Junior Research Software Engineer for Sustainability Science - Full Stack

Junior Research Software Engineer for Sustainability Science - Full Stack

The Institute of Environmental Science CML at Leiden University is looking for a motivated Junior Research Software Engineer with experience in full‑stack development, data visualization, and modern software engineering practices to turn scientific insights into reliable and user‑friendly software. In this role you will help design, build, and maintain the next generation of industrial ecology research tools that support sustainability and circular economy analysis, and promote reproducible science across the institute.

What you will do

In your role you will work closely with senior RSEs, Principal Investigators, and PhDs to strengthen the scientific software engineering basis of our institute. You will be responsible for tasks such as:

• Supporting the development and maintenance of data pipelines and reproducible workflows for environmental databases and analytics.
• Collaborating with researchers to scope features, translate research needs into user‑friendly tools, and ensure usability and accessibility.
• Supporting deployment in cloud and/or open environments (e.g., containerized services), working with the senior RSE on infrastructure alignment.
• Promoting good data and software management for FAIR and open science practices, version control (Git/GitHub), testing (pytest), packaging, documentation, etc.

Where you will work

The Institute of Environmental Science (CML) at Leiden University is located in the Faculty of Sciences in Leiden’s Bio Science Park. The institute focuses on the sustainable use of natural resources and the preservation of natural capital and biodiversity.

Qualifications

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

What we offer

We offer an initial one‑year contract, with an option to extend to a permanent contract based on performance, following the pay scale 9 in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. Salary ranges from €3,708 to €5,057 gross per month for a full‑time position.

You will have 232 vacation hours per year (approximately 30.5 vacation days) and flexible working hours.

Our comprehensive benefits package includes:

• Holiday allowance (8%) and end‑of‑year bonus (8.3%).
• An attractive pension scheme with ABP.
• Options for secondary employment conditions and flexible benefits (e.g., sports subscription, bicycle scheme, childcare options).
• Hybrid working options and a home‑working allowance.

Equal Opportunity

At the Faculty of Science we value inclusiveness and strive for a diverse community with equal opportunities for all. We encourage applicants of all backgrounds and identities. For more information about our diversity and equality policy, visit our website.

Female researchers are also welcome to join the Researchers In Science for Equality (RISE) network of the Faculty of Science.