Job Information
Boston College Research Software Engineer in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Boston College Introduction
Founded in 1863, Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic university located six miles from downtown Boston with an enrollment of 9,484 full-time undergraduates and 5,250 graduate and professional students. Ranked 35 among national universities, Boston College has 888 full-time and 1,281 FTE faculty, 2,711 non-faculty employees, an operating budget of $1.4 billion, and an endowment in excess of $3.5 billion.
Job Description
Research Software Engineer
This is a full-time position budgeted for 2 years with the possibility of renewal - preferred start date January 2025
Hiring Range: $90K/yr – $120K/yr. based on the applicant’s education, experience, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity
About the project: A major challenge in geoscience research is understanding how the Earth’s surface and its interior shape one another to influence tectonic motions, volcanic processes, and climate on timescales from tens to millions of years. However, interactions between these systems remain poorly constrained due to a lack of models that capture the coupled dynamics between Earth’s interior and surface processes. This project, funded through the NSF CSSI Program, will couple two widely used, open-source software packages: ASPECT, a mantle dynamics simulation package that is used extensively for long-term modeling of tectonic plates; and Landlab, an environment that models surface processes. The software and workflows developed through this project will enable scientific communities that are typically siloed, studying either Earth’s surface or its interior, to initiate new studies of coupled processes with direct societal relevance (e.g., geohazards, resource exploration). Model use cases will be developed to demonstrate the implementation of coupling on different spatial and temporal scales, which can be used by domain scientists to initiate independent research projects. Training materials will be developed and incorporated into long-standing training programs associated with both ASPECT and Landlab, as well as online videos and interactive web visualizations.
What you will do : We seek a research software engineer (RSE) with at least 3–5 years of software development experience in one or more object-oriented programming languages, with an emphasis on Python and C++. The RSE will lead the technical development associated with coupling ASPECT and Landlab, in close collaboration with members of the ASPECT and Landlab development teams. A key aspect of the project will be making Landlab run in parallel with MPI. You will develop use cases to ensure the key components of both codes work together as intended for the most complex and computationally challenging scenarios, and to demonstrate to the user community that the new coupling can be used to address frontier challenges.
You will also have responsibility for user support: providing technical support to community members and students, investigating and providing timely responses to user questions, and working with users to troubleshoot problems. The RSE will be responsible for creating documentation, examples, and online training materials. In collaboration with other developers and scientists you will assist with organization and teaching at workshops and attend various meetings. This position offers an enriching work experience and an opportunity to work with scientists from around the world on open-source software systems.
Applicant Information: Curriculum Vitae, cover letter, proof of highest degree earned (copy of diploma or unofficial transcripts), contact information for 3 references familiar with the applicant’s professional qualifications for the position. CV and cover letter should clearly illustrate how prior knowledge and experience meets the minimum and preferable skills for this position. Review of applications will begin on October 1st, 2024.
Inquiries may be directed to Prof. Mark Behn (mark.behn@bc.edu).
Requirements
Bachelor’s degree with 3+ years of experience, Master’s degree with 2+ years of practical experience, or PhD in computer science, geoscience, or a related science or engineering discipline
Software development experience with Python and C/C++ Experience with MPI and parallel code development
Experience with git and collaborative software development (e.g., using GitHub, Bitbucket, or similar)
Unix command line and shell scripting experience
Good communication skills (written and oral) and strong commitment to working in a team
Demonstrated ability to work closely with diverse staff, developers, and end users
Strong desire to continue learning new skills, tools, and concepts
Other Preferable Skills:
Programming experience involving coupling of models
Experience with Jupyter Notebook (creating and using)
Experience teaching, especially with Python and Jupyter Notebook
Experience in mathematical and numerical model development and application
Closing Statement
Boston College offers a broad and competitive range of benefits depending on your job classification eligibility:
Tuition remission for Employees
Tuition remission for Spouses and Children who meet eligibility requirements
Generous Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
Low-Cost Life Insurance
Eligibility for both University-Funded 401k and Employer-Sponsored 403b Retirement Plans
Paid Holidays Annually
Generous Sick and Vacation Pay
Additional benefits can be found on https://www.bc.edu/employeehandbook
Boston College conducts pre-employment background checks as part of the hiring process.
Boston College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. In concert with our Jesuit, Catholic mission, Boston College is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment and strongly encourages applications for women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and covered veterans. To learn more about how BC supports diversity and inclusion throughout the university please visit the Office for Institutional Diversity at https://www.bc.edu/diversity .
Boston College's Notice of Nondiscrimination can be viewed at https://www.bc.edu/nondiscrimination .