Are you seeking for challenging projects at the edge of what is technically possible? Are you interested in joining an open-source software initiative aimed at improving human movement and health? Do you want to oversee the software management and working process of an R&D Lab?

The Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Technology, at the University of Twente is seeking for a creative and motivated software developer as part of the ERC Project INTERACT. Within INTERACT we develop advanced physics-based modelling software to simulate how humans move (e.g., how our brain controls our muscles to create different movements) and to control wearable robots (e.g., bionic limbs and exoskeletons). We use specialized and advanced measurement setups, some of which we even develop and integrate ourselves. We are a rapidly growing Department.

You will become one of the architects of a large-scale software framework to model and simulate human movement (and injury) assisted by advanced wearable robots, such as bionic prostheses and exoskeletons. You will also manage the working process and organization of the Neuromechanics Lab. Our department currently employs more than 70 people, including scientists, teachers and technicians, of different nationalities. You will be part of a team of R&D Engineering Technicians who complement each other. Many of our R&D projects are in collaboration with other research institutions and companies from the Netherlands and abroad

Your responsibilities

• Contribute to maintain and extend our software framework for human movement modelling.
• Write software for communication protocols and control of wearable robots.
• Help maintain software repositories and documentation.
  Identify requirements and wishes of computational and experimental set-ups to be developed.
• Manage working process and organization of research labs.
• Support scientific staff software development and coordinate its integration

In some projects you will work independently, while in others you will collaborate with researchers as well as mechanical, electrical and control technicians. Due to the high integration with different fields (biomedical, mechanical, electronics), there is always an exchange of knowledge with your colleagues and growth opportunities.

Basic qualifications:

• A strong desire to know how software and algorithms work with passion for clean, robust and efficient code.
• A strong passion for managing working processes in research-oriented laboratories.
• MSc Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or comparable degrees.
• Proven experience with:
  • C, C++, Python using an OOP approach both under Windows and/or Linux with reliance on design patterns.
  • Automated build system management (e.g., CMake).
  • Collaborative revision-controlled repositories (e.g., GitHub, GitLab, Bitbicket), documentation (e.g., Confluence) and issue tracking (e.g., Jira) systems.
  • Communication buses and protocols (e.g., EtherCAT, CAN, I2C, SPI, UART, TCP/IP, UDP).
• Communicative, independent, enterprising, team player.
• Hands-on mentality, flexible and curious.
• Passionate and see technical problems as challenges.
• Eager to learn and longing for personal and professional development.
• English: Fluent.

Additional qualifications:

• Evidence of having worked on OOP-based and open-source projects.
• Knowledge of frameworks for developing, delivering, and sustaining complex working processes (e.g. Scrum).
• Accessible code repositories that demonstrate your designs and implementations of computational tools used by fellow scientists and researchers.
• Extensive (re)use of (and contributions to) open-source APIs, e.g., R, TensorFlow, OpenSim, Simbody, FEBio.
• Knowledge of Twincat.
• Dutch: Fluent.

We offer a competitive fulltime position with a generous allowance:

• A 2-year job with a 1-year probation time.
• A gross monthly salary euro between euro 3,895 and 4,402 per month depending on qualifications. The terms of employment are in accordance with the CAO NU.
• Possible 30% tax ruling option.
• A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• A minimum of 29 holidays in case of full-time employment.
• A proven pension scheme.
• Professional and personal development programs.
• World-class research facilities and working environment:
• Access to the new established Wearable Robotics Lab.
• Work location within a knowledge park with direct access to a large number of tech-companies and start-ups.
• Proximity to Enschede, a mid-size city with a large social offer, embedded in the beautiful nature of the Twente region.
• Enjoyable work atmosphere with social events such as lab retreats.