Research Assistant (Backend & Platform Engineer)

National University of Singapore; Singapore; On-site; SGD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The National University of Singapore invites applications for the position of Research Assistant (Backend & Platform Engineer) for Horizons Office, School of Computing (SoC).

This role is strongly committed to research excellence in all its dimensions: searching for fundamental results and insights, developing novel computational solutions to a wide range of applications, building large-scale experimental systems and improving the well-being of society.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a relevant discipline.
• At least 3 years of relevant backend/platform/infrastructure engineering experience.
• Strong experience with Python, PostgreSQL, Linux, Docker, infrastructure as code, and cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure).
• Experience with distributed jobs, queues, Redis, and observability.
• Experience developing or operating AI-powered applications or systems.
• Ability to diagnose performance and reliability issues across the stack.
• Interest in research in AI/ML and large-scale experimental systems.
• Pragmatic approach suited to a small, early-stage team.

Responsibilities

• Deploy and operate backend services, databases, workers, and AI infrastructure.
• Help build and improve data ingestion, processing, and matching workflows.
• Optimize PostgreSQL schemas, queries, migrations, backups, and performance.
• Make agent and ingestion jobs durable, recoverable, and safe across multiple workers.
• Contribute to Python backend services and internal tools where needed.
• Improve monitoring, logging, reliability, and production performance.
• Work closely with the Principal Investigator and lab members to support research projects, turning experimental workflows into robust, reproducible backend systems.
• Support research activities such as running experiments, data collection and processing, and documenting systems and results.

Skills

Python

PostgreSQL

Linux

Docker

Infrastructure as code

AWS

GCP

Azure

Distributed jobs

Redis

Observability

AI-powered apps

Performance diagnostics

Research orientation

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a relevant discipline

Tools

Docker

Job description

Company description:

The National University of Singapore is the national research university of Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest higher education institution in Singapore

Job Description

The National University of Singapore invites applications for the position of Research Assistant (Backend & Platform Engineer) for Horizons Office, School of Computing (SoC). This role is strongly committed to research excellence in all its dimensions: searching for fundamental results and insights, developing novel computational solutions to a wide range of applications, building large-scale experimental systems and improving the well-being of society.

We are building an AI-powered research platform and are seeking a Backend & Platform Engineer to help build and operate the backend and infrastructure systems that make it reliable and scalable. The successful candidate will work closely with the Principal Investigator and lab members on one or more research projects, building the services, data pipelines, and infrastructure that researchers depend on to ingest data, run experiments, and deploy AI systems.

Responsibilities

• Deploy and operate backend services, databases, workers, and AI infrastructure.
• Help build and improve data ingestion, processing, and matching workflows.
• Optimize PostgreSQL schemas, queries, migrations, backups, and performance.
• Make agent and ingestion jobs durable, recoverable, and safe across multiple workers.
• Contribute to Python backend services and internal tools where needed.
• Improve monitoring, logging, reliability, and production performance.
• Work closely with the Principal Investigator and lab members to support research projects, turning experimental workflows into robust, reproducible backend systems.
• Support research activities such as running experiments, data collection and processing, and documenting systems and results.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a relevant discipline.
• At least 3 years of relevant experience in backend, platform, DevOps, or infrastructure engineering roles.
• Strong experience with Python, PostgreSQL, Linux, Docker, infrastructure as code, and at least one major cloud platform (e.g., AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Comfortable working across backend systems, databases, and infrastructure.
• Experience with distributed jobs, queues, Redis, and observability.
• Experience developing or operating AI-powered applications or systems.
• Ability to diagnose performance and reliability issues across the stack.
• Experience or strong interest in research, in areas such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Programming Languages & Software Engineering, or large-scale experimental systems.
• Pragmatic approach suited to a small, early-stage team.

Nice to Have

• Experience with data ingestion pipelines, external data sources, data processing, or data matching.
• Experience with vector databases, embeddings, search, or RAG systems.
• Prior research experience, publications, or contributions to open-source research tooling.

More Information

Location: Kent Ridge Campus

Organization: School of Computing

Department : Department of Computer Science

Employee Referral Eligible: No

Job requisition ID : 34363