High Performance Computing Software Engineer

UKRI; Warrington; On-site; GBP 24,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading research organization in Warrington is offering a fixed-term summer placement for a software development position. Candidates should be studying a computational, scientific, or mathematical subject at university and possess skills in Python and a compiled language like Fortran, C, or C++. The role involves developing software for high-performance computing and offers excellent professional development opportunities in a collaborative environment. Benefits include 30 days holiday pro rata and flexible working hours.

Benefits

30 days holiday pro rata

Flexible working hours

Accessible public transport links

Excellent learning and development opportunities

Qualifications

• You are in full time education at university and will return to studies after the placement.
• You have the right to live and work in the UK for the duration of the placement.
• Able to use Python and a compiled language (e.g., Fortran, C, C++).

Responsibilities

• Build, run and measure the performance of benchmark software on CPU and GPU.
• Report and discuss results with wider team.
• Contribute to open-source software developed by the team.

Skills

Programming in Python

Developing in a compiled language (e.g. Fortran, C, C++)

Interest in performance optimisation

Teamwork and communication skills

Curiosity for learning new things

Education

Undergraduate degree in computational, scientific or mathematical subjects

Tools

Linux experience

Job description

Science and Technology Facilities Council
Salary: £23,493 per annum
Contract Type: Fixed Term - 12 weeks
Hours: Full-time
Location: Daresbury Laboratory, Keckwick Lane, Daresbury, WA4 4AD
Closing date: 8th March 2026
Interview: Virtually via Microsoft Teams in April 2026
Start date: July 2026

The Hartree Centre helps UK businesses and organisations of any size to explore and adopt supercomputing, data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for enhanced productivity, smarter innovation and economic growth. Backed by significant UK government funding and strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as IBM, Atos and the University of Liverpool, the Hartree Centre is home to some of the most advanced digital technologies and experts in the UK.
Our experts collaborate with industry and the research community in all sectors to explore the latest emerging technologies, upskill teams, and apply practical digital solutions to individual and industry-wide challenges for societal and economic benefit

Hartree’s High-Performance Software Engineering Group specialises in developing and optimising scientific software for use on high-performance computers. Your role will be to contribute to the automatic parallelisation and analysis tools that the group develops to assist the UK Met Office perform their weather and climate simulations. You will have the opportunity to participate in the development of an open-source tool, to dig into the computational performance details of microbenchmarks, understand how well applications make use of the latest GPU and CPU hardware and investigate how they might be improved.

We're an enthusiastic and friendly team that will actively support the successful student by offering flexible mentoring, both in person and online, to ensure they feel guided, confident, and supported throughout their time with us.

This placement will give you the opportunity to:

• Develop your skills in scientific/technical software development as a member of an international team;
• Learn how such software maps onto hardware and the implications this has for performance;
• Learn about the software-development cycle and gain experience in contributing to open-source software;
• Learn how compilers may be used to tune software performance;
• Learn how to use GPUs to accelerate scientific/technical software.

Summer Placements at STFC

STFC’s incredibly diverse range of placements allow you to work alongside world leading engineers, scientists, and technicians in highly collaborative environments. Whichever you choose, you will become a critical member of the team in which you will be exposed to exciting projects and challenges from the start. You will also be supported every step of the way by our dedicated Early Careers Development Team

Key Duties & Responsibilities

Within this placement, responsibilities will include:

• Build, run and measure the performance of benchmark software on CPU and GPU;
• Report and discuss results with wider team;
• Contribute to open-source software developed by the team.

Person Specification

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

In order to apply for the role, we are looking for the following:

Essential:

• You are in full time education at university, and will be returning to university/your studies to complete your undergraduate degree once the summer placement has concluded (S)
• You have the right to live and work in the UK for the duration of the placement (S)
• You are studying for an undergraduate degree in a computational, scientific or mathematical subject area (S)
• Able to develop in a compiled language (e.g. Fortran, C, C++)
• You are able to program in Python (S&I)
• You are interested in performance optimisation and making use of new computer hardware (S&I)
• You enjoy learning new things and having the freedom to investigate problems (I)
• You enjoy working as part of a team and are able to communicate effectively with other team members (S&I)

Desirable:

• Experience using Linux (S)

Employee Benefits

We are offering a fixed term position with a whole host of benefits including:

• 30 days holiday pro rata
• Flexible working hours.
• Easily accessible public transport links/ free parking.
• Excellent learning and development opportunities.

Link to more benefits: https://stfccareers.co.uk/rewards-and-benefits/

As this job does not fulfil the UK Government minimum criterion for obtaining sponsored migrant worker status, we will be unable to apply for sponsorship for anyone not eligible to work in the UK. At interview, all shortlisted candidates are required to bring with them identification documents and original documents that prove they hold or can obtain the right to work in the UK.

You can check your eligibility here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y

Application Guidance

Please note that we can only accept a maximum of 2 applications per candidate.

Part of our application process involves submitting your CV and a cover letter. Your cover letter should address your suitability for the opportunity based how you meet each essential criteria stated in this advert.

Please note that we hold the right to close this vacancy early if a sufficient number of applications have been received.

We ask some of the biggest questions in the universe, to answer some of the biggest challenges in the world. Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers and business support team explore the unknown across every field you could think of. And they turn what they find into work that changes the world around us.

What could you achieve with the world-leading facilities and experts of one of Europe's largest research organisations by your side? Join us and discover what's possible!