About the job

Job summary

We are looking for a self-motivated, enthusiastic individual to support and work with computational biologists and computational biochemists in the CBR Division. 

This role will include writing code, producing analytical pipelines as part of a development team and providing advice on best practice. You will help to improve data analysis procedures and direct future research and development, as well as helping to mentor and develop colleagues. You will be comfortable working in line with internal and external quality standards, and ensuring compliance across the team. You may also work with external partners to develop requirements and ensure delivery; engaging with academics, industry and other government departments to help build UK capabilities. 

It is expected that the candidate will have core skills in the areas covered above but less experienced candidates will have the opportunity to grow into the role and pursue training to expand their skills. Whilst the position is primarily focused at supporting computational biologists and chemists there will be opportunities to contribute technical expertise to directly support the delivery of projects, work more widely with others across the CBR Division and take part in a wider community of practice.

Dstl (the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory) delivers high-impact Science and Technology for the UK's defence, security and prosperity. In order to do this, we need people who can use their skills to innovate and develop technologies to ensure we are at the forefront of science. We work in niche areas that are sensitive in nature, operationally-critical to the UK and internationally recognised in importance

Dstl recognises the importance of diversity and inclusion as people from diverse backgrounds bring fresh ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive working environment in which each employee fulfils their potential and maximises their contribution.

We particularly welcome female, ethnic minority and those from the LGBTQI community, as they are under-represented within Dstl at these levels.

Job description

In this role you will be: 

•    Taking requirements outlined by scientists and helping to produce reproducible analytical pipelines, applying best practices in software development.
•    Writing code from scratch or refactoring existing code to ensure it meets a high standard.
•    Adding appropriate tests to ensure adequate quality assurance. 
•    Contributing to the verification, validation and accreditation of reproducible analytical pipelines.
•    Acting as a mentor to train team members on best practice approaches.
•    Communicating complex software ideas to various audiences.
•    Building up expert knowledge in a number of technical areas and network both within your capability area and across capability boundaries.

You’ll work with research scientists from different scientific disciplines. Reporting your technical work to Senior Technical staff, you will be line managed by the Team Leader for the Molecular and Computational Biology team.

The Molecular and Computational Biology team is made up of scientists with a core of expertise in Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Genomics and Computational Biology.

Person specification

We are looking for someone who:

•    Has the desire to apply their technical understanding to problems that are unfamiliar to them.
•    Has strong communication, interpersonal skills and strong attention to detail. 
•    Evidence of delivering the development of software in support to customer deliverables. 
•    Has experience of working as a technical expert and providing advice on best practice.
•    Can communicate complex software ideas to various audiences.
•    Has the ability to respond to changing demands.  
•    Good organisational skills and ability to prioritise and plan own work to deliver to agreed standards.
•    Experience of working in/leading a team to undertake a range of software tasks across a range of stakeholders.

Technical Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Level 4 – Research Software Engineer

Essential:
•    Proven experience and / or a degree qualification in a relevant degree such as Computer Science or Software Engineering.
•    Ability to write Python scripts with minimal support/oversight using existing libraries.
•    Experience of debugging Python software.
•    Experience of developing software solutions to solve specific problems.
•    Experience of using Linux operating systems. 
•    Experience of using Git.
•    Experience of reviewing and refactoring code.
•    Experience of working as part of a team and independently.
•    Awareness of different software development lifecycles, especially Agile

Level 5 – Senior Research Software Engineer

In addition to Level 4 Essential Requirements

Essential:

•    Experience of writing Bash scripts.
•    Experience of another language, e.g. R, C++, or Java.
•    Experience of a workflow language, e.g. Snakemake, Nextflow.
•    Understand the concepts of when to use or not use Object Orientated Programming. Experience of following a software development lifecycle, especially Agile.
•    Experience of writing technical documentation.
•    Experience of writing code tests.
•    Knowledge verification and validation testing.
•    Ability to explain complex problems to a range of audiences.

Desirable:
•    Experience of working in the life sciences.
•    Experience of working to quality standards, e.g. ISO 9001.
•    Experience of HPC and cloud-based technologies.

Important Information

Our work in defence, security and intelligence requires our employees to be UK Nationals who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to undertake the projects we are involved in to protect us from security threats. For this reason, only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate, and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security or defence partners.

This role will require full UK security clearance and you should have resided in the UK for the past 5 years. For some roles Developed Vetting will also be required, in this case you should have resided in the UK for the past 10 years.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £33,658, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contributes £908,766 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

We want you to have your best chance of success in our recruitment process, so If at any stage of the application process you would like help or assistance please contact the Dstl Recruitment Team dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk and we will do all we can to support you.

Applications will be sifted on w/c 15th July. Interviews will be held w/c 12th August. Candidates will be asked to express which level they would like to be sifted against in their application. Candidates may be offered the opportunity to interview for either a level 4 or 5 position based on their sift score.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

This job is not open to candidates who hold a dual nationality.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.