Software Engineer - Backend Services

Department
 

Provost Globus Labs - Materials

About the Department
 

Globus (www.globus.org) is a sustainable, non-profit business within The University of Chicago delivering solutions to the research community worldwide. Globus develops and provides critical services that support scientific research for governmental, academic, and commercial organizations in a wide range of disciplines including life sciences, physics, and astronomy. We develop, operate, and sell commercial-quality, cloud-based software application and platform services used by 10s of thousands of researchers to manage their large–and growing–data management challenges. We have offices located in the heart of downtown Chicago and remote employees who work-from-home. Globus, together with Globus Labs, a research group within the University of Chicago, and part of the Data Science and Learning Division at Argonne National Labs, develop and deploy cutting edge technologies to solve new challenges facing the scientific community and enable break-through scientific discoveries.

Job Summary
 

As a member of the Globus Labs software development team, the focus of this position will be to prototype, develop, and deploy new software services to help scientists and researchers publish, share, and make accessible their data and AI models, as well as to solve problems in domains ranging from materials science, chemistry, catalysis, x-ray science, and more. We’re looking for highly skilled developers experienced in building and supporting Python backend services and systems that will be used by thousands of researchers in pursuit of open data initiatives supported by the NSF, NIST, DOE, and the Materials Genome Initiative.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development of systems to enable publication of large datasets in materials science, chemistry, and other domains.

• Develop, manage, and deploy data infrastructure services to support various projects.

• Build and maintain relationships with program managers and other key personnel.

• Define key directions to keep UChicago at the forefront of AI/ML and national= data infrastructure.

• Champion innovative solutions and drive initiatives that push the boundaries of AI/ML in scientific data publication and community building.

• Identify and pursue opportunities to create spin-off projects or products from our core research.

• Take ownership of key projects and see them through from concept to deployment.

• Collaborate with industry partners to identify real-world applications for our technologies.

• Propose and lead internal 'startup-like' projects to explore new directions in data infrastructure.

• Architecture and Design:  Contributes to the definition and documentation of requirements, architecture and design of secure, scalable, asynchronous, data access services, based on expanded knowledge of principles of API design, asynchronous processes, service deployment and delivering highly available services.

• Software Development: develops, tests, documents, deploys and maintains high-quality software on a cloud-based platform, including REST interfaces, command-line interfaces, and socket-based services; works with other service and client development teams to integrate and design cross-service features. Can apply GitOps principles to create reproducible deployment workflows.

• Research: Participate in and contribute to research efforts related to the software, including collecting and analyzing data, and writing research papers for journals or conferences, and present research to key external stakeholders.

• Team Coordination and Professional Development: maintains a working knowledge of relevant software technologies being used in scientific and commercial communities; contributes to  project planning and project reporting, and recruitment.

• Performs code testing on components and works to ensure that appropriate implementation standards are met. Evaluates design alternatives for development cost and solutions using various methods.

• Investigates, analyzes and resolves day-to-day technical problems using standard procedures.

• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications
 

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

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Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

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Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or another relevant computer related field.

• Advanced degree in computer science or another relevant computer related field strongly preferred.

Experience:

• 3+ years of relevant programming experience developing, implementing, debugging, and maintaining applications with Python.

• Experience designing, developing, deploying, managing,  and maintaining web services.

• Experience with a distributed version control system (e.g., Git).

• Experience with Unix/Linux.

• Experience with Amazon Web Services.

• Experience in cloud Computing and cloud design patterns(e.g. AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).

• Experience in high performance computing (HPC).

• Experience contributing to an open source project.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Python programming.

• Python frameworks (e.g., Django, Flask, FastAPI).

• SQL databases (e.g. PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite).

• Container deployment and management (e.g. Docker, Singularity, Kubernetes).

• Web technologies (e.g. REST, HTML, CSS, Javascript, AJAX, PHP).

• High performance computing (HPC).

• HTTP servers (e.g. Apache, NGINX).

• unit and integration testing tools (e.g. pytest, Jenkins).

• Web security technologies (e.g. SSL/TLS, OAuth2, OpenID Connect and PKI).

• shell scripting (e.g., Bash).

• Agile (e.g. Scrum) development processes.

Preferred Competencies

• Ability to work in a collaborative team environment.

• Exposure to fundamental concepts, practices, and procedures of software development.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

• Strong problem solving skills.

• Ability to prioritize and manage workload to meet critical project milestones and deadlines.

• Confidentiality related to sensitive University matters such as, strategic initiatives, trade secrets, quiet periods, and scientific discoveries yet to be put in the public domain.

• Ability to work on a flexible schedule, which will include occasional late night and/or weekend hours.

Working Conditions

• This job requires occasional evening or weekend hours.

• Position available for hybrid work with in-person meetings attendance required.

Application Documents

• Resume (Required)

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family
 

Information Technology

Role Impact
 

Individual Contributor

FLSA Status
 

Exempt

Pay Frequency
 

Monthly

Scheduled Weekly Hours
 

37.5

Benefits Eligible
 

Yes

Drug Test Required
 

No

Health Screen Required
 

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
 

No

Posting Statement
 

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

 

Staff Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

 

We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages a diversity of perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange.

 

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.  A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.  Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

 

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. The Report can be accessed online at: http://securityreport.uchicago.edu. Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E. 61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.