Software Development and Network Engineering Opportunities

Software Development and Network Engineering Opportunities at the Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire

Are you interested in software development or network engineering? Are you a fresh graduate dreaming about an exciting STEM career or an experienced professional who is looking for the next challenge at the cutting-edge of science, technology, software development and engineering? Would you like to join a vibrant, multicultural and multi-disciplinary team of scientists and engineers working towards solutions to some of the grand challenges we face – in health, environment, energy, security etc.? ? If so, then we have a range of exciting opportunities for you at the Central Laser Facility (CLF) at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) on the Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire.

The CLF is building a new laser centre – the Extreme Photonics Applications Centre (EPAC) and is seeking new team members to help to build this and to contribute to our existing facilities. EPAC is an £81M facility that will use lasers developed by our team to drive new types of novel particle and radiation beams that can be applied to a wide range of problems in science and industry. The facility is under construction now and is expected to start operations by 2025. We are looking for people like you: software developers and engineers at different stages of their careers to be a part of our friendly and enthusiastic team.

When operational, EPAC will have hundreds of diagnostics operating at 10Hz and the data produced by them will need to be acquired, processed, displayed, stored on a long-term basis and made accessible for analysis. EPAC will generate considerably more data than any existing high-power laser facility in the CLF - we expect multi-GB/s peak data rates across multiple networks, if all diagnostics operate simultaneously. EPAC needs to build solutions for managing this data and we require software developers with different skillsets and network engineers as described below.

Software developers will need to love code and have an analytical mind and interest in science. You will be expected communicate with scientists and engineers to obtain requirements based on scientific needs. You need to be able to work with other members of the team to design solutions that other staff and scientists can easily use. You will also be involved in DevOps and supporting new and existing systems. You will be expected to use Agile and Continuous Integration tools to manage the development and deployment of these solutions.

Network engineers will design, construct and support network infrastructure for control and data acquisition systems in the facility. They will need to liaise with the software developers designing these systems as well as expert colleagues in STFC who are responsible for network infrastructure across the site.

We currently have a number of exciting scientific opportunities available, please visit STFC Careers Portal Careers and use the job reference to find out more.

• Software Developer – EPAC Scientific Data Management (Job Ref: 2100004J)
• Networks Engineer - EPAC (Job Ref: 2100004K)
• Software Developer – EPAC Computed Tomography Solutions (Job Ref: 2100004M)

Please do visit our website or contact me on Karen.foster@ukri.org to find out more.

We welcome applicants across all experiences and are particularly interested in those who are looking for a change in career and have technology skills and experiences that this new facility can benefit and learn from. This is an opportunity to join a growing development team and progress your career as there is significant scope to take responsibility for areas of work, even beyond the course of the project.

Candidates considered for our higher bands will also have experience from working on similar projects and likely have been responsible for the technical success of a project. They will take responsibility for a significant area of development and guide the overall design of software solutions. Leading a small team may also be part of the role but we provide a lot of training for non-technical management.

CLF will have a hybrid working arrangement with the option of partial remote working.

As part of UK Research and Innovation, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is one of Europe’s largest research organisations and operates at a number of sites within the UK, including RAL and many more around the world.

Alongside an excellent working environment and comprehensive continued professional development STFC offers a benefits package designed to provide an excellent work/life balance. This includes 30 days annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege days, Christmas shut down, flexible working hours, a workplace nursery, a career average defined benefit pension scheme, as well as onsite social and sporting activities and societies. Full details can be found on STFC’s careers pages.

UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.