Senior RSE: Digital Platforms for Sustainability (Hybrid)

Leiden Univ; Netherlands; Hybrid; EUR 40,000 - 62,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working options

Home-working allowance

ABP pension

End-of-year bonus (8.3%)

Job summary

Leiden University’s Institute of Environmental Science (CML) seeks a Senior Research Software Engineer to lead digital infrastructure supporting sustainability research. You will set architecture, compute environments, cloud/hybrid setups, security, and data governance with a junior RSE and collaboration with scientists.

You will shape institute‑wide standards for reproducibility, translate scientific needs into scalable solutions, and contribute to grant proposals.

Qualifications

• A PhD in computer science, software engineering, environmental informatics, AI, or a closely related field.
• Strong Python skills; additional languages/stack knowledge is a plus.
• Experience in system administration / platform engineering for research or data‑intensive environments.
• Experience with software development architecture (service design, APIs, observability, reliability).
• Expertise in data governance and FAIR practices.
• Knowledge of database administration, data catalogs, and metadata standards.
• Excellent communication skills and commitment to open science, documentation, and reproducibility.
• Experience with grant writing and technical leadership in projects is a plus

Responsibilities

• Owning the technical roadmap for CML’s software and data ecosystem: architecture, standards, and long‑term sustainability.
• Designing and operating research platforms & infrastructure
• Defining and implementing institute‑wide software engineering and data management protocols for FAIR, metadata, documentation, versioning, licensing, and release processes.
• Leading reproducible computational pipelines (workflow engines, packaging, CI/CD)
• Mentoring junior developers/researchers; run code reviews and technical design reviews.
• Expanding collaborations with LIACS and other university initiatives on research software and data.
• Advising on and support computing & storage solutions; liaise with central IT, LIACS, and faculty services, as well as Surf and e-Science center.
• Contributing to project acquisition: help develop grant proposals, technical work packages, budgets, and risk & data management plans.

Skills

Python

System administration

Platform engineering

Software architecture

Data governance

Metadata standards

Database administration

Communication skills

Grant writing

Technical leadership

Education

PhD in computer science or related field

Job description

Leiden University’s Institute of Environmental Science (CML) seeks a Senior Research Software Engineer to lead digital infrastructure supporting sustainability research. You will set architecture, compute environments, cloud/hybrid setups, security, and data governance with a junior RSE and collaboration with scientists.

You will shape institute‑wide standards for reproducibility, translate scientific needs into scalable solutions, and contribute to grant proposals.