Research Software Engineer / Geospatial Software Developer – Manchester

Research Software Engineer – Geospatial Software Developer

Fixed term until 31st December 2025 with the opportunity to extend dependent on funding.

This is a hybrid role – typically a minimum of 2 days per week on site. This can vary according to your personal circumstances and location and is agreed locally with the respective line manager based on business needs. All travel to and from the site is paid via expenses.

Our client has an exciting opportunity for a Research Software Engineer with expertise and experience in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Geospatial Software Development to join an interdisciplinary programme team and help support the technical development of the £8m NERC funded Digital Solutions Programme.
NERC’s Digital Solutions programme, was created to develop innovative digital services that deliver economic, societal, and environmental benefits across the UK. Its purpose extends beyond mere academic use and the exploitation of existing data repositories. Our client’s ethos is to build a Digital Solutions Hub as a gateway to a broad set of inter-connected toolkits that will facilitate improved access and better use of NERC data. These may already exist or will be created with their partners, which include the NHS, Defra, PHE and HSE, as well as local and regional SMEs and individual members of society. Providing easier access to NERC’s environmental data offers opportunities for improving peoples’ health and better understanding the impacts of climate change on people, land, and property across the UK. Initially they will focus on two areas ‘A Connected Healthy Nation’ and ‘A Climate Ready Nation’ as use cases. It is expected that more use cases will come online as the programme develops.
The focus of the Digital Solutions Programme is to build a UK wide decision support system at the cutting edge of theory and practice, which will contribute to improvements in the overall quality of environmental decision making in public, private and third sector settings throughout the UK. Developing productive partnerships with policymakers and practitioners in a range of sectors, including social, economic, environmental and health will be a key role for these posts. This is to ensure the digital solutions programme develops a working ‘hub’ that support their short, medium and longer-term planning.

What we are looking for
To be considered for this role you must have expertise in Geographic Information System (GIS) and GeoSpatial Software Development with demonstrable abilities in developing geospatial web applications using tools such as ArcGIS JavaScript API and the ArcGIS Runtime. We require you to have expertise in ESRI desktop products, such as ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Desktop, including the development of desktop plugins for ArcGIS Pro and extensions/customisations in ArcGIS Desktop. In-depth knowledge of Geospatially enabled databases, preferably PostGIS, and proficiency in Geodatabase development including schema creation and table optimisation is essential. A comprehensive understanding and application of ArcGIS Services, OGC Services, and APIs and in-depth exposure to the ArcGIS Enterprise suite, including ArcGIS Server, portal, ArcGIS Image Server, ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server, ArcGIS Notebook Server, etc is also essential, as is proficiency in scripting using the ArcGIS Python API.

Purpose of the Role
As a Research Software Engineer working on this programme, you will collaborate with academics, post- doctoral researchers, software engineers and a broad user community, working closely with the Programme Director. Your core responsibility involves designing, modifying, and implementing software systems to meet specific research requirements. You will identify and apply software engineering concepts to practical designs, offering development expertise, consultancy, and guidance.
The role encompasses software development, service development, problem solving for users, documentation creation, community building, software installation and configuration, maintaining licencing compliance, ensuring compatibility with current architectures, and the adherence to regulatory standards, industry regulations, and organisational policies.

Key Responsibilities, Accountabilities and Duties
Engage in the development of high-quality software as a Full Stack software engineer with the additional expertise of Geospatial Software Engineering. This includes developing and testing high- quality Object-Oriented Code using best practices like SOLID and employing standard methods and patterns.
Ability to work as a part of a team as well as on their own.
Ability to prioritize tasks and to solve problems with an engineering mindset rather than a developer mindset.
Independently working on moderately complex systems and collaborating with colleagues on larger and more complex systems. This involves defining user/system interfaces, designing, coding, testing, and debugging software applications using multiple programming languages such as Python and C#, whilst ensuring efficiency, performance, and maintainability.
Maintains comprehensive documentation using specified standards and tools, including prototyping tools when appropriate.
Develops and implements unit, integration, and system testing to ensure software quality, reliability, and security.

PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

Software Development
Proficient in object-oriented development with expertise in one or more languages such as C# (.NET, .NET Core), JavaScript, and Python.
Skilled in front-end web development technologies including HTML5, CSS, and frameworks like Vue, React, Angular, Svelte, Blazor.
Extensive experience in creating RESTful services utilising ASP.NET, Node.js, and/or Python related technologies, with the use of JSON / XML.
Experience in constructing robust web solutions using modern JavaScript frameworks.
Thorough understanding and application of software patterns including MVVM, MVC, IoC, Dependency Injection, and other relevant methodologies.
Familiarity with relational databases (preferably PostgreSQL), and/or SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, and cloud based relational databases, Proficient understanding and usage of NoSQL databases like MongoDB, Redis, etc.
Competence in utilising both Windows and Linux environments.

Geographic Information System (GIS) / GeoSpatial Software Development
Proficient in developing geospatial web applications using tools such as ArcGIS JavaScript API, ArcGIS Runtime.
Expertise in ESRI desktop products, such as ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Desktop, including the development of desktop plugins for ArcGIS Pro and extensions/customisations in ArcGIS Desktop.
In-depth knowledge of Geospatially enabled databases, preferably PostGIS, and proficiency in Geodatabase development including schema creation and table optimisation.
Comprehensive understanding and application of ArcGIS Services, OGC Services, and APIs.
Exposure to the ArcGIS Enterprise suite, including ArcGIS Server, ArcGIS Portal, ArcGIS Image Server, ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server, ArcGIS Notebook Server, etc.
Good understanding of geospatial data limitations.
Proficiency in scripting using the ArcGIS Python API.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
Knowledge of ISO Geospatial standards, particularly ISO 19115, ISO 19139, ISO 19136, ISO 19107.
Knowledge of OGC standards, notably WMS, WFS, WCS, CSW.
Familiarity with various Geospatial technologies such as Vector Tiles, GeoJSON, TopoJSON, etc.
Adept at studying and mastering geospatial ISO and OGC standards, emphasising practical implementation.
Adept at software development using geostatistical packages within Python and/or R.
Ability to strategize and plan complex workflows for managing geospatial data across diverse systems.
Proven proficiency in leveraging Geospatial Open-Source software libraries, including but not limited to SharpMap, NetTopology Suite, GeoTools, JavaTopology Suite, GDAL, GeoPandas, Leaflet, and OpenLayers, etc.

Character Skills:
Attention to Detail: Consistently applying stringent quality standards to all tasks and ensuring meticulous attention to detail.
Flexibility: Adapting to new information or changing circumstances, adjusting problem-solving approaches accordingly.
Interpersonal Interaction: Adept at establishing and maintaining relationships with people from diverse backgrounds, possessing effective and culturally sensitive communication skills applicable to different societies and cultures.

• Reference: HQ00004044
• Location: Manchester
• Salary: £36,000 - £44,263
• Job Type: Contract
• Category: » GIS
• Posted Date:7/02/2024