Job Description for a Research Software Engineer | Study notes Software Engineering

Job Description

Career pathways/JD Template SR#1 v9 99/99/9999

Job Title:

Senior Research Software Engineer

Department/Division/Faculty:

Research Computing Service (RSE), Information and

Communications Technologies (ICT)

Campus location:

South Kensington

Job Family/Level:

Professional Services, Level 4

Responsible to:

Research Software Engineering Team Lead

Line Management responsibility

for:

N/A

Key Working Relationships

(internal):

Research community at Imperial College and colleagues within ICT

Contract type:

Full-time, Open-ended

Purpose of the Post

This role presents an exciting opportunity to join the growing community of Research Software Engineers

(RSE) at Imperial College via its core team within the Research Computing Service (RCS). The RCS

encompasses a dedicated team of RSEs, a managed High-Performance Computing (HPC) facility; and

provides a range of training for the HPC users and researchers. Imperial College London is ranked in the top

ten universities globally and is home to the greatest concentration of high-impact research of any major UK

university.

The mission of the RSE Team is to increase the quality, impact and sustainability of the research software

developed at Imperial, supporting the College in enhancing its world-leading research outputs. The RSE

team has been in place for four years and has worked on dozens of projects across all faculties of the

College. The RSE team currently consists of four full time developers covering a range of expertise from

high performance computing to graphical user interfaces to web development. The RSE team has

experience developing and maintaining performant, reliable and sustainable research software in a variety of

research domains., training researchers in best coding practices and supporting the writing of grant

proposals with a software component. The team is supported by the resources of the ICT division and work

in partnership with the academic research community.

You will actively participate in research by providing advice on the application of technologies and delivering

software development projects. You will contribute by developing innovative software, promoting good

software engineering that ultimately accelerates research and by mentoring less experienced developers.

You will work under general direction with a clear framework of accountability, while exercising substantial

personal responsibility and autonomy.

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Job Title: Senior Research Software Engineer Department/Division/Faculty: Research Computing Service (RSE), Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Campus location: South Kensington Job Family/Level: Professional Services, Level 4 Responsible to: Research Software Engineering Team Lead Line Management responsibility for:

N/A

Key Working Relationships (internal): Research community at Imperial College and colleagues within ICT Contract type: Full-time, Open-ended Purpose of the Post This role presents an exciting opportunity to join the growing community of Research Software Engineers (RSE) at Imperial College via its core team within the Research Computing Service (RCS). The RCS encompasses a dedicated team of RSEs, a managed High-Performance Computing (HPC) facility; and provides a range of training for the HPC users and researchers. Imperial College London is ranked in the top ten universities globally and is home to the greatest concentration of high-impact research of any major UK university. The mission of the RSE Team is to increase the quality, impact and sustainability of the research software developed at Imperial, supporting the College in enhancing its world-leading research outputs. The RSE team has been in place for four years and has worked on dozens of projects across all faculties of the College. The RSE team currently consists of four full time developers covering a range of expertise from high performance computing to graphical user interfaces to web development. The RSE team has experience developing and maintaining performant, reliable and sustainable research software in a variety of research domains., training researchers in best coding practices and supporting the writing of grant proposals with a software component. The team is supported by the resources of the ICT division and work in partnership with the academic research community. You will actively participate in research by providing advice on the application of technologies and delivering software development projects. You will contribute by developing innovative software, promoting good software engineering that ultimately accelerates research and by mentoring less experienced developers. You will work under general direction with a clear framework of accountability, while exercising substantial personal responsibility and autonomy.

Key Responsibilities

Engage with Imperial College researchers to build reliable, usable, and maintainable research software. Advise on the selection of technology, success criteria and implementation.
Manage projects, including requirements gathering, scheduling, prioritisation, risk management and resource allocation
Define and communicate software engineering practices, including testing, issue tracking and version control.
Design and implement techniques for the deployment and monitoring of software systems
Employ existing approaches of distributed and high-performance computing to novel domains.
Maintain a knowledge of technical developments, tools, and ideas in research computing and software engineering, attending seminars, conferences, and other community events.
Advise, share knowledge and mentor junior developers.
Seek opportunities to contribute on research projects, form new collaborations and improve the quality of service.
Promote the activities of RSE by publishing code, contributing to journal articles, and giving presentations.
Develop and deliver training and resources to improve the quality of software and promote standard methodologies across the research community.
Promote the importance of security and seek specialist security advice to secure solutions.
Work closely with ICT’s Technology Office, to help identify and agree new technologies to accelerate research.
Support senior colleagues, assisting to plan, build and implement the technology direction for Research Computing.
Engage with a complex community of stakeholders, including senior technologists, and business leaders from ICT and the wider College, facilitating collaboration.
Actively participate in the RSE community at Imperial and beyond.

