About IFAE

The Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) is a public consortium of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB, a public university) whose main objective is to carry out research and to contribute to the development of high energy physics from a theoretical, experimental and technological point of view. IFAE has the status of a “University Institute" attached to the UAB and its premises are within the campus of the University.

About PIC

Port d’Informació Científica (PIC) is a scientific-technological center specialized in developing advanced tools and methods for scientific data analysis. We participate in research projects across multiple disciplines with challenging data environments, including particle physics, astrophysics, biology, materials science, and others. Our main objective is to accelerate research by making data analysis more effective through the use of Machine Learning, High-Throughput Computing, and Big Data techniques, using distributed computing to support collaborative research.

To support these endeavors, PIC designs, implements, and manages high level services for data management and analysis, such as CosmoHub (cosmohub.pic.es), Rucio (rucio.cern.ch) or JupyterHub (jupyter.org/hub). These services often run on scalable platforms, including HTCondor, Kubernetes and Hadoop, to be able to handle the complexity and scale of the data. Additionally, the automation of workflows and processes is a key focus, achieved through the adoption of DevOps techniques, which enhance the reliability and reproducibility of services while optimizing resource management.

PIC is looking for a highly motivated software engineer with a background in programming and big data analytics, and an interest in scientific research.

The successful candidate will join the Services team of the PIC data center and will work in close collaboration with scientists to develop, deploy and operate services to carry on the research data analysis.

Job Description

• Software development of data analysis / management tools
• Customization, configuration and integration of 3rd party software
• Implementation of data intensive workflows
• Service administration on Linux systems
• User support and documentation
• Task automation, DevOps techniques

Competencies and Qualifications Required

• Degree in computer science, physics, or equivalent experience.

Experience in the following fields:

• Python programming language
• Distributed computing tools: Hive, Spark, Dask, HTCondor, etc
• Relational databases, SQL
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to foster a positive working environment with team members, researchers, and supervisors
• Proactive approach and ability to adapt and enhance IT services to meet user needs
• Competence in spoken and written English

Evaluation criteria

The evaluation criteria and their weighting for the submitted applications will be the following:

Experience in any of the following is a plus

• Unix Systems Administration
• Other programming languages: bash, C++, Java, JavaScript
• Container technologies: Docker, Apptainer, Kubernetes
• Software development lifecycle and related tools: GitHub / GitLab, CI/CD
• Working experience with research users and international research projects

You will have the support of the Operations and Services teams at PIC. Teamwork is of utmost importance for this job.

Offered contract

• Full-time contract (40h/week).
• Temporal Contract until 31/08/2027. It features an “actividades científico-técnicas” contract (under Article 23-bis of the Spanish Act 14/2011, Ley de la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación) linked to the project PID2022-142604OB-C22, funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Agencia Estatal de Investigación.
• The position will correspond to Junior Research Software Engineer position.
• Salary will be proportional to experience and qualifications within the corresponding category range.
• The successful candidate would start working at PIC as soon as possible.

Application and Selection process

Applications should be submitted to pic.jobs@pic.es and rrhh@ifae.es stating the job reference 2026-28_PIC2026-LHC-SVC-Engineer as the subject of the message. The mail should include a cover letter and an updated CV. Sending CVs to the above address implies consent to the legal warning at the bottom of IFAE’s Home Page.

You may contact pic.jobs@pic.es for any questions related to this job opening.

Sending CVs to the above addresses implies consent to the IFAE’s legal warning on data privacy.

The application must contain a personal identification number (DNI, NIE or passport) in order to proceed to the verification of absence of conflict of interest required by Recovery and Resilience Mechanism of the Spanish Government.

IFAE is committed to equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion. With the aim of promoting a real gender balance in the institution, women will be especially encouraged to submit their candidacy in the calls. Likewise, IFAE reaffirms its commitment to the integration of people with disabilities and underrepresented groups in the scientific field and in accordance with article 59 of the EBEP to reserve seven percent of places so that at least two percent of the total staff are people with disabilities.

A Selection Committee will evaluate the received applications. If more than one candidate seems equally suitable for the position, the Selection Committee will arrange an on-line interview with each one of them as part of the Selection process. In compliance with article 121 of the Spanish Public Sector Legal Regime Act, staff with a pre-existing relationship with the Consortium administration (Generalitat de Catalunya and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) will have priority in the awarding of the position.

Funding Statement