Job description

We are searching for an experienced Research Software Engineer to contribute to the development of the open-source software project “GSVA: Optimizing Gene Set Variation Analysis for Single-Cell Data”, funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) in the last call for Essential Open Source Software for Science. The candidate will work in the research group of Robert Castelo at the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), in the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), in Barcelona, Spain and in close collaboration with Justin Guinney, senior researcher at Tempus Labs, USA. With over 1,400 residents, the PRBB has a large critical mass of scientists from different institutions at the forefront of research in bioinformatics and computational biology, giving the possibility to attend seminars, conferences and soft-skills training.

GSVA is a Bioconductor package that facilitates pathway-centric analyses of molecular data. With more than 200,000 downloads and 4,500 citations to the paper describing it, GSVA has become a very popular open-source software, in which we want to improve its scalability, robustness and documentation.

Specific requirements

• BSc or higher degree in either computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics or in the life sciences with a proven track record of scientific software development.
• Proficiency in R and ample experience with its ecosystem of packages and data structures, particularly those from the Bioconductor project.
• Comfort in working with Git and GitHub, unit testing, CI/CD, literate programming with R Markdown.
• Fluency in written and spoken English. Excellent teamwork and collaboration skills.
• High motivation for interdisciplinary work, and particularly, for contributing to address questions of biological and clinical relevance.

Compensation and benefits

We offer a full-time two-year contract starting on the first trimester of 2023, funded by the CZI, with a gross salary in the range 34,000-41,000 EUR/year, according to experience and qualifications, and including the standard health benefits of an European Union member state.

Application process

Send CV and letter of interest, including names of two referees that could send a recommendation letter to robert.castelo@upf.edu (REF: CZI_GSVA). Additional information about this job offer can be also requested to the same email address.