Research Software Engineer (10375)
Rosalind Franklin Institute
As a Research Software Engineer at the Franklin, you will bring scientific knowledge and skills to deliver a specific research project and/or you will bring independent, creative science, or specific skills to a team delivering a project or program. Through this work, you will build scientific independence, develop new science and leadership skills, and establish a growing reputation externally.
We seek to recruit a Research Software Engineer to support our research in native ambient mass spectrometry, and specifically the project to develop three-dimensional protein atlases of a mouse brain through fusion of 2D ion images. The ideal candidate will have expertise in at least one of the following:
- Managing and processing high dimensional datasets (4D or more) and experience of Next Generation File Formats.
- Dealing with sparse scientific data and compression methods.
- Interactive visualisation of volumetric datasets.
- Experience of working with mass spectrometry data would be desirable
In this role, the Research Software Engineer will be responsible for developing tools for construction and visualisation of the brain atlas, including data handling pipelines, image registration, direct cloud native storage, interactive visualisation, adaption for visualisation hardware including new modalities. The postholder will collaborate closely with internal and external stakeholders to develop innovative solutions for improved mass spectrometry imaging of intact proteins and their assemblies in tissue and advancing integrative spatial and structural biology. The project will be hosted in the new Rosalind Franklin Institute facilities at Harwell but will also involve working with investigators across the Franklin, collaborator laboratories and with member institutes.
Key Responsibilities
As a Research Software Engineer, you will:
- Plan and conduct experiments, analyse and interpret results and supervise delivery of outputs (e.g. research report, patent application) in a scientific/technology area of interest.
- Work within a project team, contributing to wider projects around key Challenges.
- Lead major contributions to outputs from research including papers, patents and both internal and external presentations.
- Support and develop others including day-to-day supervision of students or visitors in areas related to their own research.
- Have supervised, staged progression to first stages of scientific independence with opportunities to further develop science and skills/experience.
- Enhance your research through collaboration with other researchers and make active contributions to exchanging ideas through your own network.
- Be able to understand, interpret, create and communicate appropriately within a research context.
- Develop search and discovery skills and techniques.
- Be supervised by a Senior Scientist in delivery of research outputs, either in the context of a project or Challenge or as an early career development fellow.
Before submitting your application, please ensure you read the Job Information Pack for full details of this role.
This job description set outs the skills and experience we believe are needed to be able to do this job but, research also tells us women are much more likely than men to take this list of requirements as absolute and self-select out of the process. If you think you can deliver this role then we want to hear from you, regardless of the boxes you did not tick.
Whilst the role requires candidates to hold a PhD/DPhil (or equivalent), we may consider candidates who are close to completion of their PhD/DPhil qualification, in which case the initial appointment will be made at £37,500 per annum (to be increased on completion of the PhD/DPhil qualification).
In return we offer:
- 25 days holidays plus bank holidays and Christmas holiday shutdown
- Generous pension scheme (employer’s contribution currently up to 18%)
- Group Life Assurance (also known as Group Life Insurance or Death in Service)
- Hub building with state-of-the-art laboratories
- Hybrid and flexible working
- Training and development opportunities for staff at all levels
- Bus pass discount scheme and good transport links to Oxford and surrounding areas
- Cycle to Work Scheme
- Access to employee discount platform (Perkbox)
- Occupational Health and wellbeing support including Employee Assistance (24/7 support and counselling)
- Health Cash Plan
- Subsidised canteen and food outlets on campus
- Free on-site parking
- Campus location in beautiful countryside with social and sports clubs open to staff
The Franklin’s underlying aim is to produce the best science for research today, and this means resolutely embracing a diverse team, who have a wide range of experiences, skills and knowledge to push forward on the innovative work our institution delivers. Both our work and our institution are better for it. For further information, view our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.
We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where every applicant has an equal opportunity to showcase their talents and abilities. This includes making adjustments for candidates with specific needs. Please contact us at recruitment@rfi.ac.uk to discuss your requirements confidentially.
At the Rosalind Franklin Institute we also welcome applications from all around the world!
To be considered for this role, please submit a CV and cover letter explaining why you think you are the right person for this job. Please include information about your education and work experience.
Closing date: The closing date for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 31st August 2025.
