PDRA for Socio-Technical Resilience in Software Development

Weekly Working Hours: 37

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract

About the Role 

Full time or part time (min 22.5 hrs).
Hybrid working but attendance in Milton Keynes office will be required a minimum of 2 days per week

Interviews: Wednesday 4th September 2024

We are seeking to appoint a Research Associate to join the EPSRC-funded STRIDE project (www.stride.org.uk) within the OU’s SEAD group (sead.open.ac.uk). Socio-Technical Resilience in Software Development (STRIDE) project is a partnership between The Open University (OU), Manchester University, and Lancaster University. In this project, we are investigating socio-technical resilience in software development and its relationship with automation. The aim of the project is to understand what socio-technical resilience is, in the context of software development, and how it can be maintained or improved in the face of increasing automation. 

We are looking for outstanding candidates with a proven track record and potential to conduct research at the highest international level. You will need to meet all essential criteria on the person specification to be considered for interview. 

You will join a team of academics at the OU and work with colleagues across the project team. This position is based in the SEAD (Software Engineering and Design) Research Group in the School of Computing and Communications in the Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  

Key Responsibilities  

• Model scenarios of practice from various domains including software development and air traffic control
• Plan, conduct and write-up empirical research in areas relevant to the project
• Engage with research partners to progress objectives of the STRIDE project
• Seek out, read and summarise relevant existing research
• Co-author reports and papers on research results

Skills and Experience  

Essential Requirements

• You will hold (or be working towards) a PhD in computer science, software engineering, or a related discipline. 
• You will have demonstrable understanding of modelling techniques commonly used in software engineering or related disciplines.
• You will have a track record of engaging with the human aspects of practice.
• You will have experience of publishing in internationally leading conferences or journals, or evidence that such output will be forthcoming in the near future.

See the Job Description here for further details and desirable qualities.

If you would like to discuss the particulars of this role before making an application, please email Professor Helen Sharp (helen.sharp@open.ac.uk). 

To apply for this role please submit your CV with a personal statement, up to 1,000 words. You should set out in your statement why you’re interested in this role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the required competencies for this role as detailed in the job and person specification.

Closing Date: 15/08/2024

Advert information