The Netherlands eScience Center is constantly looking for enthusiastic research software engineers (RSEs) to join the eScience Center Team. We are currently looking for candidates for our Life Sciences section to work on a variety of current and future projects.

What does your work look like?
You will be a part of a multidisciplinary team. You will typically work on 2 or 3 projects simultaneously. Projects vary in size from three-month consultancy projects to large multi-year collaborations. You will work on the project locations (various universities across the Netherlands), as well as in the office and you can work from home.

A typical day starts with a work meeting to discuss the development focus, for example: “some issues with the code need testing and requires further development”. Then diverse activities may be performed, for example, you catch up with the latest developments (both technological and scientific) in the project, you finish your contribution to the promising paper being written in your favorite project or you attend an online presentation on a project you are interested in.

Within our life sciences section our projects are highly varied and collaborative. We focus mainly on projects related to critical challenges in life science domains such as health, pharma, biomedical, biotechnology, cultivated food production and medical sciences. One day you develop software for infrastructure to analyze privacy sensitive patient data and the next day you create a chatbot to encourage users to change their lifestyle (by example: stop smoking).

RSEs from the section are explicitly encouraged to explore scientific fields outside of their main expertise and can develop themselves by following external training, developing dedicated software, leading projects, conferences, and community events.

You are intrinsically motivated to solve complex research problems using digital methods. Above all, you can communicate effectively with both academic researchers and technical experts. Furthermore:

• You have experience in, or a strong affinity with, the life sciences domain;
• You have strong credentials in academic research like a PhD or equivalent, or are in possession of a vocational or academic degree;
• You have experience with development of research software, methodologies, packages or open source frameworks to help researchers preferably within the life sciences disciplines;
• You have a diverse skillset that includes one or several of the following:
  • Machine learning;
  • Data interoperability and linked data;
  • Handling privacy sensitive data;
  • Sequencing data;
  • Movement sensor data analysis;
  • Image processing of diagnostic scans (e.g., X-rays, MRI, CT).

• We work at the forefront of cutting-edge international research.
• You will be part of a team of intelligent, collaborative, and ambitious people with a passion for academic research.
• You will be given extensive opportunity to further develop your professional and personal capacities.
• Salary scales (between 9 and 12) based on our Collective Labour Agreement (WVOI Cao-OI) depending on qualifications and expertise.
• Excellent secondary benefits: the possibility to work part time, an allowance for travel and mobile expenses, a holiday allowance (8%), 42 holidays and an end year bonus (8,33%).
• Incoming international employees could benefit from significant government tax relief (30% ruling) for a set number of years.

Netherlands eScience Center

The Netherlands eScience Center is the national centre for innovative software solutions in academic research. We aim to bridge the gap in knowledge and expertise between digital technologies on the one hand and scientific and scholarly inquiry on the other. We create the tools and digital methodologies that enable researchers across all disciplines to answer research questions, harnessing our unique blend of academic expertise and software development skills. We attach great importance to software quality and sustainability, and academic recognition of research software.

We stand for a research-focused, professional, collaborative, open and resourceful approach to everything we do, and we require that our staff can identify with these eScience Center values. Our people have a diverse background in education, gender, nationality and ethnicity. Together, we form an inclusive group with a common drive.