IIASA Job Opportunity: Research Software Engineer

The IIASA Energy (ENE) Program is offering an opportunity for a Research Software Engineer. The successful candidate will join a small team of software developers working with researchers at ENE and collaborating institutions on further developing and continuously improving these tools to support energy- and climate-related research in ENE and in the wider academic community. An interest in the scientific content of the software tools – climate change and energy transition research – will help communication within the multi-disciplinary teams and developing a deeper understanding of the user needs.

Job details:

The successful candidate will closely collaborate with scientists from the IIASA ENE Program and their international partners in addressing the following tasks:

• Manage the community development around the MESSAGEix Integrated Assessment framework, including the leading the release cycle administration and provide technical user support.
• Contribute to ongoing research activities by implementing new features in the scientific software packages in close collaboration with scientific staff.
• Provide user support and guidance on best-practice implementation to scientific staff at ENE and collaborators in the wider community concerning the use of research software tools.
• Assist in the conceptual development and implementation of new features in the new scenario data infrastructure (Scenario Explorer and related software stack) to support its use for research and science communication.
• Documentation of the software stack and all modules at high professional standards.
• In line with the team spirit that prevails at IIASA, the incumbent may occasionally work on other tasks assigned by their superiors, that might not be directly related to this appointment but where the post holder has relevant experience and skills, and/or a shortage of immediate personnel capabilities requires such.

Required skills and qualifications: 

• Applicants should have the willingness and ability to work in an international multi-disciplinary team, and be flexible and adaptable in responding to deadlines. Good written and verbal communication skills in English are essential.
• Preferably, the successful candidate will hold a BS or MS (or equivalent, e.g. DIFH) in a field related to energy systems and climate change, and have a strong interest in scientific software development.
• Candidates with a background in computer science or related fields and experienced software practitioners are welcome to apply as well.
• The incumbent should have hands-on experience with developing software, continuous integration practices, and the related tasks (dev-ops). They should be familiar with relevant tools and techniques used in ENE (GAMS, Python, RDBMS, Java and RESTful interfaces, vue.js, docker) and/or keen on extending their skill set.
• Hands-on experience with GitHub and virtualization would be an asset.

Appointment terms:

The successful candidate will be expected to take up the position as soon as possible, and will initially be offered a full-time (40 hours per week), fixed-term contract for one year. Following an evaluation of the first year’s work, the appointment period may be extended. Duties will be carried out at the IIASA premises in Laxenburg, near Vienna in Austria.

Applications will be accepted until the post has been filled.

Further information can be found in the attached vacancy announcement or on our website.