Junior Research Software Engineer for Sustainability Science - Full Stack

Junior Research Software Engineer for Sustainability Science – Full Stack

Institute of Environmental Science CML, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

Job requisition Id: 16684 | Job type: Academic staff | Contract hours: 38 per week | Applying until: 31 December 2026

What you will do

• Build and maintain scientific software, web applications and dashboards for research dissemination and policy communication (e.g., WISE database, Activity Browser, Panorama web‑app, ReLab).
• Develop and maintain data pipelines and reproducible workflows for environmental databases and analytics.
• Collaborate with researchers to scope features, translate research needs into user‑friendly tools, and ensure usability and accessibility.
• Support deployment in cloud and/or open environments (e.g., containerised services), working with senior RSE on infrastructure alignment.
• Promote data and software management for FAIR and open science practices, version control (Git/GitHub), testing (pytest), packaging, documentation, etc.

Where you will work

Leiden University is located between Amsterdam (36 km) and The Hague (15 km), hosting about 35 000 students and 8 000 staff. The Institute of Environmental Science (CML) is part of the Faculty of Sciences, focusing on environmental sciences, sustainability and the sustainable use of natural resources.

What you bring

• MSc in computer science, data science, AI, environmental informatics, or a related field.
• Good programming skills with Python and JavaScript/TypeScript; other languages are a plus.
• Experience with front‑end frameworks (e.g., React) and data visualization (e.g., D3, Plotly).
• Experience building back‑end APIs (e.g., FastAPI, Django, Flask) and integrating databases (SQL/NoSQL).
• Experience contributing to open‑source projects.
• Familiarity with containerisation (e.g., Docker) and reproducibility tools.
• Excellent collaboration skills, a service mindset, and enthusiasm for environmental applications and open science.

What we offer

An initial one‑year contract with the possibility to extend to a permanent contract based on performance, at pay scale 9 in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. Gross monthly salary ranges from €3 708 to €5 057 (full‑time).

Full‑time position (38 hours per week). Vacation: 232 hours per year (≈30.5 days). Flexible working hours and hybrid working options are available. A comprehensive benefits package includes holiday allowance (8 %), end‑of‑year bonus (8.3 %), an attractive pension scheme with ABP, and various secondary employment options (sabbaticals, parental leave, sports subscription, bicycle scheme, childcare options). Home‑working allowance is provided and the university supplies a laptop and support for a comfortable home office.

What we value

At the Faculty of Sciences we are committed to inclusiveness and diversity, providing full support to staff in their professional development and equal opportunities for all. We encourage female researchers to join the Researchers in Science for Equality network (RISE) and welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds. For more information about our diversity and equality policy, see https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/dossiers/diversity.

Contact: Franco Donati, Assistant Professor – [email protected]