Software Engineer, Backend Developer

About the Team

We are a dynamic, interdisciplinary group of software engineers and bioinformaticians working closely with biologists and scientists to support Uni Prot, one of the most widely used protein databases worldwide.

• Design and develop software and APIs for Uni Prot data services and website, providing protein information to the scientific community and computational biologists.
• Design, maintain, and monitor the website cloud infrastructure.
• Write clear, concise, well‑tested, and documented code with a focus on scalability.
• Apply analytic engines and technical approaches to distributed processing of big data.
• Meet tight deadlines and work collaboratively with cross‑functional teams.

• Degree in Computer Science or a related discipline.
• At least 3 years of professional experience in web back‑end development.
• Experience with web cloud infrastructure and Agile processes.
• Strong communication skills.
• Proficiency in Java and/or Python development.
• Development of RESTful services and Spring Boot applications.
• Experience with web infrastructure (Solr, Kubernetes).
• Knowledge of key‑value stores, Git, and basic Unix commands.

• Experience with large data processing technologies such as Apache Spark.

Hybrid working is available. Team members are required to work onsite on Mondays and Tuesdays, and from home for the remaining days.

3‑year project‑based contract.

Grade 5 – Monthly salary starting at £3,452 after tax (excluding pension & insurance). Additional benefits are based on personal circumstances.

• Monthly family, child and non‑resident allowances; annual salary review.
• Pension scheme, death benefit, long‑term care, accident‑at‑work, and unemployment insurances.
• Private medical insurance for employees and families.
• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave plus public holidays.
• Relocation package, including installation grant if required.
• Campus amenities: shuttle bus, on‑site library, subsidised gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, sports and social clubs.
• Family benefits: on‑site nursery, child sick leave, parental leave, holiday clubs.
• Support for non‑UK residents: visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, monthly non‑resident allowance.

We encourage applications from all genders, identities, nationalities, and other diverse backgrounds. EMBL is a signatory of DORA and is committed to inclusive recruitment and assessment practices.