AI Software Engineer; Research Assistant LAB

Puesto: AI Software Engineer (Research Assistant) (Ref. LAB/26/18)

IRB Barcelona is seeking a proactive and motivated AI Software Engineer to join the Biomedical Genomics Lab (BBGLab) led by Dr. Núria López-Bigas at IRB Barcelona (bbglab.irbbarcelona.org).

The lab studies the mutations and mechanisms that drive cancer development, and translates this knowledge into computational tools for research and precision cancer medicine. AI is becoming a central part of this work, both to accelerate scientific discovery and to make the lab's tools more useful to researchers and clinicians.

The successful candidate will join a team of bioinformaticians and software engineers to build AI-powered systems, with a strong focus on LLMs and agentic systems. Current projects include an agentic AI system for human-AI scientific collaboration, co-developed with the lab's researchers to uncover the molecular mechanisms of tumorigenesis across genes and tissues, and a chatbot embedded in the Cancer Genome Interpreter to support the interpretation of mutations.

The role is mainly focused on engineering, with some support to research projects. Prior experience in cancer genomics or bioinformatics is not essential, but it is considered an asset; we are looking for someone curious about the biology behind our work and willing to learn it.

This position is financed by the project “Data-driven cancer genome interpretation for personalised cancer treatment” from the European Union (Acronim: CGI-Clinics. Grant Agreement: ).

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, develop, deploy and maintain LLM-based and agentic applications for the lab's projects, such as the agentic system for scientific collaboration and the Cancer Genome Interpreter chatbot.
• Integrate AI components with the lab's tools, databases and knowledge sources.
• Evaluate and improve the quality and reliability of LLM-based systems (prompting, context management, tool use, evaluation).
• Apply software engineering best practices: version control, testing, code review and documentation.
• Keep up to date with advances in AI and propose how to apply them to the lab's projects.
• Provide technical support to research projects, participate in project meetings, and contribute to technical reports.

YOU HAVE

• Highly proactive profile, with a strong willingness to learn and to stay constantly up to date with a rapidly changing AI landscape (models, frameworks, tools and AI coding assistants).
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Bioinformatics, Computational Sciences, Physics, Mathematics or similar.
• At least 1 year of experience in software development.
• Hands-on experience with LLMs and agentic systems (e.g. LLM APIs, prompt and context engineering, RAG, tool use, agents).
• Strong Python programming skills and familiarity with software development best practices.
• Experience with collaborative software development using Git and platforms such as Git Hub.
• Excellent English (written and spoken).
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work within a collaborative team.
• Strong analytical skills, ability to work independently, and adaptability to new challenges.

YOU MIGHT ALSO HAVE

• Extensive, proven experience building LLM-based applications and agentic systems (RAG, MCP, multi-agent frameworks, evaluation).
• Experience with AI coding assistants and modern AI development workflows.
• Experience with machine learning or deep learning.
• Experience in bioinformatics or cancer genomics, particularly in NGS data analysis.
• Experience with pipelines (Nextflow), high-performance computing, containers (Docker, Singularity), cloud environments (e.g. AWS), and databases.
• Experience with full-stack development.
• A Master's degree or a PhD in a related field.
• Experience working in international teams.

WHAT WE OFFER:

To be a part a part of something meaningful: We are a…