Ability to assimilate technical information, understand complex requirements and learn new developments in computational research

E

Enjoy working collaboratively, forging professional relationships, and engaging in knowledge transfer

E

Serious commitment to software quality, with a very strong attention to detail E
Willingness to mentor and guide less experienced developers E
Curiosity and intellectual flexibility, with an interest in understanding unfamiliar disciplines E
Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to lead others and persuasively communicate complex technical information effectively to a diverse range of stakeholders, including those without a technical background

E

A team player who can balance need, risk and pragmatism when developing solutions. E
Strong organisational, planning and risk management skills, with the ability to bring discussions to a decision-making end; a proven capacity for creative problem-solving and troubleshooting

E

Commitment to represent the RSE team, promote its activities, and identify opportunities for growth.

E

Please note that job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, and the post-holder may be required to undertake other duties, which are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities. Imperial College is committed to equality of opportunity and to eliminating discrimination. All employees are expected to follow the 7 Imperial Expectations detailed below:

Champion a positive approach to change and opportunity
Communicate regularly and effectively within and across teams
Consider the thoughts and expectations of others
Deliver positive outcomes
Encourage inclusive participation and eliminate discrimination
Support and develop staff to optimise talent
Work in a planned and managed way Employees are also required to comply with all College policies and regulations paying special attention to:

Confidentiality
Conflict of Interest
Data Protection
Equal Opportunities
- Financial Regulations
- Health and Safety
- Information Technology
- Smoking
  - Private Engagements and Register of Interests They must also undertake specific training and assume responsibility for safety relevant to specific roles, as set out on the College Website Health and Safety Structure and Responsibilities page. All Imperial Managers should: (Keep for manager roles) CHAMPION A POSITIVE APPROACH TO CHANGE AND OPPORTUNITY
Encourage and gather process and service improvement ideas from all team members
Make recommendations for change to management and take part in change initiatives
Promote a culture of continuous change and improvement
Take active steps to understand the future needs of our diverse staff and customers ENCOURAGE INCLUSIVE PARTICIPATION AND ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION
Understand and embrace the diverse needs and abilities within the team
Ensure that bullying, harassment and discrimination is not tolerated within the team
Ensure that avenues exist for the disclosure of bullying, harassment and discrimination
Promote an inclusive team environment COMMUNICATE REGULARLY AND EFFECTIVELY WITHIN, AND ACROSS, TEAMS

Meet and regularly communicate (at least monthly) with the team, ensuring that communication channels and relationships are open and effective
Act as a conduit between team members and management, ensuring shared understanding of priorities, challenges and concerns
Provide a range of opportunities for open and constructive dialogue that recognise the diverse needs of staff members
Keep team members regularly informed with departmental and College developments and any potential local impact CONSIDER THE THOUGHTS AND EXPECTATIONS OF OTHERS
Ensure that team members role descriptions are up to date and appropriate to their job and departmental objectives
Seek regular feedback from team members, peers and other stakeholders, including through participation in 360 reviews
Involve people in the development and implementation of action plans following feedback (such as staff surveys)
Integrate the outcomes of feedback and lead by example with personal development DELIVER POSITIVE OUTCOMES
Ensure that team effort and resources are focused on agreed objectives and report regularly on progress
Recognise and celebrate team and individual achievements
Identify and remove any barriers to achieving agreed objectives, anticipating any potential failures
Encourage creative and innovative thinking and celebrate new ideas SUPPORT AND DEVELOP STAFF TO OPTIMISE TALENT
Hold (at least) annual PRDPs with and regular (at least fortnightly) one-to-one meetings with allocated direct reports
Give clear guidance on performance expectations and give regular, constructive feedback, including tackling issues of poor performance
Ensure that all staff within the department receive timely and high-quality PRDPs
Review all PRDPs completed by direct reports and address any issues of quality or consistency WORK IN A PLANNED AND MANAGED WAY
Allocate tasks in a fair and timely manner that recognises the need to ensure the physical and mental well-being of staff
Contribute to and understand departmental plans and objectives
Develop and deliver budgetary plans which ensure that resources are applied effectively and support the delivery of strategic and operational objectives
Ensure that local plans align to departmental plans and the College strategy

Job Description for a Research Software Engineer, Study notes of Software Engineering

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