APPLICATION CLOSING DATE: April 2nd, 2024.
About the institute
Human Technopole (HT) is a new interdisciplinary life science research institute, created and supported by the Italian government, with the aim of developing innovative strategies to improve human health. HT has the mission of conducting cutting-edge research and to translate innovation into methods and tools available to the entire National scientific community. To this end, HT is opening National Facilities that will provide world-class research infrastructure for Structural Biology, Light Imaging Microscopy, Genomics, Genome Engineering, and Data Handling and Analysis.
The National Facility for Data Handling and Analysis (NF-DaHa) will perform in-depth analysis of biological data using state-of-the-art computational methods for bioinformatics and image processing.
NFDHA comprises three Infrastructural Units (IU):
- IU1 Bioimage Analysis
- IU2 Omics Analysis
- IU3 Technology Development – DevOps and Web Development
IU3 (Technology Development – DevOps and Web Development) is responsible for scientific software development, with a focus on reproducibility, web application development, and DevOps activities. IU3 will ensure that the tools and pipelines developed within NF-DaHa are widely applicable, reproducible, and openly available to the scientific community. This team of software developers, web developers, and DevOps engineers will also develop web portals for data access and navigation, to maximise public use of data resources as they are established at HT.
The IU is currently looking to expand its core team with highly motivated people who will help shape the future of scientific application development in Italy, establishing high-quality standards, and bringing innovative technologies from the industry world at the service of research.
We are searching for a mid-level backend engineer with specific expertise in data processing, system administration, and DevOps. As this a data-centric, service-oriented position, the ideal candidate will be able to deal with large and heterogenous datasets, developing convenient and efficient ways to share them with the research community, while adhering to the FAIR criteria (findable, accessible, interoperable, reproducible). The ideal candidate has experience in designing and implementing different kinds of backend services, such as REST and GraphQL, and microservices, as well as designing effective and performant databases, both relational and non-relational. He/she will cooperate with the resident ICT team to ensure deployed services are efficient and compliant to required standards. Proficiency with data processing in python and familiarity with data manipulation libraries (Pandas, Vaex, Scipy, Numpy), and optionally R, are preferential requirements to make the successful candidate have a tangible impact on the data handling workflow of the unit.
The selected candidate will also take responsibility for DevOps oriented activities, playing a pivotal role in providing containerized versions of the services and web applications created by the unit, as well as for computational pipelines produced by research groups and by the Omics Unit of the Data Handling National Facility. Containerized services will then be made operative with the help of the ICT resident Kubernetes cluster administrator. Finally, the successful candidate will support the unit software development lifecycle by creating CI/CD pipelines, focused on code testing, docker image creation, deployment in many different environments, ensuring automatization for smooth development of robust and stable software.
Our current stack and technologies
- Frontend solutions development: Vue.js, Nuxt.js, Astro, GraphQL Apollo, D3.js
- An internal library of Vue.js components
- An internal developed design system based on modern CSS
- Backend/ API development based on Node.js/Express, Python FastAPI, Celery
- Databases: MySQL, MongoDB, Neo4j, Redis
- CICD and software management tools: GitLab
- Containerization and orchestration: Docker, Docker Compose, Kubernetes
- Security: OAuth 2.0, Keycloak
- Code Testing: Jest, Cypress, Vitest, Pytest
Our philosophy
- Code with best practices and design patterns in mind.
- Carefully design applications from the very beginning, avoid technical debt.
- Take ownership of style and appearance. Avoid the trap of escaping CSS using pre-built solutions and libraries.
- Prioritize website accessibility and SEO support.
- Build meaningful HTML pages with semantic HTML.
- State Machines are beautiful.
- Learn how to query databases before using ORMs/ ODMs.
In IU3, our aim is to cultivate a close-knit team of highly skilled individuals who thrive on collaboration within a creative and welcoming environment. We're dedicated to supporting the Italian research community through our expertise and cutting-edge technologies, making a significant impact on the advancement of life sciences.
Key tasks and responsibilities
- Design and implementation of APIs and services to collect / store / retrieve and process data
- Design and implementation of databases (ER Models, Normalization, etc.)
- Design and implementation of tools for data modeling and processing, ensuring FAIR principles of data
- Implementation of simple web applications based on frameworks such as Streamlit / Shiny
- Containerization and orchestration of services on virtual machines and Kubernetes clusters, collaborating with the resident ICT team
- Interaction with the HT research groups and National Facilities, especially the Omics Unit of the Data Handling facility, to translate research needs into working solutions, gathering requirements and taking part in all phases of software design and development
- Interaction with the resident ICT team to ensure the correct deployment of software solutions and compliance with HT’s infrastructure requirements.
Job requirements Essential requirements
- MSc in computer science / engineering
- Fluency in English – HT is an international research institute
- Proven experience in the design and implementation of backend systems
Preferred requirements
- PhD in computer science / engineering;
- Experience in system administration, cluster workload managers (e.g. SLURM), cloud technologies;
- Knowledge of Python and R;
- Familiarity with frameworks for computational pipelines (e.g: Snakemake, Nextflow);
- Basic knowledge of biology and computational biology;
- Experience in academic / research fields;
- Record of scientific publications.
Organizational and social skills
- Ability to interact effectively with other team members and work synergistically to drive projects forward;
- Ability to interact effectively with the researchers involved in assigned projects and get detailed descriptions of project goals, timelines and requirements to derive precise technical requirements and timeline estimations for projects completion;
- Strong commitment towards well documented code;
- Attitude towards solving complex, non-standard problems with innovative software architectures and solutions;
- Unstoppable and quick learner of innovative technologies, willing to attend online/in-presence courses and certification programs;
- Ability to work in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
Application Instructions
Please apply by sending:
For any inquiry about the call, please feel free to contact Riccardo De Lucia at [email protected] (this email address should not be used to send applications).
Why Human Technopole
HT seeks scientific excellence, we recruit the best scientific talents through international, open calls.
Our working environment is international, friendly and inclusive. Our scientists work together across disciplines on research topics of biomedical relevance, leveraging synergies between their diverse skillsets and methodological approaches.
We believe that highly diverse teams yield the best and most innovative results.
We engage in outward-facing scientific activities aimed at benefiting the national and international research community. Training is also at the heart of our activity, with initiatives and opportunities for our staff, including scientific courses, conferences and workshops.
Main benefits
- Welfare plans.
- Canteen service.
- Work-life balance provisions.
- Italian language training for foreigners.
- Maternity leave up to 1 year and other support for new parents.
- Counseling.
- Possibility of flexible working hours
- Support for relocation.
- Institutional Laptop.
Special consideration will be given to candidates who are part of the protected categories list, according to L. 68/99.
Number of positions offered: 1
Contract offered: CCNL Chimico Farmaceutico, Fixed-term 3 years - employee level.
The position is based in Milan.
Salary Range: up to 48K, depending on the candidate' seniority.
Tax benefits where applicable.