Senior Full-stack Web Developer

Your role 

This is an exciting opportunity to make a significant contribution by delivering data portals for several world leading projects tackling global sustainability and biodiversity challenges including:

• Ancient Environmental Genomic Initiative for Sustainability (https://aegisearth.bio/en).

• Functional Annotation of Animal Genomes (FAANG) (https://www.faang.org) 

• European Reference Genome Atlas (https://www.erga-biodiversity.eu/),

• TRansversing European Coastlines (https://www.embl.org/about/info/trec/) 

You will be responsible for support and development of software to handle data curation, coordination, validation, distribution and visualisation of agriculture, aquaculture and biodiversity data. You will work with large scientific communities to define and implement metadata standards, develop software to validate and improve data descriptions and develop, build new project specific portals, and extend existing web data portals to meet the specific needs of each consortium.

The data portals will include Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and bespoke data visualisation and presentation solutions. You will also contribute to our growing "question in → insight out" initiative, exposing consortium data through MCP servers and agent-based interfaces so that researchers can ask scientific questions in natural language and get back analysis, not just download links. You will also support efforts for the development of standardised containerised workflows and cloud platform integration.

As part of this team, you will have many opportunities to engage with data generators, project users, and collaborators, to which you will provide guidance and support on utilisation of the team's software and support users to provide rich metadata descriptions.  

You will work with a range of data archives at EMBL-EBI, including the ENA and BioSamples, to support each project and community in sharing and gaining access to well described, high quality sample and genomic data.

You have 

• A BSc or MSc in computer science or related fields

• Expertise in Python, including popular Python libraries: NumPy, Pandas, PySpark and frameworks: Django, Django Rest Framework, FastAPI

• Hands-on experience with both relational (e.g. PostgreSQL) and non-relational databases (e.g. Elasticsearch, Redis)

• Extensive experience in data warehousing architecture, big data processing and ETL

• Demonstrable expertise in Unix/Linux environments

• Experience with GIT and working in collaborative software environments

• Willingness to learn new skills as required by the project

• A self-motivated work ethic and be capable of working both independently and as part of a team

• Excellent communication, interpersonal and English language skills

You may also have

• Experience developing or maintaining web-based applications (html, css, Javascript frameworks such as Angular, React)

• Cloud (GCP or AWS) and popular cloud Big Data tools - BigQuery, Dataflow, Looker

• Hands on containerisation experience (Docker or similar) and orchestration (e.g. with kubernetes)

• Experience processing of biological archive data

• Tests and CI/CD

• Curiosity or experience with LLM APIs, agent frameworks, MCP, or retrieval-augmented systems - we are actively building in this space and welcome enthusiasm here even without prior production experience

Contract length: 2 years grant funded fixed term contract.

Salary: Grade 6 - monthly salary from £3,695.61 after tax plus generous benefits (excluding pension and insurance contributions).

Next Steps: The scheduled closing date is 10th June and we welcome your application as soon as possible.

Why join us

Do something meaningful
At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind's greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.
 

Join a culture of innovation
We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential.  Watch this video to see how EMBL-EBI makes an impact.

Enjoy lots of benefits:

• Financial incentives: Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances

• Flexible working arrangements - including hybrid working patterns 

• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)

• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition public holidays

• Relocation package including installation grant (if required)

• Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work, on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)

• Family benefits: On-site nursery, 10 days of child sick leave, generous parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances

• Benefits for non-UK residents: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.

For detailed information please visit our employee benefits page here. 

What else you need to know

• International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Please take a look at our International Applicants page for further information.  

• EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we apply DORA principles to our recruitment and performance assessment processes here.

• Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we believe that diverse teams drive innovation and scientific excellence. We encourage applications from candidates of all genders, identities, nationalities and/or any other diverse backgrounds.

• How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. Applications will close at 23:59 CET on the date shown below. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date.

Closing Date