and related activities where research software engineering is a core dimension.
• Provide technical project management and leadership for multiple concurrent projects, liaising with clients and colleagues to understand and prioritise project goals, balancing value of contribution with limitations on team resources.
• Develop new projects in conjunction with colleagues, authoring and contributing technical content as part of funding proposals and managing workload allocations of RCaaS RSE team members.
• Provide line management for other staff within the RCaaS RSE team, supporting their performance and development.
• Support and contribute to open research, such as by applying FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) principles of research data and tools, within the University.

Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Knowledge / Qualifications

• Essential: Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary professional knowledge and management skills in a similar or number of different specialist roles. Or: Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 9, 10 or 11 (Ordinary/Honours Degree, Post Graduate Qualification), or equivalent including being professionally qualified in relevant discipline, with a broad range of professional experience in management role(s).
• Strong knowledge of more than one modern programming language used in research (typically Python, R, C++, Java, Julia, C).
• Excellent understanding of best practice for producing reliable software and reproducible analyses, including version control, issue tracking, automated testing and package management.
• Excellent knowledge of software tools and computational resources associated with multiple research disciplines.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of scaling and optimising software to take advantage of GPU / HPC infrastructure.
• Good knowledge and experience of more than one of the following broad areas: Statistics; Health Data Science; Natural Language Processing; Large Language Models; Environmental Sustainability; Inequality; Trusted Research Environments; Digital Humanities.

Skills

• Essential: Excellent team leadership, planning, organisation, time and workload management skills with proven ability to prioritise demands and meet deadlines, with an understanding of the importance of equality and diversity and a commitment to help create an inclusive culture.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including authoring of technical reports or research papers and aptitude for delivering presentations or leading training or education sessions.
• Proven ability to work independently including planning and delivery, and to collaborate proactively as part of a team, including taking a leading role.
• Ability to rapidly comprehend new complex research requirements and quickly establish an understanding of feasibility and associated resourcing requirements, offering credible and robust technical solutions.
• Ability to quickly evaluate new computational and technical opportunities and their suitability for deployment in support of research goals.
• Excellent analytical skills with confidence to challenge and continuously improve.
• Ability to build and maintain broad network of relationships with diverse stakeholder groups including research PIs, IT professionals and management and admin teams.
• Display role model behaviours with the ability to inspire and motivate operational colleagues to deliver service excellence.
• Ability to lead the development and growth of an institution-wide software engineering service, supporting audiences with varying capabilities across multiple disciplines.

Desirable:

• Excellent user interface / user experience design and implementation skills.

Experience

• Essential: Experience in providing technical project management and leadership for multiple research or software projects, ensuring successful outcomes.
• Experience of collaborating with research colleagues to develop and maintain high-quality, well-tested software that embodies research outputs.
• Significant experience in making or assessing a formal case for new projects or activity (such as authoring or evaluating research proposals or business cases).
• Experience of managing, prioritising and resourcing a project portfolio.
• Experience mentoring and evaluating the work of others, either as a formal line manager or with significant evidence of experience of informal mentorship.

Desirable:

• Experience in undertaking independent research.
• Experience of providing support to users of a high-performance computing system, including users of third-party research software.
• Experience of multi-developer collaborative software development and client support, using a range of tools.

Terms and Conditions

Salary will be Grade 8, £49,559 - £57,422 per annum. This post is full time and open ended. Closing Date: 23:45 23rd July 2025.

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.