Backend Software Developer

We’re seeking a driven Backend Software Developer to join the Open Targets team at EMBL-EBI, contributing to the Open Psychiatry Project (OPP). In this role, you’ll build and evolve cutting‑edge informatics tools that support the discovery and prioritisation of drug targets. Working with modern technologies in a collaborative, international environment, you’ll tackle complex technical challenges alongside a multidisciplinary team of experts.

The OPP is an ambitious initiative focused on making mental health omics data more accessible, connected, and impactful. The OPP brings together leading partners across academia and healthcare, including EMBL-EBI, the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Swansea, Health Innovation East, and Bitfount.

By integrating real-world evidence into the Open Targets Platform, the project aims to accelerate the development of more effective treatments for mental health conditions. Open Targets is a partnership between world leading academic institutes EMBL-EBI and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and pharmaceutical industry partners (Genentech, GSK, MSD, Pfizer, Sanofi).

As part of the Open Targets Core team, you’ll collaborate with computational biologists, bioinformaticians, and engineers to design and deliver scalable, cloud‑first software at the intersection of biomedical data and drug discovery. Within the OPP team, you’ll work closely with Dr Ellen McDonagh (line manager and co‑lead) and Dr Mary‑Ellen Lynall (lead investigator for OPP, University of Cambridge), alongside a project manager and bioinformatician.

You’ll also partner with researchers, clinicians, and lived experience experts to shape solutions that meet real‑world needs and drive meaningful impact.

You will lead on enhancing the Open Targets Platform to incorporate additional features to power discovery science, drug target identification, and stakeholder accessibility for mental health disorders. Working as part of a dynamic, collaborative and international team with members that come from various professional backgrounds, you will be responsible for:

• Lead the backend development for the OPP, including working to scope and prioritise feature development.
• Be the key contact between the OPP and Open Targets groups, interact closely with other members of the OPP team to understand the infrastructure, data and software needs and help translate these into the Open Targets release cycle planning.
• Work with other OPP team members to develop data intake and metadata strategy, as well as containerised analyses that can smoothly link to Open Targets pipelines.
• Attend regular OPP meetings and contribute to programme strategy.
• Write clean, efficient and readable code to support our Python based data pipeline.
• Contribute to the codebase of our Graph
  
  QL API, which is being rewritten in Rust.
• Support our GCP infrastructure, deployed with Terraform and Helm.
• Take ownership of the design and development of new features and pipelines.
• Resolve complex issues with independent problem‑solving and self‑management.
• Assist the Open Targets data team on the execution of our data pipelines for regular release cycles of the Platform.
• Engage in knowledge sharing activities and contribute technical expertise to our Community and blog.

• Qualifications in computer science, software development, or a related field.
• Good day‑to‑day computer engineer knowledge: building and designing software, CI/CD tools, Git skills, debugging methods and comfort with frequent deployments.
• Expert Python knowledge and familiarity with the modern Python ecosystem tools like uv, ruff, and type annotations.
• A good grasp of modern statically typed programming language paradigms;
  Rust being a valued plus.
• Experience in a cloud environment.
• Experience in independent problem‑solving and examples of resolving complex issues.
• Fluency in written and spoken English.
• Ability to effectively communicate ideas or issues to those with technical and non‑technical backgrounds.
• A collaborative attitude and work well with team members from multidisciplinary backgrounds.

• Experience with No
  
  SQL (Open Search) and SQL (Click House) databases.
• Experience…