Posted: 19-Jul-23

Salary: Open

Categories:

Internal Number: 225290878

What if you could have an impact on the search for an abundant, safe, affordable, and environmentally sound means of generating electricity? This is the goal of fusion energy research at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), a United States Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science. If that idea appeals to you, Princeton University's Research Computing department is recruiting a Research Software Engineer to join the fast-growing Research Software Engineering (RSE) Group.

In the RSE Group, we collectively provide computational research expertise to multiple divisions within the University. As a central team of software experts, we focus on improving Princetonâ™s computational research softwareâ™s quality, performance, and sustainability. Our group is committed to building collaborative and inclusive environments in which the best software engineering practices are valued, and to sharing and applying cross-disciplinary computational techniques in new and emerging areas.

In this position, you will be an integral part of the research team for a major experimental device at PPPL. Each run of the experiment consists of a plasma discharge or shot . The team is developing a web application that will track the full lifecycle of the shots: from the initial scientific proposal, and the logging of the experimental conditions, to the presentation of the analysis of large data generated by the plasma shots. Your first responsibility in this position will be to develop this web application. Some components of this software have already been developed and can be reused with some upgrades; other components will need to be written from scratch. This web application will be critical to the experiment and will need to be fully operational by 2025. It will be used by everyone involved with the experiment: researchers at PPPL, Princeton University, national and international institutions, and technical staff.

If you have a strong background in Software Development including web application development, you will have a unique opportunity to have a significant and long-lasting impact on important and exciting research.

You'll have the opportunity to regularly work closely with colleagues, faculty, student/postdoctoral researchers, and technical staff associated with Princeton University, PPPL, and the Office of Information Technology (OIT) to enable and accelerate research software development.

• Work independently to design, develop, test, and deploy the application.
• Maintain the application and provide support to its users.
• Establish a set of applicable best practices (e.g., version control, continuous integration/continuous delivery, software design, programming model, etc.), and a documentation level appropriate for the project to enable long-term maintainability and sustainability of the software.
• Initiate and/or maintain open collaboration with researchers to ensure that engineered solutions fit the research needs.
• Transfer knowledge, expertise, and methodologies by providing technical assistance and mentorship to researchers and technical staff.

• Communicate software engineering concepts to domain experts with varying degrees of software engineering knowledge.
• Independently or in collaboration with a team, develop scope and project management plans, communicate those plans with the research team, and meet milestone delivery timelines. This position will require careful planning to meet the hard deadline of 2025.
• Through independent research (reading publications, etc.), discussions with researchers, and/or studying existing code bases, develop an understanding of nuclear fusion sufficient to converse with world-class researchers.
• Work with experimental researchers to help define requirements and constraints for the overall software solution.
• Work with other software engineers from PPPL and collaborating institutions to understand existing tools and establish how they could be integrated into the new environment.
• Apply appropriate domain-specific algorithms and programming techniques to advance software engineering in nuclear fusion.
• Maintain and expand knowledge of current and future software development tools and techniques, programming languages, and computing hardware.

Essential Qualifications

• A minimum of 4 years as a Software Engineer or equivalent experience (e.g., graduate school, industry experience, open-source software development, etc.)
• Experience with developing web applications
• Strong programming skills, particularly in languages used in web application applications (e.g., Python).
• Demonstrated success in:
  • Consistently using conventional and readable coding style.
  • Creating comprehensive and well-written documentation.
  • Developing and maintaining reproducible build systems.
  • Using version control systems.
  • Continuous Integration/Continuous Development workflows.
• Ability to learn new concepts and technologies beyond the area of core knowledge.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a diverse user base with varied technical proficiencies.
• Experience with the Linux command line.
• Demonstrated successes working in a collaborative software development environment (often geographically distributed) as well as independently.
• Ability to manage large, complex software projects involving a large and diverse user base.
• Experience with the full Software Development Life Cycle (Requirements gathering, Software Design, Software Development, Test and Integration, Deployment, Operationalization, and Maintenance.)
• Education: A Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, sciences, or a related computational field is required.

Work Conditions

• This is a two-year position with the possibility of extension.
• US Government security clearance is helpful, but not required.
• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States for any employer.

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in or understanding of nuclear physics concepts.
• Experience working in a research environment.
• A Master's/Ph.D. in computer science, applied science, or another related field with a strong computational focus or equivalent experience in a research setting is preferred.
• Experience with key programming languages used in scientific applications (e.g. Fortran, C/C++).
• Experience with working with large, heterogeneous datasets.
• Experience working with a relational database.
• Experience with DevOps.
• Experience with s.

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

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About Princeton University
Princeton University is a vibrant community of scholarship and learning that stands in the nation's service and in the service of all nations. Chartered in 1746, Princeton is the fourth-oldest college in the United States. Princeton is an independent, coeducational, nondenominational institution that provides undergraduate and graduate instruction in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering.As a world-renowned research university, Princeton seeks to achieve the highest levels of distinction in the discovery and transmission of knowledge and understanding. At the same time, Princeton is distinctive among research universities in its commitment to undergraduate teaching.Today, more than 1,100 faculty members instruct approximately 5,200 undergraduate students and 2,600 graduate students. The University's generous financial aid program ensures that talented students from all economic backgrounds can afford a Princeton education.
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