Senior AI Research Software Engineer (ICCS)

Society of Research Software Engineering; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Conference travel funding

Training for career development

Job summary

University of Cambridge seeks a Senior AI Research Software Engineer to join our Research Computing Services. You will work with climate scientists to scope and design advanced climate modelling tools and guide teams on software engineering best practices.

The role offers funding for conference travel and training to support career development, with hybrid office options and a fixed term until 31 December 2028.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a STEM discipline or relevant experience.
• Ability to work with highly complex code and systems.
• Experience in planning and delegation in a project management environment.
• Ability to digest technical documentation and synthesize software solutions.
• Proficiency in Fortran, C++, C and Python.
• Excellent communication and problem solving skills.
• Experience with software development tools (Git/GitHub, JIRA).
• Ability to engage with people from diverse backgrounds and nationalities.
• Experience leveraging generative-AI techniques in code development.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with climate scientists to scope and design applications.
• Guide teams on software engineering best practices and code quality.
• Provide training on genAI in code development and usage.
• Work with international partners on climate modelling tools.

Skills

Fortran

C++

C

Python

GenAI in code development

Git

GitHub

JIRA

Communication & problem solving

Education

M.Sc., Ph.D. or equivalent

Tools

Git

GitHub

JIRA

Job description

In the face of the present climate crisis, there is a pressing need for skilled software engineers to aid climate scientists in delivering a new generation of climate models. The Institute of Computing for Climate Science (ICCS) is a multi-disciplinary institute that has been established to develop and deploy machine learning and computational tools to advance the understanding of climate systems and inform decision‑making for both climate change prediction and mitigation.

A core part of the Institute is our team of Research Software Engineers (RSEs) who reside in Research Computing Services. ICCS RSEs work closely with several international teams of climate scientists, including the Schmidt Sciences’ Virtual Earth Systems Research Institute, to develop and improve climate modelling tools and work with other members of ICCS to identify and implement projects which can have a wider impact.

We seek to appoint a Senior AI RSE for our RSE team. This position provides a unique opportunity to be involved in research projects directly connected to climate science, and broader research into supporting climate science through computer science, software engineering, and data science. The post also includes funding to support travel to conferences and for training activities to support career development.

Essential requirements for the role include:

• An advanced (M.Sc., Ph.D. or equivalent) degree in a STEM discipline or relevant experience.
• Ability to work with highly complex code.
• Experience in planning and delegation in a project management environment.
• Ability to digest technical documentation and synthesise solutions to software infrastructure problems.
• Proficient in one or more programming languages such as Fortran, C++, C, Python
• Excellent communication and problem solving skills.
• Experience in software development and related productivity tools (e.g., Git/GitHub, JIRA).
• Ability to engage productively, with people of different backgrounds, nationalities and skill sets.

Experience in leveraging generative-AI techniques in code development and testing is essential for this role. The post holder will work with scientists to help scope and design their applications, in addition to guiding them on software engineering best practices and providing training on the use of genAI in code development.

This is a fixed term position. The funds for this position are available until 31 December 2028 in the first instance.

The University is supportive of hybrid working and this role allows the post holder to be office based or to work in a hybrid way.

We welcome applications from individuals who wish to be considered for part-time working or other flexible working arrangements.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society. We particularly welcome applications from women and /or candidates from a BME background for this vacancy as they are currently under‑represented at this level in our department.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.