Job Description

Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)

Salary: 24,961 per annum

Contract Type: Fixed-Term, 12 months

Hours: Full-time, 37 hours

Location: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus Didcot,

OX11 0QX

Closing Date: Sunday, 19th October 2025

Interview Date: Dec 2025 / Jan 2026

Start Date: September 2026

Come and do the kind of computing that got you into technology in the first place. Work with cutting-edge tech and world-leading scientists and engineers. And harness the power of some of the country's most advanced supercomputers to tackle work that improves daily life in the UK and far beyond.


Put simply, come, and discover the impact you can make when you're equipped, encouraged, and inspired to perform to your very best.


STFC Scientific Computing (SC) provides large-scale computing facilities, computing data services and infrastructure at both Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire. Made up of data infrastructure, and scientific computing and computation groups, the expertise and intelligence SC provides UKRI, underpins almost every key calculation across STFC and beyond.


Currently, we are seeking two Software Engineers to join our DAaaS (Data Analysis as a Service) Group within STFC Scientific Computing. The DAaaS group builds and maintains Ada, a cloud-based data analysis platform enabling scientists to access a virtual environment powered by the STFC Cloud. Ada has supported scientists in STFC and our collaborators around the world to conduct data analysis related to research in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and more.

Brief overview of the scheme

STFC's incredibly diverse range of placements allow you to work alongside world leading engineers, scientists and technicians in highly collaborative environments. Whichever you choose, you'll become a critical member of the team in which you will be exposed to exciting projects and challenges from the start. You'll be supported every step of the way by our dedicated Graduate Development Team who will also ensure you benefit from a range of personal development opportunities.

About the role and a summary of key duties & responsibilities

Work with customers to form technical solutions that bring together compute, software and data, simplifying computing for scientists. Develop software from requirements to production. Review code and provide feedback to ensure best practice, such as quality, testability, performance etc. Contribute to existing documentation or educational content and adapt content based on product/program updates and user feedback. Support the Ada platform and deal with system issues and debug/track/resolve by analysing the sources of issues and the impact on hardware, network, or service operations and quality. Work with colleagues from different groups within STFC Scientific Computing, to improve the Ada service.

Person Specification

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

Essential:

Currently enrolled on an undergraduate degree course and returning to university/studies to complete your undergraduate degree following the placement (S) Are required or have requested to take an industrial placement year (S) Have the right to live and work in the UK for the duration of the placement (S) Able to commence employment in summer 2026 (S) Good knowledge of a programming or scripting language (Python, Shell scripting) (S+I) Experience using Linux systems (S+I) Experience using a version control system (Git, etc.) (S+I) Understanding of software development cycles (S+I) Excellent interpersonal skills (S+I) Passionate in science and software development (S+I)

Desirable:

Knowledge and experience of Cloud technologies (OpenStack, AWS, GCP, etc.) (S+I) Open-source project available on GitHub/GitLab, etc. (S)

Employee Benefits:

30 days holiday (in addition to 10.5 bank holidays and privilege days). Flexible working hours. An excellent defined average salary pension scheme. Easily accessible public transport links/ free parking. Excellent learning and development opportunities. Cycle to work scheme.
Link to more benefits: https://stfccareers.co.uk/rewards-and-benefits/


As this job does not fulfil the UK Government minimum criterion for obtaining sponsored migrant worker status we will be unable to apply for sponsorship for anyone not eligible to work in the UK. At interview, all shortlisted candidates are required to bring with them identification documents and original documents that prove they hold or can obtain the right to work in the UK. You can check your eligibility here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y

Application Guidance

Please note that we can only accept a maximum of 2 applications per candidate.

Part of our application process involves submitting your CV and a cover letter. Your cover letter should address your suitability for the opportunity based how you meet each essential criteria stated in this advert.

Please note that we hold the right to close this vacancy early if a sufficient number of applications have been received.

We ask some of the biggest questions in the universe, to answer some of the biggest challenges in the world. Together, our scientists, technologists, engineers and business support team explore the unknown across every field you could think of. And they turn what they find into work that changes the world around us.


What could you achieve with the world-leading facilities and experts of one of Europe's largest research organisations by your side? Join us and discover what's possible!