Research Software Engineer - Neutron Sciences

Requisition Id 11894 

 

 

Overview:

We invite applications for the position of Research Software Engineer who will focus on designing, developing and deploying data reduction and data analysis software for the neutron science community at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). This position resides in the Software Engineering Group within the Computer Science and Mathematics Division.

 

Our group focuses on engineering the next generation of high-quality scientific software. We innovate and encourage the next generation of cutting-edge scientific software, thus enabling Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to host the world’s best-in-class scientific software engineering group and transform science with software-defined solutions that are reliable, usable, and trustworthy.

 

As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, ORNL has an extraordinary 80-year history of solving the nation’s biggest problems. We have a dedicated and creative staff of over 6,000 people! Our vision for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) is to cultivate an environment and practices that foster diversity in ideas and in the people across the organization, as well as to ensure ORNL is recognized as a workplace of choice. These elements are critical for enabling the execution of ORNL’s broader mission to accelerate scientific discoveries and their translation into energy, environment, and security solutions for the nation.

 

Major Duties/Responsibilities:

• Partner with scientific and technical staff in both CSMD and the Neutron Scattering Division to evaluate and optimize the software development practices of the group, and ensure success of the project.

• Participate in the planning and major development efforts on scientific software projects for neutron techniques in the areas of diffraction, engineering diffraction, imaging, reflectometry, small-angle scattering, and spectroscopy.

• Collaborate on proposals related to the neutron sciences, and on proposals in computing that support better software and infrastructure for the neutron sciences.

• Coordinate, lead, and act as a representative of the Laboratory in international collaborations related to scattering software.

• Work closely with partners to meet their software requirements, address bugs, and achieve their scientific goals.

• Act as a mentor for project members, junior staff, post-graduates, and students to help them grow.

 

Basic Qualifications:

• A minimum of a BS degree in computer science or physics and 3+ years of software engineering experience outside of degree.

• Experience progamming in Python.

• Experience with version control, containers, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD).

 

Preferred Qualifications:

• MS or PhD preferred.

• 5+ years of experience in addition to the degree.

• Experience programming in C++.

• Experience developing software at a neutron user facility, synchrotron light source or other large-scale experimental physics project or user facility is preferred.

• Experience with PyQT or PySide.

• Experience with modern software practices such as test-driven development, Agile software development practices and a firm, proven knowledge of software development lifecycles.

• The ability to work on a team in a dynamic group environment as the team meets daily, practices continuous integration, collaborates on the source code and has regular deadlines as part of an Agile-based development process.

• Activity within the broader open-source software community.

 

Code Sample:

An open-source code sample or coding exercise used for evaluation purposes will be required later in the application process. Your code sample should be related in some way to the subject of this post. It should be object-oriented, contain five or more classes, show a sophisticated understanding of the project and be your sole work to a very high degree (>95%). Code samples will need to be made available on GitHub or a similar sharing platform.

 

Special Requirements:

Please submit three reference names with contact information when applying to this position. You may upload these directly to your application or have them sent to recruiting@ornl.gov with the position title and number referenced in the subject line.

 

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